Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I think we’ve only ever done two or three things in a crock pot that really turned out well; my crock pot has gotten the most use as a way to carry to a party and warm up dishes that have already been cooked otherwise. But one of the things we’ve found that the crock pot does pretty well is pulled pork. (Don't laugh, Texans - we're currently apartment dwellers ;-)

We’ve tried several recipes that turned out OK, but I wanted to make pulled pork in the crockpot like the Carnitas that we get at Chipotle (again, don't laugh! I just like it). A few months ago, I ordered what looks like a lifetime supply of Juniper Berries, because someone online had insisted that they were the key – but for us, they were not; and now I’m stuck with a huge vacuum-packed jar of berries that I’ll probably never use up in the remaining time that the Lord has allotted me.

But: I think I found the recipe last weekend. My husband signed up to receive email recipes from Cooks Country, and a recent one was for ‘Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas’; we tried it, and it was excellent. The secret seems to be citrus, which you don’t really taste AS citrus; but somehow, it adds that elusive 'je ne sais quoi'.

A slight variation of the recipe is available at the Mels Kitchen Cafe website; the Cooks Country recipe suggested crisping the final product in a fry pan, but Mels Kitchen does it under the broiler, and I think that makes a better product:

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/slow-cooker-pork-carnitas

After about a year of ‘window-shopping’ pressure cooker options, we have decided to purchase an Instant Pot. We are going for the 8-quart ‘Duo’, because that seems to offer the most versatility. I became interested in this product because of all the reviews on how well it does hard-boiled eggs (makes them very easy to peel, even very fresh eggs) bone broth, and yogurt-making. Husband is interested in the fast-cooking of meats.

Do any of you who have an Instant Pot have favorite recipes/uses for it?

-JT

[Aliska]

Sometimes they can't improve on a good thing. M&M's. Kid candy but then I get hungry for them. Can't eat the peanut ones now; actually love peanuts in other things, like the original M&M's in the biggest bag I can find, won't say how I sometimes throw a handful in my mouth.

I think I didn't use mine enough to get much stuck to the sides until I made the Maid Rites in which case stuff burnt on. Not real dark but good and stuck. I looked on the web for help when a scrubby didn't work. Can't remember what I did. It was mainly just on the sides where the heating element(s) are.

I don't have any candy - I've had Werther's caramels in one covered pot and the measured other stuff except oats in another waiting for the energy to get on with it. So I stole a couple caramels, shouldn't matter but will get some more anyway.

I just bought for a treat Tavener's licorice from England, found it at Walgreen's for awhile but they run out and it's over. Same with pecan logs which I love. Then there's aplets and cotlets, Turkish delight it really is, and you can make it but too much trouble. Get big boxes of Junior Mints, love those and the mint patty one, can't think of the brand. Love the raspberry gummis when I can find them. And one of my newest discoveries, a few years now, Taffy Town peppermint stripe salt water taffy my favorite of all their flavors. I posted about English blonde fudge weeks ago and haven't tried to make it yet. If I get really desperate and have some, I eat marshmallow creme out of the jar usually not all at once, and sweetened condensed milk. I mean I get a real desperation for sweets about in the late evening.

My Rival might be cooking a little too hot. The faster to cook my dear. The last I made in it was that youtube lady's chicken and noodles. I had to switch to a dutch oven and real oven to finish once I added the noodles. Cleaning the crock pot after that was easy, nothing stuck.

Once the chicken was cooked it was almost to die for at that point. Somebody posted a similar recipe and I thought I could just modify the chicken and noodles slightly and have the same or better.

And I finally made some cheater gravy for those instant mashed potatoes that are quite good now. I watched a youtube video where I think it was Nikko's Kitchen made KFC gravy using one beef boullion cube and one chicken, 2-1/2 cups water, then made a roux with too much oil imo. So I started with 2-1.2 cups of hot water, dug some BtB beef and dumped that in then scooped out some chicken. Stirred it in. Then I shook some cold water and flour in a jar I saved (lost my gravy shaker long ago) and stirred it into the hot broth mixture, brought to a boil, let boil a minute, then done. I used flour because this makes a lot and keeps in the fridge a few days to reuse whereas cornstarch breaks down if you try to reheat it.

So those are my stories for tonight. And thanks for the tip on how to clean a stubborn crock pot. I'm still getting a bigger one but am not real keen on many kinds of meat; chicken is really nice in them unless you want it crusty roasted or crispy barbeque or something.

Here's one thing I loved in my crock pot. Sauerkraut and kielbasa. Rinsed 2 sm cans sauerkraut, cut up a ring of kielbasa, sometimes add another ring of something, enough water so won't boil dry, plug in on low when it was working and wait til done.

They ruined those Brach's logs, white fondant or something with the pieces of chewy candy for the look of fruit. They still make them but the shape is all screwed up. I'll quit there; one thing leads to another with this candy stuff.

[Yardstick]

That is pure genius! I just tried it and it works.

Short of that method, the key is to add the eggs only AFTER the water is boiling.

If you google “how to boil eggs” the instructions invariably tell you to put the eggs in the water then bring to a boil — but that is wrong. You have to get the water boiling FIRST.

It has something to do with the outer membrane. When the water is boiling first the membrane sticks to the shell rather the egg. Result is eggs that slide right out even when they are super fresh.

[CottonBall]

LOL got me stabilized!

That’s ok, I can handle it. Any dental things are not imminent for me, other than a cleaning next week.

I had a friend with very soft teeth too - she broke one tooth eating cheese!

[V K Lee]

Normally, most candy is too sweet for my taste. But there are times when popping a small piece, and allowing it to melt in mouth is tempting. Werther's had caramel rounds, some have the soft caramel in the center: these are favorites, thus (of course) so hard to find. :( One cleaning set back on Rival pots is the fact one is warned DO NOT use anything that will scratch the glaze of the pottery. DUH. Just about everything will scratch; other than netting (like the netting used in old fashioned petti-coats) Fortunate to find a sponge wrapped in the net and used this for such cleaning, until it eventually cleaned its last pot. Netting

[MomwithHope]

We use the same method every year. First saw it online in an article that is still up there. Not good at posting live links but you can cut and paste -

http://www.latimes.com/la-fo-saltedturkey-story.html

We have done a chicken this way too. It was also called the Judy bird after the lady who came up with it. She also had a restaurant. Passed away rather young as I recall. We add the finely minced fresh poultry herbs to the salt.

[V K Lee]

Long before electric CROCK POTS, our Great Grandma did the best she could with what was available. This site gives a good deal of information as to the determination and insights into these God-fearing women. Recipes and a long ago diary found here:
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO
https://ahundredyearsago.com/

Boiled Cider Pie
https://ahundredyearsago.com/2017/10/29/boiled-cider-pie/

[MomwithHope]

We’ve done a chicken that way. I just posted the original article we found years ago, the lady who came up with it called it the Judy bird and she had a restaurant. She originally did it with chicken.

[be-baw]

I seldom have problems peeling eggs. I put the eggs in cold water, turn the gas burner in high, and right when it starts to boil, I cover and remove from heat. Wait 13 minutes, dump out the hot water and put the pot under running cold water for about 7 minutes.

I use a cheap non-stick pot. My expensive all-clad sauce pot can’t hard cook eggs (note I don’t say hard boiled) worth beans.

[Yardstick]

Starting the eggs in cold water works fine as long as the eggs aren’t super fresh, but if you happen to get a fresh batch they will probably be tough to peel. I’ve found that starting them in boiling water gives consistent easy peeling even with farm fresh eggs.

Here is a very thorough analysis of the subject:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs.html

[Jamestown1630]

We haven’t gotten ours yet, but we’re getting the Instant Pot 8 quart Duo; it seemed the most versatile. It will be our first experience with pressure cooking.

Instant Pot has been sort of a craze for a while now, and if you do a search, you’ll find all kinds of reviews, groups that share recipes, instructions, etc.

[Jamestown1630]

That is a nice website! (Last week, I think I recall that King Arthur had boiled cider on BOGO - they may still have.)

[CottonBall]

I seas amazed one instant pot on Amazon had over 22,000 reviews! Where have i been that I never heard of these things!

I have a small pressure cooker that works great for pot roast and supposedly for cooking beans, although I have had a hard time figuring out how to find the fine line between undercooked and overcooked beans with it.

I’m really interested in the yogurt and rice making capabilities of the pot.

[Jamestown1630]

Making yogurt is one of the things that sold me on the Instant Pot. I’m interested in trying some Indian dishes - pressure cooking is a standby in modern Indian cooking - and a lot of recipes use yogurt.

Oh, Liz - I tried the ‘Oui’. You must be right about the Vanilla, because that was all sold out at my store. All I could get was Lemon and Black Cherry.

It has a very different texture - sort of whipped. I thought the lemon was kind of ‘grainy’, maybe because of the acid; but the cherry was great.

I had thought the pots actually had lids; but I can still see lots of uses for them.

[Jamestown1630]

I think there’s going to be a learning curve with it; but there is a lot of information in all of those reviews.

I had heard of it some time ago, but I don’t think I initially realized that it was a pressure cooker. Until we decided we really wanted a PC and started research, I thought the IP was just some different kind of slow-cooker.

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t have experience with pears, but found this:

https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-store-pears-for-winter-1389338

Freeper Greeneyes has a weekly gardening thread; If you don’t get answers here, there are people there who can help with both of your questions:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3599292/posts

[Liz]

I’ll try the Oui cherry since you endorsed it.

[CottonBall]

What are you planning on pressure cooking?

[CottonBall]

I guess I don’t think much about being grateful for my teeth and being able to eat, but I do thank God often for the vision I have (it’s a much bigger problem than my teeth). And it will only get worse so I take it day by day. When I see something pretty, like now with the fall leaves, I am grateful for it and try to memorize it, just in case.

Sorry your dentures are hurting. I imagine that’s normal until you heal? I wonder how they adjust them?

Accepting others as they are is hard! But important for serenity. I’d like to be accepted with all my shortcomings too, so I have to remember that! Yes please keep me informed on both your daughter and your adventures with dentures!

[CottonBall]

“Can I save weed killer and good quality grass seed over the winter? Spouse says neither will be any good, I say if they don’t freeze then perhaps they will be OK..”

I have never thought about not saving weed killer. Or fertilizer. I save whatever is left and use it again in the spring. Seems to work fine.

I don’t know about grass seed since my husband is in charge of the lawn :-) but I save seeds from my nonhybrid plants. I have some that are over five years old and they still germinate just fine. In fact if they do freeze, they are better off. They last better under cold conditions. One caveat to that is that they shouldn’t be moist when freezing because ice crystals could burst the seeds. I just make sure mine are fairly dry, and then store them in baggies in a jar.

[Jamestown1630]

Chef John of Food Wishes has done a ‘Zombie Meatloaf’ for Hallowe’en. I don’t personally find it appetizing, but I bet kids would love it!

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com