Pressure Cooker Frozen Potstickers

I love those frozen potstickers from Costco! And the pressure cooker steams them to absolute perfection in only 4 minutes!

Just cover the bottom of the pot with water, put in a steamer rack, place the frozen potstickers on top, put on the lid, set for 4 minutes on vegetable setting and wait.

Quick release the steam and fry in a  bit of sesame oil until lightly browned, if desired.

Serve hot with dipping sauce...

Mexican Grilled Steaks

This makes a FANTASTIC steak! Tender, spicy and absolutely delicious!

Mix these ingredients in a small bowl:

1 Tablespoon salt, chili powder, garlic powder and oregano

1 teaspoon cumin and cracked black pepper

Rub into steaks and place in zipper bag.

Pour 1/3 cup vinegar into bag.

Lay flat in fridge and let marinade at least 4 hours before grilling.

Grill over hot coals.

Brush with a little bit of olive oil garlic mixture from grilled red peppers.

This is good just on a plate or as fajitas with a grilled onion.

Pressure Cooker Saudi-Style Chicken & Rice

I taught a class on the history and culture of Saudi Arabia and adjusted a recipe I found for a chicken and rice for the pressure cooker. I liked it so much, I've had it three times now. It's sweet aromatic spices are delicious and different.

I served it with pita, hummus and dates as sides.

Saute 2-3 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces on the meat setting. Add 1/3 cup of chopped fresh onion. After a few minutes add 1 heaping Tablespoon of minced garlic.

Add 3/4 cup basmati rice, 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 7 cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 can diced tomatoes.

Stir well and cook on rice setting for 6 minutes. Let natural release for 10 minutes.

Stir again and pick out the cinnamon stick and cardamom. You don't want to eat those. LOL

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.

Horchata

I recently tried horchata for the very first time. I've seen it on menus but never decided to give it a try. I loved it! I immediately had two thoughts: one, I had to figure out how to make it myself; and, two, it would be great with coffee.

Since I had no idea what it had in it, even after drinking it, I did some research. Wait... all it has in it is rice, water, sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla? That didn't seem possible. I did some more research, read some recipe reviews and came up with my own method. It has lots of possibilities and flexibility depending on your taste. I'm sure I'll come up with my own favorite combinations over time.

But for now, here's my base recipe for horchata...

1 1/2 cups rice
2 cups water

Place in a blender and pulse 6-7 times.

Add 3 more cups of water.

Blend until the rice is coarsely ground.

Pour into large bowl with pour spout or pitcher.

Add 2-3 whole cinnamon sticks.

Put a cover on it and place in fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Remove from fridge and pour through a sieve into a clean bowl or pitcher.

Place 1/2 cup sugar (use more or less to taste) and 1/2 Tablespoon of cinnamon into a food processor and pulse until the sugar is finely ground. This helps it dissolve better in the cold liquid.

Whisk well into the rice-y liquid until dissolved.

Then pour in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk. I like mine richer so I used some milk with heavy cream added. But I think you could also use half and half or a can of evaporated milk. You could also used any non-dairy milks. (I'm going to try all of those ideas someday)

Then gently whisk in 1/2 Tablespoon of vanilla. I also threw in a bit of almond extract. It's not authentic but I love the flavor it gives. That being said, I will probably try vanilla almond milk next.

Chill and serve. Shake well before serving. It will settle a bit.

By the way, I was right. It is good iced with coffee! Mmmm!

Pressure Cooker Jambalaya

Every year for Fat Tuesday we have jambalaya for dinner. I've made it from scratch but to be honest I really like this stuff in the box...

I only  used half a box since it was just for my hubby and I.

But first I sauteed some ingredients for several minutes on the meat setting with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil:
 1 chicken breast, cut up
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
6 oz andouille sausage
10-12 shrimp, peeled

Turn off pressure cooker. Stir in 1/2 can of diced tomatoes

Stir in 2/3 cup of the rice mixture into the cooker. Add 2/3 cup water and shrimp. Stir lightly.

Put lid on cooker. Cook on rice setting for 6 minutes. Let natural release for 10 minutes.

Stir and let sit for a few minutes.

We had our Mardi Gras dinner with okra and wine.

Pressure Cooker Mexican-Style Stuffed Peppers

Someone in the PC group on Facebook posted about making stuffed peppers. It didn't work out how she'd hoped, but it inspired me to try. Mine turned out much better than hers did, but I learned from her (and my) mistakes.

4 medium to large green peppers, cut off the tops and take out seeds and other stuff

2/3 cup rice
2/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons taco seasoning.

Pour into pressure cooker or into a smaller pot to place inside. If you cook it in a smaller pot, place 1 cup of water in bottom and put pot on top of rack.

Cook on rice setting for 6 minutes, Let natural release while preparing the rest of the filling.

Saute 1/4 cup onion in a bit of oil in a pan on the stove. When it begins to brown, add 1/3 cup frozen corn. Saute until moisture is gone.

Stir in 1 small can of salsa and the onion/corn into the rice.

Drain and rinse 1/3 cup black beans. Add to rice mixture.

If you wanted, you could also add some browned ground meat.

Stuff rice mixture into peppers (I made 2 and froze the remaining filling for another time)

Place rack into pressure cooker and add 1 cup water. Place peppers on top of rack.

Cook on vegetable setting for 5 minutes. Release steam and carefully remove peppers. They were perfectly done. Tender but still firm.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and let melt before serving.