Rainy Day Pressure Cooker Stock

Never, ever go to Costco when you are hungry; the smell of roasting chickens mixed with the smell of the baked goods will drive you mad, plus with the ladies and gents handing out free samples, you'll end up buying everything you don't need.  I make an exception with this rotisserie chicken, at $4.99 or thereabouts, it's cheap, it's huge and it's pretty tasty.  Costco sells about 100,000 of them per day and about 90 million a year.  The best thing about this classy chick is with just two of us here at home it will feed us for several meals in different iterations.  Editor's note, if you don't live near a Costco, Sam's Club also sells rotisserie chickens. 

San Diego has been rainy this past few days and my choices for dinner have been comfort foods.  I had bought a Costco rotisserie chicken earlier in the week, and once we'd had that for dinner, I saved the leftover carcass and juices, and today put them into the pressure cooker with some aromatics, and made stock.  If you have an Instapot or a pressure cooker this is the easiest way to get chicken stock in less than 40 minutes.  Once you have chicken stock, there are so ways to use it in recipes, but today I made chicken orzo soup.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock

Makes about 4 cups

1/2 onion, not peeled, coarsely chopped*

3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

3 ribs celery, coarsely, chopped

1 chicken carcass and any accumulated juices

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 1/2 cups water

Put the onion, carrot, celery and carcass into the pressure cooker or Instapot.  Add the thyme and water, secure the top. 

Simple ingredients

Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes.  Allow the pressure to come down naturally, remove the top and strain the solids out, and skim off any fat from the top of the stock. 

Season with salt and pepper.  At this point you should have 4 cups of stock which you can refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. 
Cook's Notes:

If you decide to change this up for a Mexican flavor, substitute 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, and 1 lime, cut into quarters for the thyme. 
For an Italian soup:  Substitute 2 minced garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary for the thyme.  

I usually don't save the chicken from the pressure cooker since its limp and given up all its flavor for the stock.  Cut off all the meat you want to use in the soup before you put the carcass in the pressure cooker, you should have a good 2 cups if you are making soup.
*Don't peel the onion, it adds color and nutrition to the stock.

Chicken Orzo Soup

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped sage or thyme 

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup cooked orzo pasta

2 cups finely chopped chicken

salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil or butter, saute the onion, carrot, celery and sage for 3 to 5 minutes.  

Add the stock, orzo and chicken.  

Simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

Soup is good food

The rain storms are blowing East, so if you are in the path of this storm, you'll be getting snow, and this is the perfect soup for a stormy day.  If you aren't using your Instapot or pressure cooker to make stock you aren't taking advantage of these great appliances.  Click here for a link to my pressure cooker book, it's got over 350 recipes to use in your pressure cooker or Instapot.  Enjoy your weekend, Ciao for now.

My New Best Friend

My friends at Fagor are at it again; they have come up with the ultimate machine!  This is the multi-cooker; a pressure cooker, rice cooker and slow cooker all in one.  A great design, kind of like a cousin to R2D2 of the Star Wars movie, it even beeps at you, it's a great machine to have in your kitchen.

Many of my chef friends who have sworn by stove top pressure cookers say that once they have used an electric pressure cooker, they have never looked back.  The electric cookers are the no-brainer of pressure cooking, you just set it and forget it.  The interior is non-stick and is removed easily for cleaning after each use.  It comes with a rack in the bottom for pressure cooking your favorite veggies, or for making creme brulee or pot de creme.
Tonight I made a Bolognese sauce in the multi-cooker, and it was awesome!   This recipe is simple, and gives you enough for 2 meals. 

Speedy Bolognese Sauce

Makes about 5 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 pound ground veal

1/2 pound lean ground pork

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup beef broth

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with their juice

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. In the pressure cooker, melt the butter over  medium high heat and sauté the onion, carrot, and celery for 2 minutes to soften the onion. 
2. Add the veal and pork, sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook until the meat is no longer pink. 
3. Stir in the beef broth, tomatoes, and cream. Lock the lid in place and cook 5 minutes at high pressure.
4. Release the pressure naturally and remove the lid, tilting the pot away from you to avoid any escaping steam. 
5. Skim off any excess fat on the top of the sauce and stir in the parsley and serve over pappardelle, or tortellini.

  

Birthin' the Baby...........

Today I received the first copies of my next book, and it's gorgeous!  Writing books is much like having a baby, you write, you edit, you wait and then you get to see the baby!  If you haven't done any pressure cooking, I look at it as the (safer) microwave for the 21st century; making slow food fast.  Risotto in 7 minutes without stirring; beef stew in 35 to 45 minutes; mashed potatoes in 5 minutes; short ribs in 25 minutes; chili in 20 minutes, it's all there and more---over 300 recipes (yes, I'm tired!!)
I'll be traveling and teaching this fall and hope to convert you all to the Pressure Cooker Gospel!  Have a great night!