Instant Pot – INACTIVE – Vanilla Blafer

Short Rib Ragu

Jessica — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 16:34:39 +0000

So now that we are in September and starting to feel the Fall vibes with all the pumpkin spice everywhere … it just feels so right to make a hearty red wine, short rib pasta. Currently I’m really into short ribs. They are definitely a tough meat so you need to cook them low, slow and long to make them soft, buttery and melt into your mouth. Or quick and easy with one of my favorite kitchen tools, the Instant Pot!
If you don’t have an Instant Pot .. you should get one. It will cut your cooking time down by several hours. And if you are like me, sometimes you just can’t get to thinking about dinner until a couple hours before and you just don’t have half a day to prep! But if you don’t have one of these life savers, follow same directions but use a slow cooker for 8 hours on low or Dutch oven over the stove for 3-4 hours on simmer.
My husband asked if I can make this weekly it’s that GOOD! I said yeah, sure… as long as he does the dishes

3-4 lbs boneless short ribs
2 C good red wine
1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 yellow onion diced
6 garlic cloves minced
1 lg or 2 small carrots chopped
1 celery stalk sliced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp salt + kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Set Instant pot to sauté mode and add olive oil and butter. Generously sprinkle the short ribs with kosher salt and pepper.
Sear the meat on all sides for a couple min until a nice crust appears. Set aside. Add a little more butter if needed to pot then add all your veggies. Cook until slightly soft. Add tomato paste and stir for a min. Pour in your wine and scrape the bottom of the pan (with a wooden spoon) to get all the tasty browned bits at the bottom. Let simmer for about 5 min for the wine to reduce. Add the San Marzano tomatoes, oregano, thyme and short ribs to cover. Put on lid and set for 45 min. Let natural release for 15 min. Take meat out and shred. Set instant pot back to sauté mode, whisk in flour to thicken sauce. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Add meat back to pot. Serve over a thick buttered pasta like pappardelle or fettuccini, sprinkle of Parmesan and a toss of parsley.

Instant Pot Roasted Chili Verde

Jessica — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 21:11:44 +0000

Growing up in Oxnard, CA we had the absolute BEST Mexican food available to us. One of my favorite dishes was always Chili Verde. Now, I’m not saying that my recipe can compete with the years and years of traditional style Mexican cooking that has been passed down from generation to generation BUT it’s still pretty damn good in its own right.

I love and prefer to roast all my veggies first. It just gives it a nice smokier, richer, deeper flavor to the peppers and really gives a beautiful charred sweet bite to the tomatillos. All the veggies become smoother which lends itself to a really silky sauce.

I also prefer to use my Instant Pot for this recipe. It not only cuts down on cooking time by HOURS but it makes large tough pieces of meat just melt into your mouth. It’s one of the greatest kitchen inventions ever!!! But you can totally use a Dutch Oven or heavy bottom large pan. Follow the directions as noted but add 2 hours of simmering time.

4.5-5 lbs pork shoulder (or 3.5-4lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs)
3 poblano peppers halved and deseeded
3 anaheim peppers – halved and deseeded
6 tomatillos – hulled and halved
1 jalapeño – halved and deseeded
1 large yellow onion – quartered
1 whole garlic bulb
handful cilantro leaves
juice of 1 lime
1 C chicken stock
1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp granulated onion
2 tsp ground cumin
Kosher salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to high broil. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place all peppers and tomatillos skin side up, whole unpeeled garlic bulb and quartered onion on it. Broil for about 10 min or until peppers become charred and black. Set peppers into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Peel garlic cloves and add to a blender with the onions, tomatillos with all their juices, cilantro, chicken stock, lime juice, granulated onion and garlic. Peel charred skin off the peppers and add to the blender. Blend until well combined. Set aside.
Trim pork of most of it’s fat and cut into 2 inch cubes. Or leave chicken as is. Generously salt and pepper meat all over.
Set Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add 1 tbsp at a time and brown meat on all sides. Do in a couple batches. Set all aside.
Pour chicken stock in the pot and scrape all brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the meat and green sauce.
Set Instant Pot to 25 min and let natural release for 10 min.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Top with sour cream, cilantro and avacado. Sop it all up with a warm, chewy flour tortilla.

Instant Pot Korean Short Ribs

Jessica — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 14:34:46 +0000

Break out that Instant Pot because these short ribs are everything!!! Melt in your mouth, easy and robust flavor. A little spice from the Gochujang which is a savory, sweet and spicy fermented red chili paste meets citrusy and freshness of the orange juice and ginger in a bold bath of umami soy. Round out the richness of the beef with a side of sesame oil sautéed kale and crispy garlic chips with clean, simple steamed white jasmine rice.

Don’t ask me how the greatness of an Instant Pot works… it just does and I’m so grateful for the time saving it gives. Short ribs are a very tough piece of meat but in less than 45 minutes you will get the most intensely tender, fall apart meat EVER!

4-5 lbs boneless short ribs
3/4 C soy sauce or Tamari
1/4 C honey
2 Tbsp gochujang
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Mirin
1 Tbsp dark toasted sesame oil
4 minced garlic cloves
2 inch grated fresh ginger
1/4 C fresh squeeze orange juice
1/3 C water
Kosher salt and pepper
1-2 Tbsp neutral oil

Generously salt and pepper all sides of the beef.

Whisk together rest of ingredients. Set aside.

Set instant pot to Sauté mode adding neutral oil. Sear all sides of meat and set aside.

Pour sauce mixture into pot while scraping up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Turn off sauté mode.

Lay short ribs in pot, cover and cook for 30 min. Let natural release for 10.

Take ribs out of pot and shred with 2 forks.

Instant Pot Collagen Egg Bites

Jessica — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 20:29:15 +0000

My go to Starbucks food order is always the egg white bites. Love em but don’t love the $4.50 price for 2 bites. I figured I could make my own and kick it up a notch by adding collagen protein. Cuz eating clean and adding beautifying ingredients will help you look and feel like a spring chicken ????

I’m loving these so much that I’ll be creating different variations so stay tuned!!!

You will need a special silicone egg bite mold. I got mine from Amazon.

4 pasture raised eggs
1/4 c @nancysyogurt probiotic cottage cheese (or you can use ricotta)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c chopped marinated artichoke hearts or fire roasted bell peppers
2 tbsp collagen protein
1/4 c milk (I used unsweetened almond milk but half n half tastes better!)
1/4 tsp salt

Lightly spray the mold with avocado oil. I LOVE @chosenfoods because it has real ingredients only! Anyways… fill each cup evenly with the chopped veggies. Put all other ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Pour egg mixture almost to the top of each mold. Cover the top with a paper towel and then tin foil to fully secure it so no water seeps through. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the instant pot. Carefully place the filled egg molds on the trivet. Set to steam for 8 min. Let naturally release for 10 min. Once egg bites are out of their mold, I like to sprinkle more cheese on top and broil them in the toaster oven for a couple min.