Asian Inspired Instant Pot broiled Cod

Summer dinners are often a pain because I just don’t feel like turning the oven on and heating up the kitchen, this is where the Instant Pot really comes in handy. I have the one with the air-fryer lid and it can also act as a broiler, and it’s fast! Easy clean up too. I came up with this recipe for a quick dinner (less than 20 minutes, including the rice in the Instant Pot) and JT said, you should make this again. Always a nice compliment, particularly with fish.

Asian Inspired Instant Pot broiled Cod

Ingredients:

• 15 mL honey
• 10 mL rice vinegar
• 5 mL sambal oelek
• 8 g white miso paste
• 3 mL soy sauce
• 5 g puréed roasted garlic
• 3 g grated ginger
• 5 mL toasted sesame oil
• 20 g Wild Alaskan Cod
• Rice, mushrooms and peas to serve on

Directions :

1. Combine the first 8 ingredients to form a paste. Brush the paste lightly on the cod and allow to sit for an hour or so; when ready to cook, pour the remainding sauce on the top.
2. Set the air-fryer basket into the Instant Pot, add the second shelf, and line with parchment. Set the glazed fish on top. Close with the air fryer lid and set to Air Fry for 5 minutes or until the internal temperature is 145° F.
3. Serve on rice, mushrooms and peas.

 

Notes:

• Because the air-fryer lid isn’t secured like the pressure cooker lid, I was able to attach a thermometer to the fish and have it notify my phone when it reached the temperature so it doesn’t over cook.

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Instant Pot Roasted Garlic, Cauliflower Mash

 

If it’s a really hot summer’s day and you don’t want to turn on the big oven, this is a great alternative method to roast cauliflower and it’s super easy to clean up. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 500 g Cauliflower florets, similar size
• 15 mL Extra Virgin Olive oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• Sea salt
• 250 mL water
• Butter, cream or chicken stock

Directions:

1. Drizzle the oil onto the cauliflower so it covers overall. Lay the cauliflower into the air fryer basket, tuck the garlic cloves into the cauliflower. Set the air fryer lid on and choose ‘Roast’, 330° F for 15 minutes. Stir three times during the cooking process.
2. Pour the cauliflower into the pressure cooking pot and add 1 cup of water. Set the pressure cooking lid on and setting to ‘Pressure Cooking’ for 5 minutes. Depressurize carefully or allow it naturally to depressurize.
3. When complete, cauliflower should be very soft. Squeeze out the garlic and add to the cauliflower into a glass container. Blend with the immersion blender until smooth adding the remaining water from cooking or butter or cream or stock to achieve the desired consistency. Reheat in the microwave when ready to serve.

A fantastic low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes.

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Tuscan Chicken in the Instant Pot

For my birthday, JT gave me an Instant Pot® Duo Crisp with the Air Fryer lid. This was the second thing I made with it. The first thing was the roasted tomatoes (which are EXCELLENT, see notes for directions)! This is a guest-worthy meal, and don’t fret that it’s all in one pot, it’s super easy and much less to clean up.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 30 g butter
• 30 mL olive oil
• 60 g onions, sliced thinly
• 100 g mushrooms, sliced thickly
• 200 g chicken breast, skinless, boneless
• 30 g roasted garlic purée
• 250 mL chicken stock
• 1 g oregano
• 1 g Aleppo pepper flakes
• 100 g penne pasta, uncooked
• 65 g spinach
• 50 g roasted grape tomatoes (see notes)
• 50 mL cream (I used 18%)
• 50 g parmesan, grated (divided)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and heat the olive oil on the Sauté setting, cook the onions until translucent, add the mushrooms, and wilt.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the pot to brown each side.
2. Combine the chicken stock and roasted garlic purée with the oregano and pepper flakes and mix well. Pour into the Instant Pot and deglaze to remove any bits that have adhered to the stainless steel. Add the pasta and stir so that it is immersed in the cooking liquid.
3. Put the lid on securely and make sure the vent is set to “Sealing”. Choose the “Pressure Cook” setting and set the cook-time for 5 minutes at high pressure (this means 6-7 minutes to come to temperature and pressure and 5 minutes cooking time). When the program is complete, release the pressure carefully. Make sure the internal chicken temperature is at 170° F and the pasta is al dente (there should be some liquid in the pot for the sauce).
4. Remove the chicken breast and allow to rest covered. Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté” and add the spinach and roasted tomatoes, stirring to wilt the spinach. Add the cream and heat through. Stir in about 3/4 of the parmesan and reserve the rest for presentation. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Slice the breast and stir it back into the sauce to heat.
6. Serve immediately with remaining parmesan for garnish.
   

   The pasta is perfectly cooked.

Notes:

• You may substitute sun-dried tomatoes for roasted ones.
• Roasted tomatoes: Slice 75 g of grape tomatoes in half, lengthwise. Squeeze the seeds and juice out (be careful because it can really pop hurling tomato guts everywhere). Toss the halves with 15 mL extra virgin olive oil. Lay the tomatoes in two layers on the bottom rack and top racks of the air fryer basket of your Instant Pot Duo. Cover with the air fryer lid and set the program to dehydrate. This program sets the temperature at 160° F for four hours. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, timing could be less; I found three hours, turning the tomatoes once at around one and a half hours was enough.
• This recipe is pictured with 500 mL chicken stock, I felt it was too soupy so I reduced the stock to 250 mL, tested it but forgot to take a photo!
• In an effort yo eat fewer carbs, I have reduced the pasta from 120 g to 100 g for two people (March 15, 2023).

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Pear Tart Tatin

Although Tart Tatin recipes have been featured on this blog a few times (here, here and here), I figured, why not again with different fruit? This time we’re baking Pear Tart Tatin! Dreamy caramel, soft pears and crispy pastry, what more can you want? I borrowed this recipe from Martha Stewart with some minor adjustments. I usually worry that the fruit lets out too much liquid and it won’t be super caramel-y but I needn’t have worried on this one, the pears cook on the stove and finish in the oven. It’s a bit of standing around but you can make it in advance and just serve it at room temperature. 

This tart was perfectly caramelized. What a wonderful dessert.

Makes 1 tart about 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour, for rolling
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 450 g package), thawed in the refrigerator
• 100 g sugar
• 8 mL cider vinegar
• 30 mL water
• 30 g unsalted butter
• Pinch of salt
• 4 firm, ripe pears, each peeled, halved, cored, and cut into 6 wedges
• Pinch of cardamon

Directions:

1. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the puff pastry to a 30 cm square and cut into a circle. Refrigerate until required.
2. In a 30 cm cast iron skillet, combine the sugar, vinegar and water and heat on medium-low heat until golden (about 15 minutes). Stir in the butter and the salt. Add the pears in a decorative pattern and cook in the caramel uncovered for 30-40 minutes (until pears are firm but soft). Sprinkle the cardamon over the pears.
3. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 375° F. When the pears are ready, add the prepared puff pastry, pushing down the edges to form a “fence”.
4. Bake covered, for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes until the pastry is golden and crispy.
5. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a decorative plate.

Cooking the pears for an extended period of time made the caramelization absolutely perfect.

Notes:

• My pears were rather firm so I extended the stove-top-time about 15-20 minutes from Martha’s time. This also allowed the liquid to evaporate so that the sauce is pure, dreamy caramel.
• I prefer to use all-butter puff pastry.

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Muhammara

This roasted red pepper dip popped into my life via America’s Test Kitchen, a show we routinely watch to fall asleep to. I was incredibly intrigued when they mentioned that this is a Syrian version of our Spanish favourite, Romesco Sauce. This tasty dip uses Aleppo pepper flakes and sumac which I don’t use regularly in my cooking but had some at home. Like Romesco, it uses a nut to thicken the dip but Instead of almond flour, the recipe calls for toasted walnuts. Boy, what a difference, the walnuts lend a delicious earthy flavour. This dip is definitely going to be in our repertoire.

Makes about 250 mL (1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 2 red peppers, roasted and peeled
• 60 mL EVOO, divided (additional may be required)
• 113 g shelled, toasted walnuts
• 15 g roasted garlic purée
• 30 g tomato paste
• 15 mL pomegranate molasses I used (see notes)
• 5 g Aleppo pepper flaked
• 5 g sumac
• 2-3 g salt

Directions:

1. Toast the walnuts with a little of the olive oil until golden and you can smell them. Allow to cool.
2. Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of your small food processor (I used a magic bullet because I wanted it smooth) and process until smooth. You may wish to add olive oil until the desired consistency is achieved.
3. Garnish with a few chopped, toasted walnuts.

Notes:

• The recipe I used had quite a bit of breadcrumb which I have deleted from the recipe because I found it made the dip too thick and thickened it as the dip aged. I prefer a slightly runnier dip.
• I substituted the balsamic vinegar for the pomegranate molasses because I didn’t have any and it was fine, to be honest, it’s just a building flavour and doesn’t depend on it entirely.
• We used the dip as a topping for lamb burgers we had and it was OUTSTANDING!

 

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