Rice with Veggies - Really good

I wanted to make some rice in the pressure cooker to go with the grilled pork chops that we had for dinner tonight.  It was definitely a learning experience but it turned out really good and next time it will be even better.  What I'm picking up on is that what the user guide says about how long things should cook is completely unreliable.  This is really frustrating to me because I don't know what I'm doing.  If I can't rely on the user guide to give me a good idea of how long to set the cooker for I just have to learn by trial and error.  Arrrggghh! 

The recipe called for brown rice and long grain rice.  The guide says that brown rice needs 17-20 min and long grain needs 7-8 min plus there are fresh veggies in it.  The rice setting on the cooker is 10 min so the plan was to start it with the liquid, seasoning and brown rice for 10 min.  Then add the long grain and veggies for another 10 min cycle.  The problem was that the long grain wasn't done at the end of that second cycle.  It was crunchy crittters! So I poured in a little more broth and ran it another 10 min cycle.  At that point the rice was all nicely done but the veggies were way overcooked.  Argh! 

Brown Rice with veggies - Pressure cooker
1 1/4 cp brown rice
3/4 cp wild rice
2 1/2 cp chicken broth - low sodium
Garlic powder
Onion powder
2 bay leaves
Black pepper

3 Tbls butter
1 green bell pepper, chopped 
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 med carrots, sliced 1/2" 

Put the chicken broth in the cooker and add the rice.  Add all of the seasonings.  Set for one 10 min rice cycle.  Release the pressure and add the butter and the veggies.  Just leave them on top and do not stir it all together.  Set for another 10 min rice cycle.  

This is slightly different from the way I cooked it tonight.  I want to try it with the wild rice once.  After that I may just go with straight brown rice.  I don't see the point in mixing the brown and long grain.  

EDIT - I made this again and it turned out perfect!  The rice was cooked, nice and fluffy and the veggies were perfect as well.  However I think I'll try switching up the veggies a bit.  Leave out the green pepper, more carrots and maybe whole pea pods

Pork Roast - Success

I pulled a package of pork out of the freezer yesterday thinking it was a large package of pork chops.  When I opened it I realized it was two pork roasts.  Oops!  So what do I do now??  I cut one of the roast up to go ahead with my plan of grilled chops.  I decided to try the other roast in the pressure cooker.  Because of the beef roast not turning out so well yesterday I thought I should try this one today and set the cooker for longer.  I set it for the full 99 min that is the longest it will go for and it turned out AMAZING!!!  Def doing this on any larger cuts of beef/pork from now on.  

It was so tender and juicy and delicious!!  I loved it and my husband really, really loved it.  In the picture I have spooned some of the broth with the onions over it.  

Pressure Cooker Pork Roast
1 2-4 lb pork roast
1 lrg onion - sliced 
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Celery salt
Montreal Steak seasoning 
Black pepper
2 cps chicken broth

Place two slices of onion on the bottom of the cooker and place the roast on top.  Holding the meat off the bottom of the pan keeps it from making a hard to scrub off mess.  

Add the chicken broth and then sprinkle the roast with the seasonings.  Seal up the pressure cooker and set it for 99 min.  I could have made a nice gravy out of the broth but we really liked it just the way it is spooned over the roast.  

I like it with yams and you don't want gravy with that anyway.  

Roast Beef - Not Great

Again, I haven't used the pressure cooker nearly as often as I had planned.  I blame a lack of recipes that aren't for soup or stew.  I also have to acknowledge the fact that I'm pretty picky so there are fewer recipes that sound good to me than would sound good to Tim.  He likes everything!  

Today is Easter and I decided to do a small roast since it's just Tim and I.  I've done my roasts in my crock pot forever.  I start them one night, cook them low and slow for 20-22 hrs.  They always turn out awesome!!  Juicy and fall apart tender with a delicious au jus.  It's great but if I don't remember to get it started the night before it isn't as good.  Starting it in the morning just isn't the same.  

Soooo anyway, I tried it in the pressure cooker today.  The Beef setting on the cooker is supposed to be for cuts up to 3lbs and runs for 26 min.  The recipe said to cook the roast for 45 min total.  This is kind of annoying to me because I feel like the Beef setting should automatically set for a longer time. 

Pressure Cooker Roast Beef

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (3 pound) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch seasoned salt, or to taste
• 1 pinch onion powder, or to taste

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 large onion, cut into 4 wedges
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides in the hot oil; season with pepper, seasoned salt, and onion powder.
2. Pour in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce, add the quartered onion, and seal the lid. Bring the cooker up to full pressure. Reduce heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Use the quick-release method to lower the pressure. Mix in carrots and potatoes, seal the lid again, and return the pressure cooker to the heat. Bring the cooker up to full pressure and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Use the quick-release method again and transfer the roast and vegetables to a serving dish.

The above is the recipe I used. I did not cook the potatoes and carrots with the roast. I chose to boil my potatoes for mashed potatoes. So I just set the cooker for 45 min right from the start. It didn't come out great. It was dry and somewhat tough. Not shoe leather tough but certainly not fall apart tender either. I plan on trying it one more time and setting it to run for 90 min to see how it turns out. If it's still not tender I'll go back to my crock pot.

I totally forgot to take pictures and now we've eaten most of it. Oops!

Oh btw, the gravy turned out delicious! I strained the broth, put it in a small pan with 3 Tbls of flour and heated it on the stove top. It was really good over my mashed taters.