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Tonight was a hotdog fried in a skillet w/bacon fat and homemade fries, so good. I avoid buying kitchen gadgets with only one use. A few years ago I broke my rule and bought a French fry press. It cuts up a potato so all the fries are the same size and cook the same. I’m glad I did despite the fact its big and a pain to store. It makes great fries.

dog n fries sm.JPG
 
Ham and navy beans and a garden salad. I'm making the stock now and the beans get added at 13:30 hours (sorry that's 1:30 pm)
 
I made Chicken ala King in the Instant Pot tonight. It came out pretty good. Not quite up to the standards set by things I've made in the Instant Pot in the past, but still quite good. Cooking was the easy part - chopping up all the veges and chicken in advance is what took the time.

So far, my Instant Pot recipes have been:

Beef Strogonoff: Very good
Tuscan Shrimp: Excellent
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce: Excellent
Chicken ala King: Good

I'm thinking next up might be Beef Stew. Or maybe Pork Chili. Not sure. Still thinking about what I want to try next.
 
So far, my Instant Pot recipes have been:

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce: Excellent

It never occured to me to make spaghetti w/meat sauce in my instapot. I just checked various recipes on the net, they are all simple and straight forward. Might try it monday or tuesday... thanks for the idea.
 
It never occured to me to make spaghetti w/meat sauce in my instapot. I just checked various recipes on the net, they are all simple and straight forward. Might try it monday or tuesday... thanks for the idea.
I was super impressed with it. Below is the recipe I used. I made it with a whole package (16oz) of spaghetti noodles and 3-1/2 cups of water (maybe I put some Chicken flavor "Better than Bouillion" in with that water - I can't remember now, but I think I probably did). This made a boatload of spaghetti, and I do mean a BOATLOAD! Had to be at least 8 large servings. We were eating spaghetti for days (but it refrigerates or freezes well). I used a higher end jarred marinara sauce, not one of the cheapies. I don't remember which brand it was, but it was like $6 a jar vs. $2 a jar for the cheapies. And the chopped tomatoes definitely added to the taste (I used finely chopped/diced canned tomatoes). I also used fresh basil from the produce section, chopped up finely. I used the el-cheapo jar of Italian Seasoning though - I don't know what's in those "Italian Seasoning mixes" to substitute fresh ingredients, but the dinner came out fine with that cheap jarred seasoning. And definitely grated Parmesan cheese in a plastic package from the dairy section, not the dried powder that Kraft makes in those green plastic cans. That dairy cheese melts in there and adds a lot more flavor than the dried powder stuff.

When making it, you break the noodles in half (I have a large Instant Pot, smaller ones might need them broken in thirds) and then scatter them randomly. I was pretty anal about spreading them out randomly, so I didn't have any clumps where they stuck together. The liquids are then poured in over the noodles, without stirring or disturbing them. Then after adding the liquids I gently pushed the noodles down with my hands so they were submerged.

2021-03-01 Instant Pot Recipe: Spaghetti With Meat Sauce.png
 
I was super impressed with it. Below is the recipe I used. I made it with a whole package (16oz) of spaghetti noodles and 3-1/2 cups of water (maybe I put some Chicken flavor "Better than Bouillion" in with that water - I can't remember now, but I think I probably did). This made a boatload of spaghetti, and I do mean a BOATLOAD! Had to be at least 8 large servings. We were eating spaghetti for days (but it refrigerates or freezes well). I used a higher end jarred marinara sauce, not one of the cheapies. I don't remember which brand it was, but it was like $6 a jar vs. $2 a jar for the cheapies. And the chopped tomatoes definitely added to the taste (I used finely chopped/diced canned tomatoes). I also used fresh basil from the produce section, chopped up finely. I used the el-cheapo jar of Italian Seasoning though - I don't know what's in those "Italian Seasoning mixes" to substitute fresh ingredients, but the dinner came out fine with that cheap jarred seasoning. And definitely grated Parmesan cheese in a plastic package from the dairy section, not the dried powder that Kraft makes in those green plastic cans. That dairy cheese melts in there and adds a lot more flavor than the dried powder stuff.

When making it, you break the noodles in half (I have a large Instant Pot, smaller ones might need them broken in thirds) and then scatter them randomly. I was pretty anal about spreading them out randomly, so I didn't have any clumps where they stuck together. The liquids are then poured in over the noodles, without stirring or disturbing them. Then after adding the liquids I gently pushed the noodles down with my hands so they were submerged.

View attachment 62827
Will have to try, as I am without stove for moment.
 
I was super impressed with it. Below is the recipe I used. I made it with a whole package (16oz) of spaghetti noodles and 3-1/2 cups of water (maybe I put some Chicken flavor "Better than Bouillion" in with that water - I can't remember now, but I think I probably did). This made a boatload of spaghetti, and I do mean a BOATLOAD! Had to be at least 8 large servings.

Many thanks, I'll have to scale it down. The regular instapot is 4Q, the large is 6Q. I had to search then order on the net to get a 3Q instapot, most stores don't have it in stock. I wanted something small for 1 or 2 people. Anyway, it means I have to scale back most recipes which is fine by me. I convert most recipes to grams anyway which makes scaling easy.

Tonight I'm having a T-bone, going to make mashed potatoes...

Edit: here's my pan fried steak, med-rare. I didn't have milk so used sour creme, rolled amish butter and a little water to get my potatoes creamy. Yummy!

T bone taters (2) sm.JPG
 
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