Fromage Frais (Fromage Blanc) in the pressure cooker ... I have an InstantPot with a BOIL setting baby!

OK OK yes, I did the yogurt thing in the pressure cooker, pretty groovy.  You can do the same on the stove and it actually takes a little less time BUT you do have to sort of babysit it so I am on fully on team pressure cooker yogurt.  I'll do that post separately.

I ALSO love the boil setting because I can make my fromage frais in it too.  Yeah. It's a quick cheese that you can make creamy, you can add to it to make it savory OR sweet, (I love it with strawberries blended in)

HERE I am merely telling you the math of it, I'll add pictures later but for now...  it's all about the words

 TRACY'S FROMAGE FRAIS, FROMAGE BLANC, IN THE INSTANT POT PRESSURE COOKER

INGREDIENTS

1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk
1/2 cup yogurt (hey, you can make yogurt in your pressure cooker and just save some)
SCANT 1/2 cup lemon juice.

METHOD 

IN the instantpot, add the milk to the pot and hit BOIL
When the milk hits 125, turn off the cooker
Let it cool a little bit then add the yogurt and lemon juice.

Leave it all to rest about 10-15 minutes

Turn the cooker on BOIL again, without stirring, and let it come up to temp again.

Lift the curds out and put them in a sack cloth/ cheesecloth lined strainer, SAVE THE LIQUID, it's AMAZING to use in all cooking recipes that use liquid of any kind.

Tie the fabric above the curds, run a spoon or rolling pin through and hang until the cheese stops shedding liquid.

Tip into a bowl and chill...  I tip it out onto a board and drizzle with oil and herbs... OR you can mix the herbs in and use it as a dip with good bread or veggies... it's SO versatile!

Go make it...

just another way to use up all that instant pot yogurt we're all making HAHAHA

THE PICTURE GALLERY

ok, here's the pics... 

throw the milk in the pressure cooker, set to boil and bring to 125

  

TURN THE COOKER OFF

ADD 1/2 cup of your delicious homemade yogurt and a SCANT cup lemon juice, stir in, leave 10 mins

   

TURN THE COOKER ON to boil,  use a spatula to give it a gentle stir and leave it to come to a boil

  

 Nothing happens... THEN SOMETHING HAPPENS!!  the whey separates out...

  

You can see the solids ad the liquid split at the moment of the boil.  Turn the cooker off and strain the solids into a strainer, coffee filter lined or fabric, doesn't matter.

  

let it strain a bit, squeeze the liquid out with a cloth till it's dry curds.  SAVE THE LIQUID and use it to make bread, use it a million ways, google it :) how to use whey!

   

Add salt, herbs and pepper to the cheese

  

 Add some olive oil and mix till you like the texture

  

I add a little cream to smooth it out a bit

  

Mix till it comes together, cover, chill... EAT!

  

it's basically ricotta but also known as fromage frais, fromage blanc, farmers cheese, there's a hundred names but this is my version of herbed fromage frais, using my homemade yogurt. 

/enjoy

Good bye Nesco, hello InstantPot, the story of why I changed teams

I the spirit of full disclosure, I will tell you the store of why I'm jumping ship; I like to keep you all in the loop.  I have put up my Nesco Pressure cooker.  It's been a really good product up to now I've LOVED it, but a weird turn of events in my personal relationship with the company as well as a big crack happening in the lid, directly beside a screw, (a design flaw, not something *I* did)  has helped me make the decision to move on.  I contacted the company about the flaw and they did reply!  wow!  I was told I can buy a new lid for $15? plus $12 shipping?  Well, for that $30 plus my birthday money, I could get a BRAND NEW machine so that's what I did.  In my opinion, if the lid cracked at the screw once, it might again...  so I moved on.

I have been a Nesco fan since I got my first Nesco pressure cooker.  I contacted the company to ask if I could review any of their products, 3+ years ago, resulted in the company sending me a new electric pressure cooker.  I wrote recipes and used the machine almost daily since. I loved that thing.  I told everyone I knew to buy a pressure cooker, I told strangers... most of them did.  You're welcome Nesco.  I more than covered the cost of the machine sent to me in sales by friends, family and strangers all over the world

I was contacted by a representative of the company last year and asked about reviewing their entire line.  I said SURE!  We sat on the phone for TWO HOURS while he told me about their product line, asked me for recipe ideas!!?? , asked my opinion on their website and videos.  He asked me what appliances I would like to test and review.  He to send a review email listing what we'd discussed as well as a review of the machines I was going to test/review.  I did, that very day.  I said I would hold off buying any other kitchen appliances, large or small, or contacting any other companies.  I did that, I held off... for 9 months.  I have emailed, called and tried to contact that representative or any other rep of the company to find out what the heck is going on regarding the plan to test and review and create recipes...  I was going to link to them for pete's sake..well i'm glad I didn't and it doesn't matter now because I have heard nothing, nothing at all...radio silence.

FINE, I can take a hint (eventually)  There's a million companies out there that make small kitchen appliances.  Some of those I own, some I've asked to test equipment.  I always tell you if I have been given a machine to test and review.

It was my birthday last week so I bit the bullet and I bought my own InstantPot.  I have the Duo6 QT, 7-1.  I got it yesterday... already, I think there's too many buttons and there's not even a start button!! BUT I am going to give it a try.  I believe in a fair shake.  I'm going to try to use it, even with the dumbed down button chaos, and I'll write out any alterations to my pressure cooker recipes.

I'm already 1HR 43 minutes into the 8 our yogurt process, I'll report back on that one.

I am going to try to rework all of my recipes to also have pressure cooker versions.  I know a bunch of people who have bought them, on my recommendation, and the least I can do it supply some of MY recipes.

Just to be clear though, all the electric pressure cookers are the same, basically, some have a million buttons (ugh) and some have only a few  They all turn themselves of an reset to a warm mode.  They all sautee and they all are slow cookers, rice cookers and steamers.

I still think that every single person needs an electric pressure cooker on their counters.  I still think you should use it almost daily.  I just don't, anymore, think it HAS to be a Nesco.  Go, go get yourself a pressure cooker, some are cheap, some are expensive.  Get the one you can afford and come back here and I'll have even more recipes we can pressure cook!

/tracy

Super soft rolls, sort of sweet, sort of buttery, absolutely and totally and completely delicious. This makes 9, you can double it.

You can double this recipe and put them in a 9x13 but I really prefer them in this 9 pack in a 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  They're so easy, really, just make more fresh when you need them.

I am the bread queen, apparently, and I love so many sorts of bread and recently, I've been into the hard, crusty, rustic, bread.  Sometimes though, like today, I want soft and tender and slightly chewy but fluffy... how hard can THAT be? Well, c'mon it's me, it's not THAT hard. I have a recipe for you that is a morph of a bunch of recipes that I've tried and this particular combination...nails it!

I do it in the kitchen aid mixer, you can do it by hand of course it just takes some rather substantial kneading to combine the butter into the dough  I have done it by hand so it does work.  I prefer the machine :D

TRACY'S SUPER SOFT SWEET ROLLS

INGREDIENTS

*TRY to weigh your flour, if you can't then do the loosening, scooping then shaking to even off the top method*

250 g all purpose flour (about 2 cups) plus a Tablespoon or two if needed
1/4 c milk powder
2 1/2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast

1/2 cup water (or a little more if needed)
1 large egg
3 TB soft (room temperature) butter

METHOD AND THE PLAY BY PLAY PICS

Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of the mixer.  Add the water and egg and combine until it's a ball,  

    

When it comes together, drop the butter on and let it go... don't fret, it'll almost break but it will come together in a smooth ball...   

    

Ah, lookie lookie, this is about 6-8 minutes, yeah, it takes time. IF after 6-8 minutes, it's not pulling away from the sides at all, add a tablespoon of flour to give it a helping hand.  It's done when it's pulled away and is smooth.  Form in a ball, with oiled hands, and drop in a bucket, with a lid, to rise to double... about an hour 

    

Here's the before and after rise... 

    

Pat the dough out and roll to a log.  Divide into three, divide each in three.  We want 9

    

Roll each piece out and roll it up, jelly roll style and place in a sprayed and parchment lined 8x8 or 9x9 pan.

    

OH look at my little lovelies.  Leave them to rest an hour and a half.  Egg wash the little plump darlings and pop them into a preheated 350 oven for 20-23 minutes

    

OH look at these beauties.  22 minutes at 350.  Remove from pan immediately and transfer to a rack to cool.  TRY to wait to eat them...

     

These are soft, pully, tender, buttery, moist, fluffy, and just crazy delicious

    

Go make these

they're amazing

/tracy