{This post contains affiliate links. (In non-blogger language, that means I might get a small commission (at no extra cost to you) when you click on some of the links below.) Thanks for supporting EmulsifiedFamily.com.}
White Chicken Chili – I use large boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes and do a manual release. I also shred the chicken in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment.
Chicken Ragu Soup – 3 cups chicken broth, 1 can carrots (drained), 1 can peas (drained), 1 Jar Ragu traditional pasta sauce, 1 cup chicken. I cooked the chicken for 10 minutes on manual with 1 cup water. Then I took it out and shredded it. I put everything in the instant pot and set it on slow cook for 4 hours.
Meat:
Whole Chicken – Brown seasoned chicken in the pot with oil, 1 c chicken broth, half an onion, four whole red potatoes, and 2 inch chunks of carrot. Manual for 1 hour.
Chicken, Corn and Bean Burritos 3 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 can corn halfway drained, 1 can black beans halfway drained, 1 jar salsa. Cook on manual for 12 minutes. Manual release. Shred the chicken and return to the pot. Serve in a tortilla or over rice.
CocaCola Pork (BBQ Pork) – Use half the liquid in the recipe. Cut the pork shoulder into chunks about 1 inch thick. Cook on manual for about 20 minutes and NR. Use the sautee setting to reduce the liquid before adding the ketchup.
Acorn Squash – Cut acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. Add one cup of water to the Instant Pot and put the rack in and set the two halves on top. Cook for 12 minutes on manual. Serve with butter and brown sugar.
Carrots (thick slices), fresh green beans, etc. – 1 cup water, manual 4 minutes, QR
Cheesecake in a Jar – I used this recipe from my husband, and filled half pint mason jars (short with a wide mouth). Fill the mason jars half way up and cover loosely with foil. Put 1 1/2 cups water in the Instant Pot. Place the rack in. (Both of my pots came with different racks. If your rack has handles, you’ll need to fold them down or the jars won’t fit.) Place the jars on the rack and set on manual for 7 minutes (high pressure). Let the pressure release manually. Remove the cheesecakes and allow to cool to room temperature before chilling in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, top with lemon curd or topping of your choice, whipped cream and crumbled crust. The leftover batter can be used to make more batches or you can put it in a ziplock bag, freeze it flat and use it later. When you are ready to use it, defrost it, cut the tip of one of the corners and squeeze the batter out into the jar.
Misc:
Hard Boiled Eggs – I usually do 6, 6 and then cool in an ice bath. My husband prefers 4-1 and then QR.
Mac and Cheese – Ummmm…this was really, really good and SO FAST. My goodness! Totally not healthy, but I really don’t care. I added an extra cup of cheese. 🙂
Pasta – equal parts pasta and water, manual 4 minutes, QR
Taco Meat – 1 lb. groud beef, 2 T paprika, 1 T Chile Powder, 2 t Cumin, 2 t Salt, 1 cup water – Manual for 10 minutes, QR, use sautee setting if you want liquid to reduce
OK. Let me be truthful. My chef/husband titles this recipe “Basic Buttercream.” But that’s boring. This is, in fact, the best buttercream I’ve ever tasted. So good in fact, I could eat it by the bowl full (unfortunately.) We’ve used it to decorate sugar cookies, cupcakes and cakes. It spreads easily and pipes well. You are going to wonder how you ever lived without it! (Seriously, it’s that good!)
A few pieces of advice before you make this because it’s probably different from most frosting recipes you’ve seen and made in the past. As you look into the bowl of your Kitchen Aid, you’re going to think, “I’m doing something wrong. This is not how frosting looks.” If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re on the right track!! Trust the recipe. It worked for me the first time!
(This is written by my chef/husband. Much better information that I could ever give you!)
Strata, which literally means layers, is a breakfast casserole and is the perfect thing for winter because we’ve got a lot of holidays coming up. Chances are, we’re going to be doing some entertaining for breakfast. Strata is a nice dish you can make ahead of time and it’s very simple to serve. It works well for brunch or to plate up and serve at breakfast.
For strata, you can use any type of filling that you like. It can be sweet or savory. For this recipe, I chose to use Italian sausage, red pepper and mushrooms. You could also use potatoes, caramelized onions & Gruyere; bacon, cheddar & green onion; or sauteed apples or pears.
Ingredients
½ pound French or Italian bread, cut into ½” slices
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup white wine
6 ounces provolone or swiss cheese, grated
6 large eggs
1-3/4 cup half and half
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
½ pound Italian sausage, sliced thin
1 each red bell pepper, diced
3 each mushrooms sliced thin
Instructions
Saute the Italian sausage, red bell pepper and mushrooms in a sauté pan with a little butter. When the ingredients are heated through, add white wine and deglaze the pan. Do not cook the filling all the way as it is going to cook more in the oven.
Whisk eggs in medium bowl with half and half, kosher salt and pepper.
Arrange half of the bread in a single layer in an 8×8 inch baking dish. Spread filling and half of the cheese over the bread layer. Cover with another layer of bread.
Pour egg mixture evenly over layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and weigh down, refrigerated, for at least an hour, or overnight.
Bake in 350 F oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until the strata has puffed up on the edges and center. Cool slightly before cutting and serving.
I wasn’t sure the best way to cook it, so I emailed my chef/husband and asked him what the size of a hotel pan was, since I don’t have a hotel pan here at home. (I probably could have googled this and done a little math, but am so glad I didn’t.) (more…)
I'm basically doing what their site says, just using a crock pot instead of a Yogotherm. I do have one of their Yogotherms and love it, but it takes more than twice as long. So depending on how much time I have, I either use the crockpot or the Yogotherm. The yogurt turns out the same whether I use the crockpot or Yogotherm.
First things first . . . My crockpot filled with 12 cups of water sits at around 105 degrees on the warm setting with the lid off. This seems to be the perfect environment to culture yogurt. Before you try this method, you'll need to test the temperature of your crockpot. If it sits at around this same temperature, this method should work fine. If not, you might want to try using a Yogotherm to culture the yogurt instead.
Before I begin heating the milk, I pour 12 cups of warm water in the crockpot, put the lid on it and then turn it on to warm. When I'm ready to put the yogurt in to incubate, I leave the lid off for the rest of the time.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
In a sauce pan, heat the milk slowly on the stove until it reaches 200 degrees.
Place lid on pan and put in the oven.
Hold at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cool milk to just under 120 degrees. (I usually place a bunch of ice in the small side of my sink and fill it with water and place the pan in there to cool it faster.)
Add yogurt starter and let hydrate for a few minutes.
Mix well.
Pour into pint size mason jars and cover with a lid. (Or pour into Yogotherm and cover.)
Place mason jars in the crock pot and let culture for 3 1/2 hours. Note: If you are using the Y5 starter powder from above, it will need to process twice as long (about 7 hours). The next time you make it, use about 1/4 cup of yogurt from the previous batch as your starter and then it should only need to process for 3 1/2 hours. (Process in Yogotherm for 8-9 hours.)
You can place the jars in the refrigerator and enjoy the plain yogurt at this stage or you can keep going for thicker yogurt.
Place a strainer lined with a flour sack dish cloth or cheese cloth over a large bowl.
Empty the mason jars into the strainer and let the yogurt drain for 1-2 hours, depending on how thick you want your yogurt.
Remove the thick yogurt from the cheese cloth and whisk in 1/4 cup of honey.
Transfer to 1/2 pint mason jars or a larger container and refrigerate.
It's a bit of a lengthy and technical process, but the yogurt is AMAZING and totally worth it!!