Pressure Cooker Brown Rice

I have never made brown rice before. I guess I just really don't care about being healthy that much... ;)  I had no idea it would take THREE times longer than white rice. But it turned out great! We may just have to start being more healthy... LOL

1 cup brown rice

10 oz water

Cook on rice setting for 18 minutes. Push rice button and then the cook time adjustment button once so it says 18:00.

Let it natural release for 10 minutes.

Pressure Cooker Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

My pressure cooker has made my favorite, already easy to make potato salad even easier! Hooray!

Wash and scrub as many red potatoes as you would like,

Cut them into large bite-sized chunks.

Place them in pressure cooker with 1 cup water. Cook on veggie setting for 3 minutes.

Quick release and drain in colander.

Place potatoes immediately into a large mixing/serving bowl. While the potatoes are still hot stir in ranch salad dressing, frozen peas and black pepper to taste. Mix well.

Chill salad in fridge until cold.

At this point you may want to stir in more ranch dressing so it isn't too dry. But you can also just leave it as it is. Just depends on how wet you like your potato salad.

Stir in crumbled cooked bacon pieces just before serving.

Pressure Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

After several attempts, I think I finally figured out how to make creamy tasty scalloped potatoes. They require a little more effort than I had hoped but are done much faster than the traditional oven method. They would also be good with chunks of cooked ham.

This recipe makes enough for 2-3 small side servings.

Slice 5 medium-sized peeled potatoes (1/8-1/4" thick)

1 cup water

1 Tablespoon dried minced onion

salt & pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in pressure cooker. Set to 4 minutes on vegetable setting.

While the potatoes are cooking, make 3/4 cup of your favorite white sauce.

Quick release the pressure and carefully drain off any extra water.

Gently stir in white sauce and 1/2 cup grated cheese.

Put lid back on pressure cooker and let sit for 15 minutes on the keep warm setting before serving.

Pressure Cooker Pepper Bacon Mac & Cheese

This recipe makes 2 main-dish sized servings. But it can be easily modified to make more.

From my research the key is to grate your own cheese from a block and not to use pre-grated packaged cheese.

8oz pasta (I used large macaroni)
2 cups water or chicken
broth (I used water and a bit of bouillon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter
3 strips of cooked bacon broken into pieces
black pepper, to taste

Place in pressure cooker. Give a stir. Cook for 6 minutes on rice setting. Quick release and add...

1 generous cup of grated cheese (I used black pepper smoked white cheddar with a bit of medium cheddar)

Stir well to melt cheese.

Add some heavy cream to make it a bit smoother. Mine only needed a splash. But add what you like.

Soda Biscuits

These are absolutely, hands down the BEST biscuits ever! They are light, fluffy, tender, buttery deliciousness! They don't look pretty but we LOVE them! In fact, we have declared them too tasty to use for biscuits and gravy. And that's really saying something because we really love our biscuits and gravy around here.

Bake up a batch to go along with a pot of your favorite soup for a lovely cold winter's night supper.

Don't worry if the dough seems a bit wet. It is. And they will spread some, but they'll be just fine... :)

2 cups Bisquik baking mix (I use a homemade one)
1/2 cup lemon lime soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 450. Put butter in glass baking pan and place in oven to melt. (Don't let it brown!)

Mix baking mix, soda, and sour cream together. Remember, it will be wet.

Drop into the buttered baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on edges and lightly browned on top.

Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Eat while hot.

Maple Pumpkin Butter

I decided to tackle the pile of pumpkins sitting on the hot tub today!

First step was to get them all baked and pureed. Super easy using this oven method!

Before I knew it, I had 25 cups of pumpkin! Fifteen cups went into the freezer and the other 10 got made into pumpkin butter. I’d never made it before, but from the recipes I saw on-line it didn’t seem too difficult. So, I made it up as I went along and am pretty darn pleased with the results!

spiced bourbon orange, pumpkin pie & maple

My mind is reeling with all kinds of ideas to do with them! If they work, I’ll post them here. But first, the Maple Pumpkin Butter recipe:

3 cups pumpkin puree (see recipe HERE)

1/4 cup apple cider (I used our homemade cider)

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon maple extract

pinch salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine pumpkin, cider, sugar and syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, still stirring often, until it reduces down and gets thick. You can make it as thin or thick as you want.

Remove from heat and stir in extracts,, salt and lemon juice.

Let cool in fridge. Pour into jars or freezer containers. Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to a year.

Bacon Jalapeno Biscuits

I needed something to go along with the pot of chorizo chili for supper and had just chopped up the last of the jalapenos from the garden. So here is the result…

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup shortening or lard

1/4 cup crumbled bacon

2 Tablespoons minced fresh jalapeno

1/2 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

1 cup milk

Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening or lard with a pastry cutter. Stir in bacon, jalapenos and cheese. Add milk and stir until just combined.

Drop onto greased baking sheet and bake at 450 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot with butter.

Pineapple Casserole

This recipe came from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. I have to admit that I was very skeptical about it. But it was a huge hit at Easter dinner! It’s already been requested for Christmas… It was perfect with ham and no would guessed there was cheese in it!  It was even good warmed up in the oven for dinner the next day. This is also yummy enough to double as a dessert. :o)  Bonus!

Here is a link to the original recipe: Pineapple Casserole

I made only two changes. Here’s what I did:

I used 2 full sleeves of Ritz crackers for the topping.

I also used mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar.

No, it’s not the only thing I ate… I just took the pic before I loaded up my plate. ;o)

Cheesy Ham & Scalloped Potatoes

We usually end up having this every holiday because we usually end up with leftover ham… It’s pretty easy and for me, one of those comfort foods I just love!

First I really thinly slice about 6-8 medium potatoes with my PC slicer. I just slice them right into my greased 9x13 baking pan.

Toss in some cut up ham.

Then mix in about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese with the potatoes and ham.

Then you need to make your white sauce.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook 1/4 cup finely chopped onion in the butter for about 1 minute.

Add 1 heaping Tablespoon of flour and salt & pepper to taste. Whisk together and quickly stir in 2 cups of milk. Whisk until smooth.

Heat until thick and bubbly and then continue to cook for 1 minute.

Pour over potatoes.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 1 hour.

While potatoes are baking, make breadcrumbs for the top. (You can also use store bought breadcrumbs.)

I just take a cooled piece of toast and run them in my food processor until fine crumbs.

     Mix 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar in with the bread crumbs.

After potatoes have cooked for 1 hour, remove the foil and top with breadcrumbs and sprinkle with paprika.

Place back in oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Canning Applesauce

I think I have perfected my method of making applesauce! It is so quick and easy to make LOADS of it with hardly any effort! All you need is a roaster oven and a food mill. If only canning it were as simple… :o)

First get apples!

This has been a very good year for apples for the first time in a couple of years!

Then wash, quarter and core them. That’s all… you don’t have to peel them.

Place them into a roaster oven pan that you have filled halfway with cold water and added lemon juice (like 1/4 cup maybe??? I didn’t measure).

When the pan is full, pour off the water into the sink. Be very careful! Well,  you’re probably gonna get wet… ;o)

Put the pan back in the roaster oven and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (give or take). Give them a stir occasionally to keep the edges from burning.

When the apples are soft, turn off the oven and remove lid.

   They don’t look very appetizing at this point.

Place your food mill over a large bowl and fill only about halfway with the apples. Run them through the food mill until you only have peels left in the mill. You don’t want to run more than two batches through before you clean it out.

Fill as many bowls as necessary.  My three boxes did 3 ovens full and lots of bowls of applesauce!

At this point you can freeze or can your applesauce.

If you are going to can it, you have to heat the applesauce to 212!

The easiest way to do it is to pour it back into your roaster oven, turn it to 400 and cook until 212 and ready to can. Be sure to stir it often to make sure it is all hot!

Add sugar to hot applesauce and stir well before canning. You can add as little or as much as you want.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2'” headspace. Top with a prepared canning lid and put on the rings to only finger tight. Place in boiling water, return to a boil and process for 20 minutes for both pints and quarts. Turn off heat, remove lid and let rest for 5 minutes before removing jars to cool.

Check jars after 12 to 24 hours to see if they have sealed. If not, place in fridge or freeze. Place the rest on the shelf and enjoy them all year long!

Pineapple Salsa

Having 5 fresh pineapples this week (they were $1 each), meant thinking of new ways to eat pineapple. I had a fish taco once years ago that had pineapple salsa on it… I’ve often thought about that fish taco and figured this was the perfect time to make me one!

So I grilled up some tilapia and made up a batch of fresh pineapple salsa. I also threw in some white rice in the tortillas… I think these were even better than the ones in my memory banks! ;o)

Such a cool refreshing meal on a hot summer evening!

Here’s the recipe for the salsa…

1 small pineapple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 whole jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (you can seed it and use less for a milder salsa)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

juice from 1 lime

Mix and then chill for a few hours to let flavors combine. Serve with tortilla chips or with fish or chicken tacos.

Sautéed Cabbage

I will never eat cabbage that has been boiled ever again! I never like the way cabbage turns out when it is cooked along with my corned beef. This stuff was AMAZING!!!

1 head cabbage, cored and chopped thin

3 Tablespoons butter

salt & pepper, to taste

Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add cabbage and sauté until wilted and tender, about 10 minutes. You may need to add the cabbage in stages as it fills up a skillet pretty quickly before it begins to wilt.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Cranberry Coleslaw

We had this again for supper tonight and I still really like it! For two weeks in a row, I have made salad rolls. Salad rolls means having a whole lot of leftover coleslaw mix! I also had a bottle of raspberry vinaigrette that no one wanted to use on their salad… Hmmm??? Would that work??? Yes, it did!

So here’s the result. It could barely qualify as a recipe but it makes a slightly sweet side dish that is super quick to throw together last minute.

Toss coleslaw mix (or shredded cabbage) with dried cranberries, slivered almonds (but I think it would also be good with walnuts or pecans), and any bottled or homemade raspberry vinaigrette.

  Next time I’m trying an Asian variation with canned mandarin oranges and a sesame dressing. :o)

Cuban-Style Pork and Black Beans

I had no idea I liked Cuban food. Not that I was surprised, but I hadn’t ever had it before. Now I don’t know how authentic my improvised and make-due-with-what-I-have Cuban food is, but it sure was delicious! Served with white rice and mix all three together… Awesome!  All it needed was a mojito…

Pork Roast

1-2 pounds of pork roast

5 limes, juiced

1 orange, juiced

3 heads (not cloves, whole heads) garlic, peeled and chopped

1 onion, rough chopped

salt

ground black pepper

Place roast, juices, garlic, and onion in your crock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Turn on high and cook for 4-7 hours, or until roast shreds easily with fork.

Shred the pork with a fork and stir into the liquid it cooked in.

Black Beans

1 can black beans, undrained

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1-2 Tablespoons ketchup

cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté garlic, onion and green pepper until tender.

Place beans, ketchup and seasonings in a saucepan. Stir in sautéed veggies. Heat, over med-high heat until they are thoroughly heated.

Serve the pork and beans with white rice.

Make Your Own Yoshida’s

I LOVE Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce/marinade! It is so versatile and I use it in my stir-frys, rice recipes, teriyaki dishes, as a dipping sauce… everything! I was so disappointed when I learned that it had high fructose corn syrup in it! :o(  (I’m not uber anal about the whole HFCS thing, but I like to avoid it whenever possible.)

But it is ok, because I discovered a substitute that is pretty darn close and pretty darn tasty, too! And now I know why it has HFCS… it has THREE kinds of sugar in it!

This recipe makes enough but not too much. If you need more, I suppose you can double it.

1 cup soy sauce

3 oz (3/8 cup) sugar

3 oz (3/8 cup) brown sugar

1/8 cup finely sliced green onions

1 teaspoon of ground or finely minced ginger

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 cup honey

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over med.-high heat, stirring often, until it comes to a boil and sugars all dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool before serving as a dipping sauce or marinade. You can use it right away as a sauce.