Instant pot Cold Start Yogurt

Ok, this is QUICK and I don't even have any play by play pictures, BUT, I did a quick video so... here's the low down,

you have an Instant Pot pressure cooker, a bunch of little jars, ultra filtered milk (insert Fairlife) and you have some active yogurt culture, like from a previous batch or you grabbed a little .75 tub of Fage greek yogurt.  You're set.  Unless you want it sweet, then add between half and a full can of sweetened condensed milk.  NOW you're set.

Combine the ingredients, divide them in the jars, add about a cup of water to the inner liner and put a trivet in if you feel like it, then play real life tetris and stack those jars!  Put some lid on, either the pressure cooker lid or a plate or whatever you have.  NO pressure, just keeps the dust off.

Set timer for 11 hours on yogurt setting and go to bed.
MORNING! put lids on the jars, put them in the fridge, go to work or go have your day
AFTERNOON! eat the yogurt. :)

/enjoy

Here is the link to the video of the process and my charming chit chat,  and be nice, I'm just making some yogurt.

https://youtu.be/sEd5DL0BgxQ

/thanks, tracy

I felt like chicken piccata, so I made some, it was pretty easy

I had some chicken breast, some pasta and some capers.  I added some flour, some water (or broth), some lemon and some butter.  I had a pretty killer dinner for one.  This is easy to upsize to feed as many as you want. 

This is one of the drive-by meals, it's a method more than a recipe.  Once you get it, you can alter and swap things out (like salmon for the chicken which is amamamamzing!) or different pastas, you're going to use it all the time. 

Here's the link to the video, it's sort of long but if you slip past my nagging at the beginning, I think you're going to be delighted with this new shortcut :) 

https://youtu.be/2rhOGVRK0Io

/enjoy! :)

Beef and broccoli in the Instant pot Pressure cooker, you're going to love this

Alright, here it is... I did beef and broccoli in the pressure cooker (the Instant-pot) and it's tender and rich and tasty and amazing, it's pretty quick and super easy. 

The cheap, tough, cuts of meat are the wheelhouse for pressure cookers.  IF you don't have one, get one, if you have one, use it for this sort of cut of meat. 

Here's the link to the video and recipe, enjoy!  Let me know what you think and when you make it. 

Oh and full disclosure, it's absolutely easy to double, you are going to want to

https://youtu.be/nGoOoMRbYbk

/enjoy

Aioli! I have a shorter, better, method... no one has time for one drop at a time

DriveBy recipe, it's a QUICKIE!!!  

I always have a batch of aioli in my fridge.  This is the short and sweet method, you're going to love it, go make it... here's the link to the video and recipe... let me know how you love it!  

https://youtu.be/dY3JkHM0ZKM

/enjoy

My soft boiled eggs, doesn't make sense but it's super easy and always perfect

So, let's be clear, I didn't invent this method, I found it in some ancient cookbook that I had when I was living in Canada, 25? years ago? I love discovering odd ways to cook then doing it and finding it works beautifully.  This is one of those methods.

There's a hundred thousand ways to make soft boiled eggs, in the oven, pressure cooker, toaster oven, microwave and on the stove in lots of water, no water and just a little water.  I'm on team 1/2 inch.  I've been doing soft boiled eggs this way for as long as I can remember, in two different countries, actually three because I made them like this when I lived in England.

This isn't a recipe, it's a method.  Don't blink seriously it's that fast.

Put 1/2 inch of water in any pan you own with a lid.
Bring the water to a boil, no, no salt or anything.
Add as many eggs as you want, I usually want one or two.
Put eggs in wildly boiling water, cover, set timer for 6 1/2 minutes, that's six and a half.

Make toast or whatever you want to eat with your eggs.

Remove eggs from water after timer goes off and peel under room temperature water, cool enough so you can handle the eggs.

Place on plate, toast or sandwich or however you're going to eat them.

Devour with greed and love.

Here's the silly video I made to go along :)

  make eggs, they're delicious and perfect every.single.time.

xox

/enjoy

THIS is my single, small, white loaf of sandwich or anything you want, bread. It is easy, you don't need a machine, trust me, you can do it, I know.

  

 

Single, small, white bread loaf, this makes one, it is easy, you can do it, trust me, I'm the queen :)

The whole method and video is on youtube, BUT the recipe is so easy...

In the bowl of a kitchen mixer (or by hand, you don't need a machine for this) dump it all

RECIPE
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 heaped tsp yeast
1 heaped tsp shortening
water to form a soft dough.

Mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough, form a ball, cover and rise 1 hour
Form to loaf, in greased pan, 45 mins or until double
BAKE in pre-heated 375 oven for 20 mins, spin and cook another 2

REMOVE to rack and cool before you dive in and and eat it all

/enjoy!!!

Hot Cross Buns, you don't need to wait till Easter or Christmas, no, you need to make them NOW and I have developed the perfect recipe. You're welcome, go make them now, go

I love hot cross buns.  I always have.  It sort of bugs me that I only seem to eat them at Easter.  I think I need to start a revolution and say it's OK to eat them anytime.  They are sweet and savory and spicy and not and soft and tender and absolutely delicious.

OK, I combined some old and some new recipes and this is what I came up with.  I've made it a couple of times and it keeps working and they are so wonderful. I think you need to make them now.  You don't need a kitchen aid to make it but it makes it easier.  If you don't have one, put it all in a bowl, mix till it's tiring then take the dough out and knead.  I've made them by machine knead and I've done them by hand.  They work either way.  I am doing this as a drive by because it's a dump and run, truly, only one rise, how easy is THAT?

I will devour this batch and make another with better play by play pics but for now, this is the drive by recipe, you can do it!

DRIVE BY RECIPE:  TRACY'S HOT CROSS BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Dry:  dump in the bowl of a Kitchen aid mixer

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(you'll need extra for adding if needed and for the bench when you form the balls
1 Tb yeast (you can also skimp and use a packet which is 2 1/4 tsp which is close enough)
2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon sugar (or plain cinnamon if that's all you have)
2 tsp mixed spice (recipe below)
1/4 cup currants (these are small raisins, I don't like bit raisins but if you do, have at it :) add more or less depending on how much you love/hate dried fruit

Wet:  No need to mix these separately,

1 cup very warm tap water
1 TB butter
1 egg
splash vanilla (if you feel the need)

METHOD

Dump all the dry ingredients into the bowl of your Kitchen aid mixer or a large bowl.  Mix to combine, add the wet ingredients, no need to premix...

Use dough hook and let it mix on medium until it's a smooth lovely dough.  Add little bits of flour at a time, after 5 minutes if the dough needs it to clear the sides and become a smooth tender ball

Remove hook from dough in bowl, leave it there and cover with a plastic bag.  Let it rest about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in 12 equal balls and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Spray the tops of the rolls, cover the whole thing with a gigantic plastic bag and leave to double.  It should be about 1-2 hours.

Spray with milk or brush with milk.  Add a cross if you want, I make a thin paste of water and flour and draw on with the side of a spoon.

Bake in a PREHEATED 375 oven for 20-30 minutes, spin half way through.

Remove to a rack immediately and leave to cool for as long as you can stand it.

ENJOY!

here's a few beauty shots.  These are before they went into the oven

 LOOK! at these beauties.  The crumb is amazing, tender and flavorful, yeah, I delight myself sometimes

   

So I broke in to one, butter and golden syrup.  Usually I toast them but that'll be later, I had to show you the crumb after a bite, it doesn't collapse into a goo, no, look at it! WOW!  so tasty, fabulous crumb, are you running to make them yet?

 

MY MIXED SPICE RECIPE

1 TB of each of the following: 

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Allspice

1 tsp of each of the following: 

Cloves

Coriander

Ginger

2 tsp of 

Mace

Combine all the spices in  jar and mix, it lasts a really long time because you only need a little bit.  Be sure to go to the bulk area to get the spices, you'll save a FORTUNE doing it that way. 

Make these rolls, I'm dying to know what you think

/enjoy

tracy

•  

Egg Tarts, the perfect end to DimSum, any meal, any time, any day, you're going to need to make these

When I lived in Canada, I went to DimSum regularly with friends.  Mississauga, Ontario, has some of the best DimSum I've ever had, Toronto China Town included.  There's NO decent DimSum in Austin so I have to make up the individual pieces as the mood strikes.  

I came up with a morf of many recipes to end up with this version of the most delicious Chinese Egg Tart.  These are tender, crunchy, smooth, soft, solid and absolutely delicious. 

I cheat with store bought puff pastry, it's delicious and easy and really, if I want egg tarts, I'm not going to start the day before to get homemade puff going...  so, go get some puff and keep it in the freezer for exactly this reason.  IF you love an egg tart, THIS is the recipe you've been looking for.

TRACY'S EGG TARTS IN PUFF

INGREDIENTS

1 cup hottest tap water
1/2 (scant) cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp vinegar
pinch salt


INSTRUCTIONS

Mix hot water and sugar, to dissolve sugar, leave to cool to room temperature
                  (alternatively, you can combine water and sugar in 2 cup glass measuring cup, nuke till boiling and leave to cool)

Mix egg, vanilla, vinegar and salt with a fork, in another bowl, GENTLY, no air bubbles.  
Add the eggs to the sugar syrup and stir with a metal spoon to combine well 

STRAIN twice (once from the measuring cup into the bowl and then once back from the bowl to the measuring cup) and leave to sit while you deal with pastry

I used 1 sheet of puff pastry, roll out and cut into 12 squares. 

Line 12 muffin pans or individual tart pans with the pastry
Fill with the egg mixture, yep, all the way to the top  

Bake 350 for about 30 minutes on the lower middle rack 
Bake till they're beautiful 

Cool pan on a rack about 10 minutes then remove tarts and leave as long as you can before you devour them 

Here's some progress shots... make these, let me know what you think

   

  

There you go Dave, I'm thinking of you and wishing you were here to help me devour these little beauties

/enjoy

Trace

Smoked Pork Tenderloin in my Masterbuilt Smoker

Ok, ok, ok.  I had no intention whatsoever of smoking a tenderloin!  A regular pork loin, oh sure, but not a tenderloin.  My husband brought a package (of 2) home, I think he thought it was a loin.  He said I should smoke it, I thought not.

Just as a quick back story, I own the Masterbuilt 30inch Smokehouse, 4 rack, in case anyone is keeping track.  I got it last week, this is my second foray into the world of smoking.  I may be hooked.

He left to go to work and I was searching around the fridge for stuff to smoke and there they were, the little tenderloins staring at me.  I usually brown then, rub with good french mustard then roll in Panko and roast them high.  Crispy and pink, that's how I like my tenderloins.

LOOK at what I did!!  SERIOUSLY?! 

I figured I'd give it a try anyway, i didn't want a neon pink smoke ring, that's not why I'm in this smoking thing, I'm in it for flavor and juicyness and tenderness.  I achieved all three in spades today. You want some crazy tender, juicy and lightly smoked pork tenderloins?  Cook them like this:

TRACY'S SMOKED PORK TENDERLOINS

2 pork tenderloins, dried and silver skin removed
whatever rub you want, mine was a soft but definite sprinkling of:
salt
pepper
smoked paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
ground coriander
ground cumin
a good drizzle of plain oil

QUICKIE INSTRUCTIONS
Rub seasoning on meat, smoke at 225 for 2 hours with applewood smoke and beer in the water bowl.  I checked the temp and it was 140, that's MORE than enough for pork tenderloin.  I took them out, wrapped them in foil and let them sit for about 15 minutes.  Slice. Eat.

INSTRUCTIONS, WITH PICS
Rub the tenderloins with the spices and leave them in the sink to soak them up while the smoker heats to 225, it took about 20.  Oh and the sink? It's where I season all my meats, I can clean it well before and after and there's no dishes!

I took the rack out of the smoker and put the meat on it in here, that way it's faster to just pop it in the slot and not futz with placement, just shove the rack in and close the door.  Less heat loss.
  
I had preheated to 225

See how easy, just slide the meat into the smoker and I poured a beer in the water bowl.  I soaked the applewood chips, filled the hopper and slipped it in the side and dumped it immediately
  
I set the timer for 2 1/2 hours but knew I would check at 2


AFTER 2 hours, I snuck a peek and shoved a thermometer into the meat, it was a little better than 140, my high end temp for tenderloins.  I took them out and wrapped them in foil to rest for about 15 minutes.  The smell is AWESOME.
 
The FIRST person to complain to me that there's no smoke ring is banned for life.  I wasn't looking for dusty, dry, neon pink rimmed, deeply, thickly, smoked pork.  I was looking for delicately smoked piece of meat that still has the flavor of PORK and a light rub and painfully juicy and tender meat.  That is exactly what I got, I'm thrilled. :)

I'd made my scalloped potatoes as a side and it's what Connor and I had for lunch.  I will post the potatoes recipe separately.

Here's the beauty shots. There's absolutely nothing else to say.  Nothing.
    

Smoke some pork tenderloin.  Really.  Wow.

OH and buy one... this is the one:



/enjoy

Potato salad, in the pressure cooker. I'm about to revolutionize the way you make the classic summer gathering food. NOW you can make it for a gang of 50 or as a simple side for one. It's not banished to party land any more.

I am about to revolutionize the way you make potato salad.  

I love potato salad and only ever eat it when there's going to be a happening of substantial size at my house.  I make to take to parties, in enormous bowls, garnished with herbs and cherry tomatoes (if I'm feeling radical).  

I make a pretty classic, simple, straight forward potato salad.  Some things shouldn't be shushed up or tarted out of what made them classics to begin with.  

This isn't a recipe to change what you put in your salad but rather, how you make it.  Grab a glass of wine, let's begin: 

TRACY'S PRESSURE COOKER POTATO SALAD, For ONE OR For 50

Ingredients:

potatoes, waxy white or red ones, as many as you need
1 russet potato, just a small one, trust me
eggs, as many as you want in your salad
the dressing you prefer
OR make your own with
mayonnaise
mustard
aioli if you have any
celery, green onions, regular onions (diced small and rinsed in ice water),
vinegar, apple cider is my preferred choice
water
sugar
salt, pepper, herbs that you love

LONG winded directions, with pictures

IN your pressure cooker, put some water, about 2 cups and a steamer rack.  I use one of those flower types.  

CUT your potatoes into potato salad sized chunks.  Skin on or off, your choice.  You MUST use waxy potatoes, russets will fall apart.  THAT being said, one russet in the mix makes the dressing creamier and thicker so if you want a softer mouth feel, add one, also cut small.  Nestle your eggs into the potatoes at the top.  I have 4 lbs of potatoes so I am using 3.  When I do this for just me, I use one.

LOCK AND LOAD, 4 minutes, oh look at the before and after shot.  I open when the timer goes off, quick release this stuff.  See how different HAHAH  Remove the eggs to a towel on the side and
  
While your spuds are doing their spud thing, make your dressing in the biggest bowl you have.  Make your own or futz a recipe, depending on how much you need.  Make it thin thin thin!  The consistency of pouring cream.  Trust me, the hot potatoes suck this stuff up.  They absorb the flavor so incredibly. 

Today, mine was about a cup of mayonnaise, a tablespoon of dijon, zest and juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar,  thyme, white sugar, water till it was the right consistency.  I also had a little leftover aioli which I added.  The trick is to taste, taste, taste.
 
Drain the potatoes when the timer goes off and dump them into a collander, see the steamer insert I use?  Dump the potatoes, screaming hot, into the dressing and fold fold fold, carefully but not too fanatically.
   
They SOAK up the dressing, it's amazing.  Add whatever chopped veggies you want, I just wanted celery today.  Break the ends of the eggs and drop them into cold water, peel them.
  
Transfer the salad to a prettier bowl when it's all mixed in.  I put the whole eggs on top and cover the whole thing and put it in the fridge. When it's cold, I will chop the eggs, fold it all together one last time, put some sliced green onions on top and serve it up.

This recipe works for a small amount or a giant amount, 4 minutes, high pressure, on a steamer and you have a delicious, fabulous, quick, tasty, happiness inducing potato salad.

It's not just for OTHER people anymore!

Make it, enjoy it!

/tracy