Instant Pot Yogurt

 There may be quite a few steps to home made yogurt, but don't let that scare you, it really is easy, and it is by far the best yogurt I have ever had. I usually start the process about an hour before bed, and then wake up to put the yogurt on the strainer. 
Ingredients: 
8 C Whole Milk (supposedly lower fat milk will work, but I haven't ever tried)
1-2 TBsp Yogurt (with live cultures, at room temperature)
1/4C-1/2 C Sugar (or a sweetener of your choice)
1-2 tsp Vanilla (high quality)
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Equipment:
Thermometer
Large Bowl (that the IP will fit in with ice water in it)
Ladle
Whisk 
Strainer (for the yogurt)
Coffee Filters (if you don't have a yogurt strainer)
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1. Put 2 tablespoons of yogurt in a bowl, and set aside. 
2. Pour milk into instant pot liner. Cover. Vent to sealing. Push YOGURT, then ADJUST, until your machine reads BOIL. Let the Instant Pot start it's magic. It will take about a half hour for the instant pot to heat the milk to 180 degrees. The IP will ding when the milk is ready. * It must be at least 160... the higher temperature the thicker your yogurt should be. That said you can drain it to be as thick as you want, so I just trust the IP. While your IP is heating the milk, get your ice bath ready.
3. Take the IP liner out and place it into your ice bath,
Watch the milk pretty closely here. 
4. Whisk the milk without scraping the bottom (there is burnt milk on the bottom that you don't want in your yogurt)
Whisk and check the temperature of the milk constantly. 
5. When milk reaches 110 degrees F, take IP liner out of ice bath, and dry the outside of the liner, and put it back into the IP. 
6. Take a ladle and ladle some of the milk into your yogurt from step one. Stir until smooth, then pour tempered yogurt back into your milk. 
7. Whisk gently but throughly DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOTTOM. 
8. Put lid back on and set to sealing
9. Push YOGURT and it should say NORMAL and a time of 10:00 hours. 
Be careful here, I thought it was on yogurt/normal once and it was actually on 'keep warm', so make sure yogurt button is lit up.
I10. ncubate 5-6 hours for a mild yogurt, and 8-10 hours for a yogurt more consistent with Greek yogurt. 
Immediately strain over a bowl using preferred method.
- coffee filters over a strainer
- yogurt strainer
Place in fridge, on strainer for 2-4 hours. 2 hours being more of a runny yogurt and 4 hours being more of a Greek style yogurt (we like it more Greek)
11. When your desired thickness is reached then whisk in sweetener. I like 1/4 C-!/2 C Sugar. but you can use warmed honey, or stevia, then and 1-2 tsp of Vanilla. The vanilla here is important, it will essentially be the flavor of your yogurt, so I use a high quality vanilla here. ENJOY. Homemade yogurt is SO much better than store bought! 

Jaci's Burrito Bowls

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of diced yellow onion
1 cup of uncooked extra-long grain rice
1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1 15 oz can of black beans drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 1/4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups of reduced fat colby jack monterey jack or cheddar cheese
kosher salt and pepper
freshly diced tomatoes
diced green onions
sour cream
guacamole

 Method:
1. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to Instant Pot and hit Saute button, then hit adjust button to set to More.
2. Season diced chicken with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Once oil is hot, add chicken to pot in two batches to encourage browning.
4. Once chicken is browned, add onions and cook until they start to soften.
5. Add additional tablespoon of olive oil and uncooked rice and toast uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or just until some grains start to turn golden brown. Don't skip this step. Rice needs to be toasted.
6. Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika and cumin. Once the liquid is added, use wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot to prevent burn notice. 
7. Lock Instant Pot lid in place and set to Manual, High Pressure for 7 minutes.
8. Use Quick Pressure Release, and once pressure pin drops, open Instant Pot and fluff Chicken Burrito Bowl with fork.
9. Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 minutes to melt cheese.
10. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, green onions, sour cream and guacamole.

Momma Roe's Lasagna

 

Ingredients:

1 lbs Ground Beef browned

15 oz HUNTS Tomato Sauce (this is the only kind mom likes)

1/2 Can Water

1 Box Lasagna Noodles (cooked and drained)

Grated Mild Cheddar Cheese

Grated Mozzerella Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

carrot (optional)

Method:

Brown and drain hamburger. Add tomato sauce to hamburger, if you are going to boil, add half of a can of water, and one carrot (Nonna Renna believed that the carrot took off some of the acidity of the tomato sauce). Boil for 2-6 hours, or put into IP for 15 minutes (sans water). In a 9x13 baking dish add enough sauce mixture to just barely cover the bottom of the dish, then layer lasagna noodles, sauce, then each cheese for three to four layers. Remove carrot when you come to it. Cover with tinfoil, Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, then remove tinfoil and bake again for 15 or so minutes, until cheese is brown and bubbly! Mom's is the best! 

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Annie's Macho Nachos

 INGREDIENTS:

Tortilla chips

Refried black beans (refried stick to the chips better than regular beans)

Shredded chicken or pork (cooked carnita style is soooo good)

1 jalapeno (or canned, to taste)

Corn kernels

Shredded cheese

¼ c sour cream

1 Tbs fresh lime juice (1 lime)

Diced avocados 

Diced tomatoes

Cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Spray jelly roll pan so cheese comes off easier during cleanup.

3. Arrange chips on pan.  Cover with beans, meat, jalapeno, corn, and cheese.

4. Bake until cheese is melted, and chips are lightly browned, about 5-10 min.

5. Meanwhile, stir together sour cream and lime juice in small bowl.

6. Remove nachos from oven; sprinkle with avocado, tomato, and cilantro.  Drizzle with sour cream mixture.

Salsa Verde Crispy Carnitas

2-3 lbs Pork
Season Salt
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 White Onion
1 16oz Jar Salsa Verde ( we use the Herdez brand)

Method:

1. Cut pork into fourths, and lightly season with season salt 

2. Sear all sides of the pork on a pan or in the Instant Pot 

3. Cover meat with garlic, onion, and jar of salsa verde. Set Instant Pot on manual pressure for 60 minutes.

4. It tends to be a bit more tender if you wait for the Instant Pot to depressurize on it's own however we have done a QR and it is fine too. 

5. Shred your pork and enjoy *sometimes we will 'crisp' it up a bit on the stove ** we eat this meat as a salad topper, on buns, and as taco meat

Tomato Soup

Ingredients

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 oz Carrots peeled and chopped (be sure to weigh!)

8 oz Yellow Onion chopped (be sure to weigh!)

1 Tablespoon Dried Basil

3 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes in Purée Italian style

1 cup Chicken Stock/Broth

1-1.5 cup(s) Heavy Whipping Cream or Half & Half

2 teaspoons Kosher Salt or 1 tsp Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil leaves cut into fine ribbons

Instructions

Chop up the carrots and onions

Select Sauté or Browning on your Pressure Cooker cooking pot and allow to full heat.

Add oil and then add carrots, onions and dried basil. Sauté for 4 minutes, or until vegetables start to caramelize and the onions become a bit translucent.

Add canned tomatoes and chicken broth.

Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve.  Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes.

When Beep is heard, allow a full Natural Pressure Release.

Turn Pressure Cooker off and Select Sauté or Browning.  Using an immersion blender and blend until soup is smooth.  Add cream and allow to heat through.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Instant Pot: Strawberry Applesauce

Here is what you will need:
5-6 Apples (We love Fuji)
Handful of Strawberries (We use frozen)
1 C Water or Apple Juice
1/4 -1/2 C Sugar (optional)

Here is what you will do:
Peel and core your apples, add all ingredients into IP set to manual pressure for 5 minutes.  Be careful with the IP and quick release, the applesauce can get stuck in the release valve. This makes about 6 pouches of apple sauce. My kiddos love it!

Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana

This stuff was good, Todd even went back for seconds. It was easy too. I also don't think that this one is any better or faster in the IP rather than just on the stove, but it didn't dirty any other pans so we will be happy with it.

Ingredients

1 pound Italian Sausage I used Jimmy Dean’s I think

4 slices Bacon, rough chopped

3 Large Potatoes, UNpeeled and sliced ¼" thick (I used red, because they make it pretty, ha ha)

1 Onion, chopped (I only used ½ of an onion)

4 Garlic Cloves, minced

6 cups Chicken Stock/Broth

2 cups Fresh Kale or Spinach sliced into ribbons

1 cup Heavy Cream

Instructions

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Select the Sauté function on your IP and allow to heat.

Add bacon to the Pressure Cooker cooking pot and cook until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towel lined plate and drain most of the grease.

Add onions to the cooking pot and sauté three minutes. Add sausage, breaking up into pieces and sauté until browned, about five minutes. Add garlic to cooking pot and sauté one more minute.

Turn off Pressure Cooker and drain grease.

Add Chicken Broth and potatoes.

Lock on lid and set to ‘seal’ .

Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes.

When Beep sounds, allow a 10 minute Natural Pressure Release and then do a Quick Release.

Add kale or spinach to the cooking pot and stir until wilted. Add cream and combine.

Place in serving bowls and top with bacon. EJOY!

Deana Prindle's Cheesecake Adapted for the Instant Pot

How is that for a title? Ha ha! I have been wanting to try a cheesecake in the Instant Pot for a while now, but I am REALLY partial to Deana's cheesecake. It is just so much perfection in a cheesecake that why mess with a good thing? SO for the most part I halved everything except the eggs. Next time I think I will keep the crust the same as written, because we all love the crust, ha ha!

Just as a note, this recipe is not less work, in fact it may be more work than just placing it in the oven instead of the IP but the IP is fun, and we will pretend that it takes less power.

Crust:
2C Graham Crackers Crushed
2TBS Sugar
½ C melted butter
Mix in a bowl. Press into the bottom of a 7” spring form pan

THEN place in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. 

Filling:
2 8oz pkg Cream Cheese
¼ tsp salt
1/2 C sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Soften cream cheese, beat all ingredients until smooth, but try not to over mix. Pour mixture over your crust. 

Place cheesecake in the IP covered very well with foil, manual high pressure for 30 minutes. While in the IP mix your topping

Topping:
1C sour cream (16oz tub)
¾ C sugar
½ tsp almond extract
1 ½ TBS Lemon Juice
Mix with a mixer, wait until cheesecake is done baking, pour over cheesecake. 

Bake in oven (350) for an additional 10 minutes. 

Place on the counter to cool for an hour, then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night for best results. 

ENJOY SOME DELICOUSNESS!!!