Lentils with cauliflower steak, yeah, it's much more delicious than the sum of it's parts. You can do it all in the pressure cooker ahead then assemble and eat as desired

I saw a picture of lentils with a cauliflower steak on it, online.  I was intrigued and delighted at the same time.  Yeah, I had a bag of lentils and you bet I had a whole cauliflower.  I grabbed the pressure cooker and got started.  The total cook time, once at pressure, is 9 for the lentils and 10 for the cauliflower.  I made them ahead and shoved them in the fridge so that when I had a hankering, it could be satisfied within minutes and THAT is the way I like a hankering to be satisfied.

TRACY'S LENTILS AND CAULIFLOWER STEAK

OK, I cooked the cauliflower, whole, in the pressure cooker... link here:

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2016/07/whole-cauliflower-in-pressure-cooker.html

THEN I made the lentils in the pressure cooker... link here:

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2016/07/pressure-cooked-lentils-as-side-not-as.html

I happened to make both the day ahead but you can certainly do this at the last minute.  Cook the cauliflower first so it can set while you make the lentils.

This is an assembly job, ready?  You're going to love this: 

METHOD

Slice the cauliflower into one inch steaks.  Heat some butter and a little oil in a pan over medium high.  Salt and pepper the cauliflower steak and place it in the butter.  Leave it alone.

    

 You'll notice the butter browns slightly around the edge of the cauliflower, that's your notice to flip it, add a little water around the edge to stop the butter from browning and to help heat the cauliflower through if you're using it from the fridge like I did.

     

Put some lentils in a bowl/plate and heat them up, I nuked mine :) Place the cauliflower on top and drizzle with any of the pan juices.

EAT

  

 I hope you like this I saw a pic online of this and had to make my own version immediately.  I'm sort of weak like that.

I devoured this and am eyeing the cauliflower thinking I might secretly make myself another one, you know, for science.  I hoe you try this, it's really quite delicious and you feel great eating it, it's filling but light at the same time,  A big crusty roll would go nicely here too.

Let me know what you think!

/enjoy


tracy

PRESSURE COOKED LENTILS, as a side, not as a soup, that's another post

I had a hankering for lentils, for dinner, with a fried cauliflower steak on it.  I saw a picture online and my committee immediately started to harass me till I made it :)

I pressure cooked the whole cauliflower and threw it in the fridge till I needed it, the link here:

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2016/07/whole-cauliflower-in-pressure-cooker.html

I made these lentils and put them in containers, two in the freezer, one in the fridge for me for lunch today, this is going to be good.

TRACY'S PRESSURE COOKER LENTILS 

(as a side, not a soup)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bag lentils, picked over
1 Tb bacon fat or oil
1 carrot, chopped small
1 onion, chopped small
1 rib of celery, chopped small
2 bay leaves (I use fresh because my mom brings them to me, dry is fine)
salt, pepper, whatever herbs you love
water

METHOD

Melt the bacon oil in the pressure cooker pot, set to BROWN, put in the chopped veggies and fry them around till they get little kisses of brown on the edges, yeah, I did just say that.

Add the picked lentils and bay leaves, stir around to coat the lentils with the veggie bacony juices.  Add salt, pepper, whatever herbs you love.  I add sage because I think lentils and sage work well together.

Cover with water, by one inch, I use the fingertip method of measuring.  I stick my finger in the pot to the settled lentils, the water should come up to the first knuckle it's an inch I think.

LOCK AND LOAD, HIGH PRESSURE, 9 MINUTES

Release immediately or leave to come down out of pressure on it's own, it doesn't matter.  Give the lentils a stir and either eat or package and store in the fridge or the freezer.

I love these as a side, they have a little juice but it's not soup or stew, it's just beautifully cooked lentils that hold their shape but are cooked through and tender.

Here's the pics:

Melt the bacon fat and shush the veggies around in it till they lightly color

    

Pick through the lentils and toss them in and shush them around in the veggies to coat them lightly in the bacon fat or the oil.  Add water to cover by about an inch or so and lock and load, high pressure, for 9 minutes

    

LOOK at these beauties.  Individual lentils, not mush, absolutely perfectly cooked.  Give them a stir, eat them right away (my favorite way) or put them in containers and store in the fridge or freezer.  

   

I'm going to make my lunch now, reheat these lentils and fry a cauliflower steak and yeah, it's about to be good to be me (pics to follow, well, after I eat)

/enjoy

PRESSURE COOKER DRIVE BY recipe for what to do with leftover Ham - get peas or lentils and make some soup!

I made a ham for Easter dinner  http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2016/03/ham-not-spiral-sliced-we-have-knives.html   In my humble opinion, it was absolutely delicious.

After a couple of meals and sandwiches, there's really not a lot of things that *I* like to do with leftover ham.

The number one thing on my list is soup, split pea or lentil soup with the remains of the ham bone dinner... there are few things finer.

I love my (Nesco) pressure cooker, as we all know, and I will admit, sometimes I buy food thinking about how I can use the leftovers in my pressure cooker.


Ok, back to the ham, here we go, it's quick, easy and delicious....

DRIVE BY RECIPE: SPLIT PEA or LENTIL HAM BONE SOUP

INGREDIENTS and METHOD

One bone from the ham you cooked the other day
water
onion
carrot
celery
bay leaf
salt
pepper

split peas or lentils

fresh onions, chopped
fresh carrots, chopped
fresh swede or potato or whatever veggie you love, chopped
\
Throw the bone in the cooker, add water to almost cover, about 4 cups.  Add some onion, with skin, carrots broken up, celery broken up, bay leaf and pepper.  

LOCK AND LOAD, 30 MINUTES

Release pressure, strain bones and meat out and return clear liquid to the cooker. IF you want meat in the soup, then wait for the bones to cool and pick any meat you want :)  I add meat after I blend the soup.  

Add raw chopped carrots, onions, swede, potato, whatever you like, throw it in the stock.  Add one bag of picked lentils or split peas, add some pepper. 

LOCK AND LOAD, 12 MINUTES

Release pressure and get in there to taste, add salt more pepper and any green leafy veg, like kale, if you want and cook open till it's wilted.

Serve chunky or blend with a stick blender.  I like it blended and toast a ciabatta roll (that I always have in the freezer) crunchy with lots of butter and, well, there's nothing better... ever... 

Here's the driveby pics: 

Pressure cook the bones and veg in water, strain

   

chop the fresh veggies and pick any meat off the bones to reserve for later

 
Strain stock and return to pot with the veggies
    
Lock and load, pressure cook on high for 18 minutes
  Eat, blend, don't blend, add meat, don't add meat, add croutons, don't :D  See where I'm going here... do what makes you happy.  This soup, blended or not, freezes beautifully so you can have a bellyful of leftover ham bone lentil soup any day! 

Enjoy/tracy

Lentil Soup Pressure Cooker Style

I love thick, rich, stews and soups.  I love rib sticking stuff that makes your nose run.  Anything you can eat with an enormous, crunchy, crispy, hot, homemade roll slathered with butter makes me happy in the depths of my soul.  I live in Austin, Texas, the days cold enough to truly enjoy said culinary exultation are few and far between but when they hit, they hit hard!  I have a finite period of time to shovel said giant bowls of goodness into me.  The temperature dropped from 81 to 40 in 90 minutes, GO GO GO!  I dash to the cupboard, lentils!  I need to hurry, the temperature could climb!  

Hello Mr. Pressure cooker... how YOU doin.?

Tracy's Speedy Lentil Soup *in the pressure cooker* 

2-3 slices of bacon, sliced thin
1 onion
2 carrots
1 bay leaf'
stock or water of your choosing
salt/pepper
herbs of your liking (I use dry thyme and Herbs D'Provence)
1 bag of lentils, picked over for rocks or other mysterious things you don't necessarily want to ingest. 

I have a 'brown' setting on my pressure cooker so I can fry things in there before I pressure them.  If you don't, go get one that you can, it makes life easy.  If you can't go get one then use a fry pan and fry your bacon and onions then dump them in your pressure cooker. 

Brown the bacon and just leave that fat in there!  Cut the onion and carrots into small pieces and toss them into the bacon fat to fry for a few minutes, we don't want too much color but we do want softness before we cook, it adds a surprising amount of flavor all the way around.

Throw in your picked lentils, the bay leaf, herbs, pepper (salt at the end!) and then cover it all by a few inches with water or stock. 

Lock and load, 10 minutes. 

I used this time wisely, I found a few rolls in the freezer I'd made 

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2012/10/bolillo-roll-my-version.html

and popped them in the toaster oven, frozen, on the 'toast' setting.  In mine, it thaws them and crisps them up to perfection.  

DING!  Time is up!

My electric pressure cooker, the NESCO,  comes to pressure then starts timing.  When the time is done, it DINGS and switches to "warm".  I generally release the pressure manually because I have no patience whatsoever. 

Release the pressure, carefully!  and stir.  Add water if it needs it, depends on how thick you like it.  THIS is the time you taste for salt.  

Now then, you can eat it like this, DELICIOUS but I shove a stick blender in it and whir in one spot for about 5 seconds. (yes, I did time it for you)  It blends a little bit of the soup and when you stir that around, adds richness and a thicker consistency.  Remember, I have so few hours of truly cold weather where we need rib sticking fare, I have to go to the maximum opportunity immediately.  


Ok, I just realized, this is the ONLY picture I took of the meal...  that has to tell you something about the level of deliciousness.

You can drizzle a little olive oil over it, plop a joyful spoonful of sour cream on it.  You can sprinkle fresh herbs or just have it plain,  You can transfer it to a blender and completely blend it to a smooth soup like split pea.  There are so many options with this base.

I like to serve it in giant bowls with said crispy, heavily buttered, rolls and curl up on the couch with a fire or a great movie and eat.  

I confess, I have never been able to have only one bowl of this stuff. On this night, I ate 3.  

If you use a little less water, it makes a killer side for roast chicken or even with rice as a North American version of Dal.  I think this is one those perfect foods.  If you have a hankering for a protein, make this and shred some simply roasted (or pressure cooked!) chicken on top.  You can also shred ham or slice sausage on top.  I don't like this with beef for some reason but all the others work great.  

Go now and make this.  You and your tummy will be delighted and the subsequent warmth that will be travelling around your soul will fix whatever may be ailing you.


/enjoy