Category Archives: Soups & Stews

August 6, 2017 · 1:53 pm

Hasty Tasty Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is the quintessential comfort food, especially when you’re under the weather. But why pay for sodium-laden canned soup when you can make your own? For this batch of soup, I used the Instant Pot. The recipe is good for any pressure cooker. If you modify it for the slow cooker, don’t use frozen ingredients.

RECIPE

Hasty Tasty Chicken Noodle Soup

Makes 4 one-cup servings

I make my own chicken stock and store it in the freezer. I also keep a supply of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts and thighs. Using a few pantry and crisper items, I can pull out a jar of stock and a thigh and have delicious chicken noodle soup ready in an hour.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. cooking oil
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced carrot
½ cup diced celery
¼ cup diced bell pepper
1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher or pink Himalayan)
½ teaspoon pepper (I use Mrs. Dash garlic and herb)
1 frozen boneless skinless chicken thigh
1 pint chicken broth or stock (mine is frozen, but thawed will work)
1 pint water
1 bay leaf
1 serving pot-sized linguine

Directions:

Preheat the pot (on the Instant Pot use the sauté button). Add oil when the pot is hot.
Sauté onions, celery, carrots, and pepper for two minutes. Stir frequently.
Add salt and pepper. Turn off heat.
Add the water. Using a wooden spoon, deglaze the pot of fond left on the bottom.
Add the chicken, chicken stock, and bay leaf.
Seal lid and bring to pressure, either by using the manual setting for 30 minutes or the soup setting, which on my Instant Pot defaults to 30 minutes.
When time is up, turn off cooker and allow pressure to drop on its own (approximately 15 minutes).
Carefully open cooker. Using a long handled utensil, break apart the chicken and stir soup.
Add the linguine, cover pot, and allow residual heat to cook the pasta through (approximately ten minutes)
Remove bay leaf and serve. (If you have fresh herbs, add them before serving)

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Filed under chicken, cooking, Healthful Eating, poultry, pressure cooking, Instant Pot, Recipes, Soups & Stews

September 26, 2016 · 3:21 pm

Easy Ratatouille

Ratatouille, or a veggie stew of Provence, is versatile and delicious. Originally French, it gets its flavors from Herbes de Provence, a distinctive blend of dried herbs that typically include savory, lavender, marjoram, fennel or tarragon, oregano, thyme, and rosemary .

I’m still playing around with pressure cooker recipes, and this dish is ideal for HASTY TASTY MEALS UNDER PRESSURE (my work-in-progress). It’s also great for meat-free Mondays (or whatever day you want to go vegetarian). When I make ratatouille early in the week, I divide it into batches for weeknight meals. I add chicken and noodles for a chicken veggie stew, or broth and cannellini beans for a quick pasta fazool. I serve it as a stew over rice or puree it as a sauce and serve over pasta with fresh-grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: For my readers who live in higher elevations, keep in mind my elevation here in Florida is about 100 feet. You will need to add cooking time if you live above 2000 feet.

RECIPE

Easy Ratatouille

Yield: 8 cups

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes

2 carrots, diced

2 medium zucchini, sliced in ½” pieces

1 cup crimini or white mushrooms, sliced

1 28-oz. can tomato puree

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 Tbsp. dried Herbes de Provence

1 tsp. Kosher salt

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

(optional) fresh basil

Directions:

Heat olive oil in pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat.

Add onions, peppers, and celery. Saute 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic and Herbes de Provence. Stir until fragrant.

Add eggplant, carrots, and zucchini. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add all other ingredients except optional fresh basil. Close cooker lid and bring to pressure.

When pressure is reached, lower heat but maintain pressure. Cook for five minutes (electric models set for eight minutes).

Remove from heat. Allow pressure to drop on its own. (May take up to 25 minutes)

Carefully open cooker and ladle contents over bowls of rice or pasta, if desired. Garnish with a fresh sprig of basil.

Ratatouille stores well up to three days in the refrigerator. It freezes well and keeps for 4-6 months in the freezer.

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Filed under cooking, Eggplant, Healthful Eating, kitchen equipment, Recipes, Soups & Stews

Tagged as cooking, healthful diet, Pressure Cooking

September 23, 2016 · 3:49 pm

Hasty Tasty Chili

We love chili around our house, any variety. Beef or turkey, with or without beans, with or without pasta, with or without corn, Cincinnati-style or Tex-Mex chili, mild or mouth-blistering, we’ll eat it. I like to make chili with a cooked-all-day flavor that takes only an hour. It can be done! All you need is a pressure cooker.

I’m currently at work on my new cookbook, HASTY TASTY MEALS UNDER PRESSURE, experimenting with all our favorites using a pressure cooker. Mine is twenty years old, and has all the safety features missing from earlier models. But newer cookers are available now, including the electric models that have push-button selections and timers. I haven’t tried one yet, but my friend swears by hers.

Here is my latest version of chili using the pressure cooker method. You certainly can use canned chili beans and cut the cooking time, but cooking from dried gives me more control over my ingredients. However, I use canned corn if fresh is out of season (after rinsing and draining).

Don’t want to use a pressure cooker? No problem. Adapt the recipe for your slow cooker and cook on Low for 6 hours, or until beans are tender.

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RECIPE

Hasty Tasty Chili

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray

1 pound ground lean meat or turkey

1 pound dried pinto beans (I make an assortment of pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, and red or pink beans)

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon chili seasoning (I use Bloemer‘s brand)

1 10 oz. can Rotel® diced tomatoes and green chilies (Pick your heat level)

1 16 oz. can tomato sauce

1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn or 2 cups fresh corn kernels (Optional)

1 bay leaf

32 oz. filtered water (or replace some of the water with a bottle or can of beer)

Kosher salt

Directions:

Spray inside of a six-quart/liter pressure cooker pot with cooking spray. Preheat over medium.

Add meat, stirring occasionally to brown. When meat starts browning, add the onions and garlic.

Stir in chili seasoning.

After rinsing and inspecting dried beans for any debris, spread the beans over the browned meat mixture.

Cover the beans with the contents of the can of corn (optional). Add the filtered water and bay leaf (be sure beans are completely covered with liquid).

Close pressure cooker, increase heat to medium/high, and watch closely for it to reach pressure. When pressure valve jiggles, lower heat to the lowest setting possible while maintaining pressure. (Most models emit a low hiss when at correct pressure. If your cooker makes a lot of noise, lower the heat)

Once cooker reaches pressure, time for 40 minutes.*

Remove from heat and allow pressure to drop on its own, approximately ten minutes.

Carefully open the cooker (watch that steam!) and check beans for tenderness. They should be a bit firm at this point. Add the contents of the cans of Rotel and tomato sauce. Stir, close cooker, and bring back to pressure.

Cook an additional 10 minutes under pressure. After pressure drops on its own for 10 minutes, release pressure and open the cooker.

Test for seasoning and add salt to taste. Stir and serve with your choice of toppings.

*Pressure cookers vary by model. You may need more time if your cooker is 10 psi instead of 15 psi. As you use your cooker, you’ll learn to judge its cooking time. Just remember, it’s easy to quick-release pressure, check your food, and then return to pressure for additional cooking time. Also, the new electric cookers take the guesswork out of timing.

(For my readers who live in higher elevations, keep in mind my elevation here in Florida is about 100 feet. You will need to add cooking time if you live above 2000 feet.)

FRENCH ONION SOUP FOR TWO

I love French onion soup, but most in my family don’t. I needed a smaller portion so I developed this simple recipe that yields about two bowls (1 quart).

Keep in mind French onion soup is about onions. You need little else, but you do need onions. Even for two servings, I use four onions because I want the flavor and texture. I slow-cook the recipe for convenience, but it requires little simmering time once the onions are done. The flavors intensify in cooking sliced onions in butter. The rest is about turning rich, delicious onions into soup.

Bon appétit!

RECIPE

French Onion Soup for Two
Ingredients:
• 4 medium onions
• ½ stick unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 16-20 ounces stock (beef or poultry—homemade is best, but get reduced sodium if you buy ready-made stock)
• 1 sprig fresh Rosemary
• ¼ cup white wine
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or your choice)
Directions:
1. Peel, halve, and thinly slice onions using a knife, food processor, or mandolin.
2. Melt butter in a two-quart pan over low heat.
3. Add onions, salt, pepper, and Rosemary to melted butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions turn a golden color.
4. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with the wine and a wooden spoon.
5. Carefully pour in the pint of stock, cover, and cook at least twenty minutes or until heated through (or you may transfer to a slow cooker and heat on lowest setting two-three hours).
6. Divide between two large soup bowls and immediately top each serving with the cheese. Allow the cheese to melt (tent with foil for about five minutes).
7. Serve with French bread or a baguette.