Under Pressure...What am I going to make for dinner?

I'm not much of a meal planner. I tend to cook what I'm hungry for. Oh I do ask my family what they would like, but all I ever hear is, "I don't care, whatever you want." Ok... My friend Kim always had her meals planned in advance. We were neighbors when our kids were just toddlers and I spent a lot of time at her house since she ran a home daycare and I only worked a couple of days a week to stay home with my kids.
Kim would always have her meal plan up on her fridge, and she would stick to it faithfully every week. I admired her for that. I couldn't do that because "what if I wasn't hungry for such-and-such on such-and such a day?" But sometimes, even I don't know what I want, and whoops! Before you know it, the kids are home from school, and I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. Now what?
Well, thanks to my mom for her awesome gift giving, because Christmas 2011 she saved me with giving me a pressure cooker! It has truly been my lack of meal-planning lifesaver! I can make a stew, soup, roast, chicken, and ribs taste like I have been slaving all day! Pressure cooking seals in the moisture, so everything you make is fall-off-the-bone tender and tastes like you slow-cooked the goodness in all day long. It is, what I like to call...my Miracle Worker!
I highly recommend you get one if you don't have one. You can even throw in a frozen chicken, and in 45 minutes to one hour, you have the most tender, juicy chicken you can imagine.  The first recipe I tried in my pressure cooker, is a soup that I have made several times since. It is SO good, and tastes like you simmered it all day. This soup pressure cooks for...drumroll please......6 minutes! Yes, that's it! 6 minutes to the most flavorful soup you will ever have.

Chicken and Potato Gnocci Dumpling Soup

1/3 cup butter
1 lb of chicken tenders or breasts, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced small
16 oz  potato gnocci dumplings
4  cups Chicken broth ( I used 6 cups, to make more broth)

Here is a picture of my pressure cooker. This one is nice because it's digital, has a browning feature, and slow-cooking feature.

1. Heat butter in pressure cooker until melted.

2. Coat chicken cubes with flour, add chicken, onion, celery, and carrot to pressure cooker and saute' until lightly browned

Cover with remaining ingredients, lock pressure cooker.

Set pressure to high 15psi(pressure per square inch), and set timer for 6 minutes. When finished, let steam release gradually on it's own, or quick release it by turning the release valve. ( Be careful if doing this, as steam will shoot out from valve and could burn you if touched.)

When you remove the lid, be prepared for the best tasting soup ever...Seriously.It's.That.Good.

This recipe originally calls for adding heavy cream after pressure cooking to make it a creamy soup, but it is so good, you don't need it. But, it definitely could be added. Even if you don't have a pressure cooker, this is a great recipe. Try it! You'll like it...I promise! 

Another great recipe I like to make in this wonder machine is Braised Beef Short Ribs. In 30 minutes I have fall-off-the-bone tenderness in a packed-with-flavor braising sauce that goes perfect over a side of whipped potatoes! Oh the comfort of it all...in just a fraction of time!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

3-4 lbs Beef Short Ribs

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 cups beef broth

1/2-3/4 cup red wine

1-2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. thyme

salt, pepper to taste

1.  Season the ribs with salt and pepper and brown in small abount of olive oil.  Brown well.

After browning, remove from pan, add a little more oil, and add aromatics. (garlic,onion, carrot, celery, and thyme) and saute' for a couple of minutes.

While this is sauteing, combine liquid ingredients together.

Pour the yummy braising liquid over the onions, carrots, etc. and stir to release the bits of goodness at the bottom of the pan..

Let simmer for a few minutes.

Add short ribs to pressure cooker, and pour braising liquid and veggies over ribs. Lock down the lid of the cooker, and set on high pressure 15psi for 30 minutes. Once pressure cooking is finished, allow pressure to release slowly automatically, or release yourself, again being careful to not touch steam.
When you lift the lid, you won't even believe how tender the meat is, and the wonderful aroma of the braising sauce.
Whip up some mashed potatoes, and you have a meal that should have cooked all day long, finished in 30 mintutes!!

Of course you don't need a pressure cooker to make this recipe, you could just as easily put it in the oven, for about 3 hours at 325, but who wants to do that when you can get the same results in less than half the time?? :)

With this meal, I made a simple wedge salad, with tomatoes and goat cheese and a homemade vinaigrette. My mother-in-law gave me some flavored balsamic vinegar's for Christmas this year and I'm having fun using them in different recipes. This dressing was made using Cranberry-Pear balsamic.

Simple salad, with a little unexpected punch!

Cranberry-Pear Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar-I used Cranberry Pear

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Whisk or add to jar and shake to incorporate!

I hope I have inspired you this week to think about getting a pressure cooker! If you already have one I hope you will enjoy these flavorful recipes!

If you read my blog from last week, you will remember we have started a Gratitude jar in our house. We are writing something we are grateful for on a slip of paper, and putting it into the jar. When the jar is full, we will all sit down and read them. I have to say, it has been a hit at our house! The jar is getting filled up, and it looks like everyone has much to be grateful for..

  I will leave you with something that just makes me happy....my birds! My husband, Erik, bought me 2 new feeders for Christmas, and I love them, because they are so close to our window and no squirrel can get to them! It is simple joys in life like just watching the birds that can make my day a little brighter...

Here's to time-saving pressure cooking, great recipes, gratitude, and the simple joys...Hope you all have a great week and thanks again for reading and supporting me and my efforts...such as they are! lol! :)

~Kerry :)