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.

  

Comfort Food--Ribbin' It

After a swing through Costco a few days ago, I had 3 pounds of "Country Style boneless pork ribs" that needed to be cooked. Country Style pork ribs, are really pork shoulder, cut to look like ribs.  If we had summer weather here, I would have put them in the pressure cooker  and pre-cooked them before tossing them on the grill and serving them with barbecue sauce, but I woke up to another gloomy morning (it's now sunny and bright) and decided to prepare the ribs in the slow cooker, with apples, onion and sauerkraut, a stick to your ribs dinner that slow cooks for 6 hours on high with the sweet and spicy sauerkraut as a great accompaniment.

Cut the apple with the "Dial-a-Slice" apple corer/slicer--adjusts for 8 or 16 wedges

  This recipe could be a Take-5, but not everyone will have fresh, rather than canned sauerkraut on hand.  If you don't have sauerkraut, double the amount of onions and apples and cook for the same amount of time.  Serve with smashed red potatoes, and Riesling or your favorite beer. 

 

 

Country Style Ribs with Sauerkraut and Apples

 

Serves 4

 

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons sat

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 pounds boneless country style ribs

One large sweet yellow onion, such as Vidalia

3 large Granny Smith or other cooking apple, peeled, and cut into 16 wedges

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cups fresh sauerkraut (it's sold in the fresh pickle and deli section of the supermarket)

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil, sprinkle the meat evenly with the salt and pepper and brown the meat on all sides, transfer it to the insert of a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Add the onion, and apples to the skillet, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion begins to soften, add the sauerkraut, sugar, cider and mustard, and stir to combine.
3. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker, covering the pork with the mixture. 
4. Cover the slow cooker, and cook on high for 6 hours, or on low for 10 to 12. 
5. Remove the pork from the slow cooker, and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut off any excess fat, and arrange on a serving platter. 
6. Remove any excess fat from the apple and sauerkraut mixture, using a slotting spoon transfer to the serving platter, and serve with smashed red potatoes on the side.  

 

I was fortunate to be at Specialty Produce this week when they received organic apples from the Lakeside Organic farm, and used those for this recipe.  I also got some really amazing looking red pears, which I'm going to transform into something tomorrow, maybe an upside down cake for Dr. C, so stay tuned.  Until then, have a great day.