"It's just a pressure cooker with a '90s electronic user interface," that's what I said when I first investigated this latest in fad consumer kitchen gadgets last fall before Christmas. "In two years, most of them will be gathering dust next to a juicer, a crock pot and a bread machine."
I'm now prepared to eat my words: tender succulent words pressure cooked to a soft flavorful perfection. I'll admit, I've not been so enthusiastic about a kitchen appliance since the first Dak Auto Bakery model FAB-100-1 in the '80s.
It started on a whim yesterday when I decided to buy an Instapot. You see, while I considered it as a fad kitchen appliance, I realized that in our household, a fad juicer from the `00s gets used almost every day. That fad food processor from the '80s finally wore out and I recently replaced it. We've worn out four bread machines since the `90s since we use them so consistently. So maybe I ought to take a closer look at the Instapot.
The first meal made with it was a resounding success: spicy cilantro dal for which actual cooking time was about ten minutes. It was great. I made that ahead of time and then made Butter Chicken closer to dinner time. The time savings was greatly appreciated.
Cooking on weekday evenings is always a chore. I'm exhausted from work, I have too many other things in mind to do. I don't want to spend much time in the kitchen, I don't really like to cook, but I still want to control the ingredients in what I eat. I've aspired in the past to making a bunch of meals on the weekend to be frozen and used during the following week. Aspired, but never succeeded. It turns out that like week day evenings, I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen on weekends, either.
With the Instapot, perhaps I can reduce kitchen time at the same time as I increase kitchen output. Time will tell.
In this inaugural week of use, I'm going to try different recipes and adapt some old favorites.
In terms of old favorites, the "lentil-tomato soup" from the original 1972 Vegetarian Epicure has been my top comfort food for my entire adult life. It takes three hours to cook with a half hour of prep and, really, I'm the only one in the household that likes it.
This afternoon, I tried to adapt it for the Instapot and it was another resounding success with only ten minutes of cooking time. Here, I offer my altered recipe of an old favorite:
2/3 cup dried lentils
1 1/2 cup of water
4 carrots, shredded
2 stalks of celery, shredded
1 small can of tomato paste
chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dill
1 tsp tarragon
Put everything in the Instapot, except the parsley. Cook in manual mode for 10 minutes, with a 10 minute pressure release time. Add the chopped parsley and let it keep cooking in "keep warm mode" for another ten minutes.
Done!
I eat it with a spinach salad and fresh bread from that bread machine that I mentioned earlier. Now if only clever person would invent a fad kitchen appliance that could do the dishes. Uh, wait...
I'm now prepared to eat my words: tender succulent words pressure cooked to a soft flavorful perfection. I'll admit, I've not been so enthusiastic about a kitchen appliance since the first Dak Auto Bakery model FAB-100-1 in the '80s.
It started on a whim yesterday when I decided to buy an Instapot. You see, while I considered it as a fad kitchen appliance, I realized that in our household, a fad juicer from the `00s gets used almost every day. That fad food processor from the '80s finally wore out and I recently replaced it. We've worn out four bread machines since the `90s since we use them so consistently. So maybe I ought to take a closer look at the Instapot.
The first meal made with it was a resounding success: spicy cilantro dal for which actual cooking time was about ten minutes. It was great. I made that ahead of time and then made Butter Chicken closer to dinner time. The time savings was greatly appreciated.
Cooking on weekday evenings is always a chore. I'm exhausted from work, I have too many other things in mind to do. I don't want to spend much time in the kitchen, I don't really like to cook, but I still want to control the ingredients in what I eat. I've aspired in the past to making a bunch of meals on the weekend to be frozen and used during the following week. Aspired, but never succeeded. It turns out that like week day evenings, I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen on weekends, either.
With the Instapot, perhaps I can reduce kitchen time at the same time as I increase kitchen output. Time will tell.
In this inaugural week of use, I'm going to try different recipes and adapt some old favorites.
In terms of old favorites, the "lentil-tomato soup" from the original 1972 Vegetarian Epicure has been my top comfort food for my entire adult life. It takes three hours to cook with a half hour of prep and, really, I'm the only one in the household that likes it.
This afternoon, I tried to adapt it for the Instapot and it was another resounding success with only ten minutes of cooking time. Here, I offer my altered recipe of an old favorite:
2/3 cup dried lentils
1 1/2 cup of water
4 carrots, shredded
2 stalks of celery, shredded
1 small can of tomato paste
chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dill
1 tsp tarragon
Put everything in the Instapot, except the parsley. Cook in manual mode for 10 minutes, with a 10 minute pressure release time. Add the chopped parsley and let it keep cooking in "keep warm mode" for another ten minutes.
Done!
I eat it with a spinach salad and fresh bread from that bread machine that I mentioned earlier. Now if only clever person would invent a fad kitchen appliance that could do the dishes. Uh, wait...