Instant Pot Pork Belly BBQ

Instant Pot Pork Belly BBQ

Pork belly is much more than just unsmoked bacon. It has juicy fat layers wrapped around the meat and when cooked properly has a similar texture to pork loin. But is luscious because of that fat. That may not sound like your thing, but that just means more for ME!

The first time I cooked pork belly, I did it low and slow in my Dutch oven. Tonight, I made it in the Instant Pot. If you like BBQ, you will love this. Instant Pot BBQ Pork Belly tastes like you simmered it forever. In reality dinner was ready in took less than an hour, with only 10 minutes top of prep. And it was so, so, so, so very good.

You can use any of the sweeteners but NOT all three. I used soy sauce to give the meat a more appealing color and a little jolt. You could substitute Worcestershire sauce, but I would use less as it can be overpowering. Finally, you can use 1½ cups chicken broth rather than water and Better Than Bouillon, but BTB is magic and I would definitely try it if you haven’t.

Servings: 6 sandwiches

Hardware: A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, an Instant Pot®, a strainer, silicone oven mitt and a wooden spoon

Cooking time: Active time: 10 minutes; Cook: 40 minutes; Sandwiches in an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork belly, sliced into chunks
• Cooking spray
• 1 large red onion (8 ounces)
• Sweetener (1 tablespoon honey OR 1 tablespoon honey OR ½ tablespoon molasses)
• 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon Chicken
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1½ cups water
• 1½ cups of your favorite BBQ sauce-you can use more or less-depends on how sloppy you like your BBQ (We like Sweet Baby Ray’s Original)  
• Rolls, pickles, pickled jalapeños, mustard other sandwich toppings

 

Browning first adds depth

1. Quarter the onion and slice the pork belly into chunks.
2. Spray the inner pot with cooking spray and set on sauté. Add the pork belly and brown for 4-5 minutes. Add the onion, sweetener, Better Than Bouillon, soy sauce and water. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn off.
3. Place the lid on the IP, making sure the valve is set to ‘sealing.’ Turn on the pressure cook setting and set for 25 minutes. When time is up, allow to naturally release for about 15 minutes and using the silicone oven mitt move the valve to ‘release.’
4. Strain everything from the pot and discard the liquid. Return the meat and the BBQ sauce to the IP and heat through.
5. Serve immediately on your favorite sandwich bun. Offer your guests pickles, pickled jalapeños, mustard and any other sandwich topper that you think they might like.

Chicken and Gnocchi Stew for the Instant Pot®

Instant Pot Chicken & Gnocchi Stew

I live in Florida. We don’t get an Autumn, but we can pretend. If we lived somewhere with seasons, it might be getting a little cool by now. Everyone would welcome a velvety stew.  Here, it is almost 5 pm and 90˚. I still love this stew.

I made this in this Instant Pot®. You could use roasted chicken, but I think the pressure cooker gave it extra flavor. I also made the chicken the night before, so the flavors would meld. Cooling the chicken overnight also allowed me to remove most of the fat from the liquid. Use thighs and not breasts. The thighs have a hearty flavor and it is okay if you overcook them a little. Finally, you can substitute chicken stock for the water and chicken base, but the base is so much richer than normal stock.

Servings: 6-8

Hardware: A knife and a cutting board, measuring cups and spoons, a veggie peeler, Instant Pot Duo® (IP), silicone oven mitt, tongs, a large bowl, a small bowl, a fork, food safe gloves and a wooden spoon

Time: Active time: 15 minutes; Cook: 35 minutes; Stew in about an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 2 large carrots (8 ounces)
• 2 celery sticks (4 ounces)
• 1 small onion (4 ounces)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig rosemary
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon chicken base (I used Better than Bouillon)
• 1 cup + 4 cups water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1-pound gnocchi
• Salt and pepper

1. Peel the carrot and wash the celery. Cut them into pieces that are 2-3 inches in size. Peel and crush the garlic. Peel and quarter the onion. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
2. Put the white wine, 1 cup water, rosemary and 1 tablespoon soup base into the IP. Turn on the sauté setting and allow the liquid to boil. Stir to dissolve the chicken base.
3. Put the trivet into the pot. Place the carrots, celery, onion and garlic on top of the trivet, put the chicken on top of the veggies. Place the lid on the IP, making sure the valve is set to ‘sealing.’ Turn on the pressure setting and set for 10 minutes. When time is up, allow it to release for about 15 minutes and using the silicone oven mitt move the valve to ‘release.’
4. When the float falls, move the chicken to the large bowl. Fish out the rosemary and discard. Remove the trivet.
5. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, put on the food safe gloves and remove the meat from the bones. Discard the skin, fat, gristle and bones.
6. Pour 4 cups water and the rest of the chicken base into the IP. Return to a boil. Put one tablespoon of cornstarch into the very cold cup of whipping cream. Use the fork to stir until the cornstarch dissolves. Pour the cornstarch-y cream into the soup. It will thicken as it boils. Return the chicken to the pot and add in the gnocchi. As soon as the gnocchi floats (3 minutes) the soup is done. Stir in the dried parsley. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

 

Chicken and Gnocchi Stew for the Instant Pot®

 

Potted Beef

Potted Beef

When I mention potted meat, what jumps into your mind? Weird, glumpy stuff that you would rather serve to your cat than eat yourself? That’s what I thought, too. Then I started doing research for making a charcuterie board or meat and cheese tray. I needed something spreadable. I found many recipes for potted meat and ham salad. All of them sounded like cat food. I love a challenge. So, I went to the store, bought some beef and went to work.

After three tries, I came up with this version of Potted Beef. My husband, Jeff, was skeptical because of, well, the cat food thing. However, he loved this. He ate it all and asked for more. When I made the second batch, Jeff cut up onions, boiled eggs and pickles and stirred them into the Potted Beef. Then he spread the Potted Beef salad on toast and loaded it with Dijon mustard. Also, very good. This would also be an easy way to use up left over roast.

Make the Potted Beef the day before you need it. You need to cool the beef after you cook it and the spread tastes better if it has time to rest. You can add extra peppercorns and minced red onions to the spread right before serving if you wish. I offered my guests stone ground mustard and prepared horseradish with slices of baguette and crackers. 

Servings: 1 ½ cups Potted Beef

Hardware: A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, an Instant Pot® or crockpot, a strainer, a large bowl, an airtight container, a food processor, a silicone spatula, silicone oven mitt

Instant Pot© Time: Active time: 15 minutes; Cook: 40 minutes; bringing up to pressure: 10 minutes; time to cool varies: Potted Beef tomorrow

Crockpot Time: Active time: 15 minutes; Cook: 2-4 hours; time to cool varies: Potted Beef tomorrow

Ingredients:

• 1-pound stew beef
• 1 small onion (4-6 ounces)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ cup dry red wine
• ½ cup water
• A beef bouillon cube or a tablespoon of beef broth concentrate (I used Kitchen Accomplice)
• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• Salt

1. Quarter the onion and slice the garlic.
2. For the Instant Pot©: Add the water, wine and bullion/concentrate to the pot with the trivet in place. Using the sauté button bring the liquid to a boil. Add the onion, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and beef to the boiling liquid. Place the lid on the IP, making sure the valve is set to’ sealing.’ Turn on the pressure setting and set for 40 minutes. When time is up, allow to release for about 5 minutes and using the silicone oven mitt move the valve to ‘release.’ 
3. For the crockpot: Add everything but the cream cheese, salt and parsley to the pot. Cook on high for 2 to 4 hours or until the meat is tender. **
4. Drain the contents of the pot through the strainer into the big bowl. Remove the bay leaves. Reserve the liquid.
5. When the meat is cool enough to handle, add everything in the strainer to the food processor. Add in the cream cheese. Add ⅛ cup of the reserved liquid. Alternate chopping and grinding until the meat is the consistency of a paste. The peppercorns may not all grind up, that is okay. You may need to add a little more liquid to find the texture you desire. Some people like the spread firmer, some like it more spreadable. Stop the processor and scrape down the sides from time to time. Taste and adjust the salt.
6. Place the Potted Beef into the airtight container and refrigerate for at least two hour, but preferably overnight.
7. Remove from the fridge a bit before serving. You don’t want the spread to be room temperature, but it needs to not be too cold to spread. 

  **If you don't have a crock pot or an Instant Pot©, place everything in a shallow covered dish. Place in a 250˚ oven for 2-4 hours our until fork tender. Flip about half way through.