Stewed Chicken

Wow! It's been a while since I posted!

Bob bought me a Fagor Multi-Cooker a couple of months ago and I have been putting up food ever since! I like to cook a big batch and put portion sized servings in freezer bags. Then if I'm tired, or more often, have a headache, we can just defrost a bag of beans or chicken or whatever! If you are thinking about getting a new pressure cooker, definitely take a look at my Fagor.  It's also a slow cooker and rice cooker.

This stewed chicken is something I just made up. It's based on my Mom's smothered chicken, but since the drumsticks were frozen some of the steps were eliminated. Not to worry...it's absolutely delicious!

Stewed Chicken

1 bag frozen drumsticks
32 oz box chicken broth
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup frozen mixed peppers
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Place frozen chicken in electric (or regular) pressure cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, close the lid and set to cook on high for 25 minutes. When cooking is done, let it cool naturally for about 20 minutes. That's it! Enjoy!

Quick Barbecued Chicken

Okay, I'm from the South. It's my job to eat barbecue. Really! It is! Would I lie to you? But I don't always want to go outside to cook it on the grill. Yes, sometimes I want that good, smokey flavor. But sometimes I just wish I could make really good barbecue in my kitchen. Well, leave it to Lorna Sass to come up with a pressure cooker recipe. This recipe is from her book, Cooking Under Pressure, which I highly recommend. See the sidebar of my favorite tools for my favorite pressure cooker. Makes my cooking life so much easier. Don't ask where's the picture. It smelled so good when it finished cooking that we just ate it up right away! I had a breast leftover, which I used a couple of days later for pizza. I'll post that recipe in a bit. Next time I make this (which won't be long) I'll take a photo...if I can wait to eat it long enough! LOL!

Quick Barbecued Chicken

2 tablespoons oil
3 to 4 pounds chicken parts, preferably thighs and drumsticks, skinned (I used boneless skinless breasts and some skin on drumsticks)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced (optional) (I used 1/2 half green and 1/2 red bell peppers)
2 cups prepared barbecue sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the cooker. Brown the chicken well on both sides in small batches, adding extra oil as needed. Set the browned chicken on a platter. Pour of or sop up leftover oil if needed.

Add the water, taking care to scrape up any browned bits (the fancy cooking term for this is suc) sticking to the bottom.

Place the onions and green pepper (if using) in the bottom of the cooker. Add the reserved browned chicken plus any juices that have collected on the platter. Pour the sauce on top. Do not stir.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. (I cooked for 15 minutes since I had large pieces of breasts) Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Place the chicken on individual plates or a serving platter. If the sauce is too thin, tent the chicken with aluminum foil, and boil the sauce vigorously until reduced. Spoon the sauce on top of the chicken and serve.

Variation Note: There's no reason you can't do ribs this way. Just set your pressure cooker for the time recommended for ribs. Hmmm...this winter might be a big barbecue eatin' winter!!!

Great Northern Beans

Bob and I love beans. And being able to cook them quickly in the pressure cooker just adds to the appeal. Bob was raised eating pinto beans only, so that's what I cook most of the time. But every once in a while I throw in a ringer like great northerns, red beans, or black beans.

Great Northern Beans

1 cup great northern beans
5 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup frozen mixed peppers
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram leaves

Rinse and pick through beans. Soak in water for at least 4 hours. Drain and rinse. Add to pressure cooker. Add the 5 cups of water and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and lock lid in place. Heat on high until cooker is pressurized. Turn heat down to maintain pressure and cook for 30 minutes. When beans are cooked, take cooker off of heat and let de-pressurize naturally (about 15 minutes). Open cooker and salt the beans to taste.

Note: If you want to cook these beans in a Dutch Oven, follow my directions through putting all the ingredients in the pot. You will not need the vegetable oil if cooking in the Dutch Oven. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil for about a minute then lower heat to simmer. You may cover if you wish, but leave partially uncovered or the beans may boil over. Simmer until beans are soft. Salt the beans to taste.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

I love soup. I love soup in the winter. I even love soup in the summer. It can be 100F outside and I might be inside eating soup. So you'll probably see a lot of soup recipes here! This Chicken Vegetable Soup is a new one. A few weeks ago I had just made some vegetable stock in my pressure cooker. I had strained it and was going to let it cool then freeze it for future use. It smelled so good it made me hungry for soup. So...I made this soup! It is very tasty and satisfying. Play with the seasonings and see how many ways you can make it (Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.). You'll notice that there are no measurements for some of the ingredients. That's because this is your soup and you can make it with any vegetables in any amount that you want. Love asparagus with chicken?...throw some chopped fresh asparagus in there! Love broccoli?...go for it! Have fun!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 - 1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion, diced

4 fresh carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
frozen corn
fresh or frozen green beans
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
various frozen or fresh vegetables, sliced, chopped, or diced
2 envelopes sodium free beef or chicken broth (I use Herb-Ox)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
seasonings of choice (try Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.)

Pour vegetable broth in pressure cooker. Add chicken. (If you want to slightly brown the chicken first, your soup will have more flavor. If you do that, brown the chicken in the pressure cooker then add the stock). Add the rest of the vegetables and seasonings. Stir. Turn burner to high heat, cover and lock the lid. When pressure is reached, turn burner to heat sufficient to maintain pressure. (See my pc tip for electric ranges) Cook at pressure for 25 minutes then quick release the pressure. If you want to let the pressure release naturally, you can decrease the cooking time by several minutes. I always cook chicken for at least 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. When the cooker is de-pressurized, remove the lid and take the chicken out. Place on a cutting board and shred, chop, slice...however you feel like eating it. We have found that shredded is easier on our pouches. Put the chicken back in the cooker, stir, and serve up!

Vegetable Stock Tip

My Veggie Stock Bag!

I hate to waste food. I like to save bits and pieces of vegetables to make stock. You know the pieces I'm talking about...the stem end part of the tomato that you cut off and throw into the garbage disposal, the top leafy part and the bottom of the stalk of celery, the first layer of onion that you peel off because it cooks leathery, the top and bottom of the carrot and the peels too, whatever. I use every edible part of the vegetable! Don't throw them in the garbage or garbage disposal, or even the compost pile...put them in a gallon freezer ziplock bag and throw them in the freezer. When the bag is full or even half full (if you can't wait!), toss the veggies in a Dutch oven, or even better, a pressure cooker. Throw some bay leaves, a little seasoning, bring to a boil then simmer. When the stock is done, strain. Toss the veggies. You can now use the stock right away or let it cool, then save in the freezer until you need it for soup. If you're making it in a Dutch oven it will take you 2-3 hours. A pressure cooker will give you wonderful veggie stock in less than half an hour. Experiment with your seasonings...have fun!

Ready to Cook!

Pressure Cooker Tip

I have a glass top electric range. I didn't use my pressure cooker very much for quite a few years because keeping the cooker at a regulated temperature can be difficult on an electric range. You put the burner on high temperature to get it pressurized then you turn down the burner to keep it "just pressurized". Right. Not so easy on an electric range. My first electric range was the coil type and you can turn on a burner to the proper temperature and just leave it there and transfer the cooker once it's pressurized. Not so on a glass top. You can't have a burner on without a pot on it. I can't believe I was stumped for so long! One day I just looked at my range and realized what I needed to do!

1. While you're getting your cooker ready on burner #1, put a pot of water on the burner that you will move the cooker to that will keep it pressurized (burner #2). Put burner #2 on the required heat to keep the cooker pressurized. On my range, it's part way between medium and medium-low.
2. Once you have everything you need in your cooker, cover, lock the lid, and turn that burner (burner #1) on high.
3. When the cooker is pressurized (I have a yellow button that pops up on mine when it's pressurized), move the pot of water off of burner #2 and transfer the cooker from burner #1 to burner #2.
4. Follow your recipe directions for timing and de-pressurizing.

Now...finally...we can enjoy our pressure cookers on glass top ranges!!!

Burner #2 on left and Burner #1 on right

Pinto Beans

Bob and I love beans...any kind of beans! We usually have at least one bean night per week. Sometimes it's canned black beans or chili beans but most of the time it's dried pinto or great northern beans. Bob was raised eating pinto beans only so I cook those most of the time. They are so easy to cook in the pressure cooker I only measure out 1 cup of dried beans and make a small amount.

Pinto Beans

1 cup pinto beans, rinsed and soaked for at least 4 hours (or use the quick method of boiling for 2 minutes and let sit, uncovered for 1 hour)

5 cups water

1 tablespoon canola oil

onions, chopped

mixed frozen sweet peppers

black pepper

garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons marjoram

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

Add all ingredients to pressure cooker and stir. Turn to high, cover and bring to pressure. Turn heat to just under medium and cook at pressure for 25 minutes. Take off heat and let cooker de-pressurize naturally. When lid will unlock, open and salt the beans before serving.

New England Fish Chowder

I had a medical procedure today and wanted soup when I got home this afternoon. I had been fasting for 1 1/2 days before the procedure so I was really hungry. I've mentioned before how much I love love love my pressure cooker. I recently bought Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass. She's got a blog and a website with recipes too. I highly recommend this cookbook if you have a pressure cooker. And if you don't have a pressure cooker, get one. It took me about 10 minutes to chop the veggies, it cooked under pressure for 4 minutes, then simmered for about 5 minutes. Voila! New England Fish Chowder! In a total of about 20 minutes! So delicious and satisfying too.

New England Fish Chowder by Lorna Sass
(used with permission)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil (I used butter)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used new potatoes)
1 pound thick firm-fleshed white fish fillets, such as cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (I used tilapia and flounder)
2 cups fish broth or clam juice
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (I used 1 1/2 cups fat-free half and half)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I used about 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
Salt and freshly ground white or black pepper
Garnish: additional unsalted butter, cut into pats (optional) (I didn't use this)

Heat the butter in the cooker. Saute the onions until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the celery, carrot, and potatoes, and saute an additional minute. Add the fish chunks, broth (watch for sputtering oil), water, bay leaf, and thyme.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 4 minutes. Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Stir in the milk, corn, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the corn is cooked. Top individual servings with additional butter, if desired.

Saturday, September 18th
I had an idea last night as I was drifting off to sleep. I thought I'd better get it posted before I totally forget about it. Yeah...I'm old enough for that! I think next time I make this, I'm going to use cooked great northern beans instead of potatoes. I think it will actually be thicker, which is what I think of when you say chowder, and it will add a very different texture and taste to the original recipe. I guess it wouldn't actually be "chowder" then, but I think we'd like it better.