Thai Chicken over rice - BIG HIT!!

I've found several new recipes that I'm excited to try!!  Thai Chicken, Messy Lasagna, Jamaican Oxtail with Butter Beans and Cabbage Tamales.  I found all of these recipes on allrecipes.com  They're all dishes that are prepared completely in the pressure cooker in a very short time when compared to other methods of cooking.  I plan on making one a week.  Now that Tim is home most every night I'm cooking more so I need to make use of this pressure cooker and find a way to make it helpful to me.  

Tonight's new dish is Thai Chicken over rice.  I love Thai peanut sauce but this also has a lot of coconut milk which I wasn't sure about.  Neither Tim or I like the flavor of coconuts that much so I was worried it might be awful but it was worth a try.  After all, Tim usually eats anything I make even if I hate it so it rarely goes to waste.  

Turns out it was a HUGE hit!!!  Absolutely fabulous!!  It didn't taste of coconut at all but I think that gave it a wonderful creamy texture.  The peanut flavor was there but not overpowering at all.  I think it could have used a little more heat and maybe another vegetable in the sauce.  One of the reviews on allrecipes.com suggested using red bell pepper and baby spinach which sounds quite good and I think I'll be adding that next time.  

There is no rice in this picture because I was so excited to eat it I forgot to take a picture.  By the time I finished and went to take a picture Tim had eaten all the rice.  I had only made 3 cps of rice for the two of us.  I'll make fresh rice when we eat the leftovers.

THAI CHICKEN OVER RICE

·         1 ¼  cup hot salsa

·         ½  cup chunky peanut butter

·         1 can coconut milk – shake it before you open it

·         2 tablespoons lime juice

·         1 tablespoon soy sauce

·         1 teaspoon ginger

·         3 pounds skinless boneless chicken

·         ½  cup chopped peanuts, for topping

·         ½ cup chopped cilantro, for topping

·         6 cups cooked white rice

1.    Combine the salsa, peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, and ginger in the pressure cooker.  Set on Saute to heat the mixture just enough to warm up the peanut butter so it will blend in, then turn off Saute.

2.    Trim the chicken and cut each piece into 2-3 pcs.  Put the chicken in the cooker and make sure it’s all down in the sauce. 

3.    Place the lid on the cooker and using the Chicken setting, cook until chicken is very tender and sauce has thickened, approx. 20min.

4.    To serve, spoon white rice onto your plate, place 2-3 pieces of chicken on the rice and spoon the delicious sauce over all.  Garnish with peanuts and cilantro. 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213748/franks-favorite-slow-cooker-thai-chicken/  This link shows the original recipe with slow cooker directions

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas - Success!

This was really my first time to try cooking chicken in the pressure cooker and it went really, really well.  It was nice to find something that cooked the way I wanted it to within the pre-set amount of time for that item.  None of the pre-sets have worked so far, not even the one for rice or beans so I was beginning to suspect that none of the pre-sets were worth a damn.  This was perfect tho.  I wanted to shred this chicken and as I pulled the pieces out of the pot it was falling into pieces.  Perfect!

 I've always used chicken breasts before but this time I had a big pack of chicken thighs that I picked up on the discount meat counter.  They were also skinless, boneless so I figured they would be fine.  It's possible that breasts would take a bit longer because they're so thick. When I use breasts i will cut them up into 3-4 pieces to make sure they cook in the pre-set time and to make them a bit easier to shred.

The only bad thing is that this wasn't something we could have for dinner when it came out of the pot.  I find that a lot of pressure cooker recipes are to prepare something that is used to make something else.  This isn't really what I had in mind when I got this thing.  I wanted to be able to fix quick, easy meals in it.  It's partly my fault for being to picky I suppose.  

I totally forgot to take a picture of it which is a damn shame cause it was really good.  I used the shredded chicken to make my Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas which are delicious.  I tried several chicken enchilada recipes before I found one that I really like.  I'm putting that recipe here too so they're both together.  

Mexican Shredded Chicken 

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 9 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 packet of Taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cp of water

Trim the chicken of all fat and place the chicken in a pressure cooker. Pour the whole can of diced tomatoes over the chicken. Sprinkle with the taco seasoning. Give it a stir, seal and use the Chicken setting on the cooker. It's 20 min on mine and the chicken came out perfect. 

Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker and place in a med bowl, use 2 forks to shred the chicken. Once it's completely shredded, use a slotted spoon to get the diced tomatoes out and add to the chicken along with about 1/3 cp of the liquid This will keep the chicken moist and well seasoned.

Use this shredded chicken in any Mexican dish; enchiladas, tacos, burritoes, quesadillas, etc. I usually make it to use with my Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas.


Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

3 cps shredded or diced, see Mexican Shredded Chicken recipe
1 can Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup
1/2 cp milk
1 can enchilada sauce - divided
½ cp chunky salsa

12 corn tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream

Mix soup and milk, microwave 1 min to get it warm so the soup blends better. Add half the can of enchilada sauce, and salsa. Stir about 1 cp of this soup/enchilada sauce mixture into the chicken. 

Pour the other half can of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and spread it out evenly. Heat the tortillas in the microwave. Spoon some of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla then top with some shredded cheese. Roll the sides over and place it seam side down in the baking dish. 

Spoon the rest of the soup/enchilada sauce mixture over each one, spreading it out to cover as much of the tortilla as possible. Bake at *350 20-30 min until heated thru. Serve with sour cream, diced tomatoes and a little extra cheese. 

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas - Success!

This was really my first time to try cooking chicken in the pressure cooker and it went really, really well.  It was nice to find something that cooked the way I wanted it to within the pre-set amount of time for that item.  None of the pre-sets have worked so far, not even the one for rice or beans so I was beginning to suspect that none of the pre-sets were worth a damn.  This was perfect tho.  I wanted to shred this chicken and as I pulled the pieces out of the pot it was falling into pieces.  Perfect!

 I've always used chicken breasts before but this time I had a big pack of chicken thighs that I picked up on the discount meat counter.  They were also skinless, boneless so I figured they would be fine.  It's possible that breasts would take a bit longer because they're so thick. When I use breasts i will cut them up into 3-4 pieces to make sure they cook in the pre-set time and to make them a bit easier to shred.

The only bad thing is that this wasn't something we could have for dinner when it came out of the pot.  I find that a lot of pressure cooker recipes are to prepare something that is used to make something else.  This isn't really what I had in mind when I got this thing.  I wanted to be able to fix quick, easy meals in it.  It's partly my fault for being to picky I suppose.  

I totally forgot to take a picture of it which is a damn shame cause it was really good.  I used the shredded chicken to make my Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas which are delicious.  I tried several chicken enchilada recipes before I found one that I really like.  I'm putting that recipe here too so they're both together.  

Mexican Shredded Chicken 

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 9 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 packet of Taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cp of water

Trim the chicken of all fat and place the chicken in a pressure cooker. Pour the whole can of diced tomatoes over the chicken. Sprinkle with the taco seasoning. Give it a stir, seal and use the Chicken setting on the cooker. It's 20 min on mine and the chicken came out perfect. 

Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker and place in a med bowl, use 2 forks to shred the chicken. Once it's completely shredded, use a slotted spoon to get the diced tomatoes out and add to the chicken along with about 1/3 cp of the liquid This will keep the chicken moist and well seasoned.

Use this shredded chicken in any Mexican dish; enchiladas, tacos, burritoes, quesadillas, etc. I usually make it to use with my Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas.


Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

3 cps shredded or diced, see Mexican Shredded Chicken recipe
1 can Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup
1/2 cp milk
1 can enchilada sauce - divided
½ cp chunky salsa

12 corn tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream

Mix soup and milk, microwave 1 min to get it warm so the soup blends better. Add half the can of enchilada sauce, and salsa. Stir about 1 cp of this soup/enchilada sauce mixture into the chicken. 

Pour the other half can of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and spread it out evenly. Heat the tortillas in the microwave. Spoon some of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla then top with some shredded cheese. Roll the sides over and place it seam side down in the baking dish. 

Spoon the rest of the soup/enchilada sauce mixture over each one, spreading it out to cover as much of the tortilla as possible. Bake at *350 20-30 min until heated thru. Serve with sour cream, diced tomatoes and a little extra cheese.