Seriously, you have read how many blog posts about people and their Instant Pot in the last two years and thought that it would slowly die off as a fad. News flash; NOT GONNA HAPPEN! This machine has seriously helped me to be a good cook for my family and not eating/serving PB&J sandwiches on a nightly basis. Not that there is anything wrong with that, especially with chunky peanut butter & strawberry jelly (Yes, lets start that war of PB&J on a IP post).
This is my monster cooking device, the Instant Pot Ultra. I really struggled to figure out which one to buy when I started looking because there are so many available. One common thread I noticed was the size of the recipes that were available at the time, which was the 6 Quart. The 8 Qt required a bit of adjustments for any recipes and after seeing a few people cook with them I really saw the difference required in times. Not a negative at all, just something that didn't work for me. The Ultra caught my attention for all of the automatic cooking options (rice, eggs, yogurt) that I figured it would be the right model for me. After having it for a year, I don't regret it and I know I made the right choice. When I get another one (yes, I want a 2nd one for multi dish cooking), I will likely get the Duo.
I wasn't sure as to how to start using this thing. I went with the easiest thing I could possibly make, Mac-N-Cheese. It came out great! This was a good confidence booster since I wasn't sure about this and my abilities. Next, I made Jennie a Low Country Boil. A shrimp, potato, sausage, and corn happiness mixture that is guaranteed to please someone that loves seafood. Man, this is easy. Ok fine! You win. Let's see what you've got on baked beans. It took a little tweaking from the original recipe to my liking, but in the end it was perfect and I couldn't have done anything different to it.
Alright, so lets get to the happy place everyone looks forward to after dinner. Dessert. Yeah, this thing makes some serious desserts for you to partake in. I will warn you however that none of these things I make are diet friendly. I need to remember that considering I would like to get a smidge smaller in the gut area. Anyone know how to remove all carbs and calories from amazing food? No? Fine!
The first thing I made dessert wise was Lava Cake. I've never made these in my life before this and I think I may have had them twice, and those times were aboard a Disney Cruise (You've gotta do one in your life!). I used the Instant Pot App to look for desserts and this one popped up. I figured why not give this a shot because the worse I could do was fail and it was only dessert so no big deal. Yeah, I created a monster by doing this. They were perfect! Good cake layer on the outside with molten chocolate flowing from the center as soon as we cut into it. There was no stopping this monster as we started playing with the recipe and it has only gotten better each time. Especially thanks to friends taste testing it for me and making recommendations.
Cheesecake is a guilty pleasure of anyone (well, that I know of so far). It was a bit of a pain to make but it turned out perfectly. Who knew that you could make this in a pressure cooker? How about apple pie? Well, I have a close second with Apple Pie Dump Cake. Yeah its amazing. Finally, how about some Crème brûlée? Not even a small problem for the Instant Pot! They are all equally delicious and extremely easy to make.
When people ask me how I come up with these I happily say that I didn't. I am just really good at following instructions thanks to my time in the Marines. Seriously it is just that simple. The harder part was finding Instant Pot blogs/cooks/chefs that I felt like were speaking my language or could help me. I've finally found a few that I trust completely and look forward to making the things they come up with. Now, I could take some of these recipes and tweak a few things then post it as my own as some people have done. That's not my style nor will it ever be. I happily give credit where credit is due. My top three places to get recipes are from www.pressureluckcooking.com, www.pressurecookrecipes.com, and the Instant Pot App. There have been several other places I get them but these seem to be my saving graces.
Crabs? Yep. Chowder? Oh you know it. Potato salad? You're not even breaking a sweat. Lasagna? Sì! Corn on the Cob? Fastest and tenderest ever. But what's that last picture? That would be salmon, brussels sprouts, and jasmine rice. Only the salmon wasn't made in the instant pot although it could have. If I had two pots I might have tried making it but I have a good recipe for the grill that I don't plan on messing with anytime soon. My point is that with this great tool, you can have a gourmet meal for your whole family in a short period of time. The other great advantage to us is space savings. You already know that we do not have a massive kitchen in the RV and counter space is a serious premium.
So I can't say enough good things about this tool. On the same hand, if you use it improperly, you're going to be rewarded painfully. Its a pressure cooker that's holding a high amount of heat! There is a knob specifically for releasing the steam/pressure on the top of the pot. The first time you touch it, you will jump and scream slightly. Well, maybe not scream (I did) but it gets easier. Other than that, it's not that scary of a cooker. Now I have to ask you, if you haven't picked one up yet, what are you waiting for?
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