Get cooking with the popular Instant Pot
There is a lot of talk about pot these days, especially in the kitchen as the Canadian invention known as the Instant Pot has become and remained the number one, must have kitchen gadget for a couple of years now.
Robert Wang is the Ottawa inventor who created this multicooker that can operate as a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, sauté pan, and warming pot.
I’m not a fan of kitchen gadgets as most of them are often not worth their price and once their short lived novelty wears off they end up cluttering up valuable kitchen real estate. For these reasons and other more chef-ly ones when I opened a birthday gift from my wife back in the summer to discover that I was the proud new owner of an Instant Pot I smiled graciously and thanked my wife and complimented her thoughtfulness. It has since sat in one of the bottom, back recesses of our kitchen cupboards.
After a gentle reminder that I had received this gadget as a gift I made the effort to play with it and I am happy to say that I’m the proud owner of an Instant Pot. It cuts cooking times in half and is easy to operate. Although I have not made yogurt in it the other features work incredibly well except for the sauté function which means “to jump” and the Instant Pot does not like to be tossed around like a sauté pan while in operation.
From start to finish the following recipe can be prepped, cooked and served in about 90 minutes making the tradition of eating a Sunday roast dinner happen any day of the week instead of letting your meat roast away for hours in the oven.
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Ingredients:
1 3-5 pound blade roast 2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika 1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 pound baby red potatoes 2 cups coarsely chopped carrots
1 cup peeled and chopped turnip
1 cup button mushrooms
2 cups coarsely chopped yellow onion
2 cups beef broth
½ cup red wine
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp. corn starch
¼ cup water
Method: Set your Instant Pot to "saute.” Mix together the salt, pepper and smoked paprika and rub it all over the roast to evenly coat it.
Pour the oil into the pot and then using tongs place roast in the pot turning it every few minutes until it is well browned on all sides.
Switch the setting to "pressure cook" on high and set timer to 75 minutes. Add the garlic, potatoes, onions, and carrots to pot before pouring in the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and red wine. Place lid on the pot and turn to locked position with the vent set to the sealed position.
When the cooking time is up, do a natural release for 10 minutes before turning the vent to the release position allowing for all of the steam to vent and the float valve to drop down before removing the lid.
Transfer the roast, potatoes, onions, and carrots to a platter. Change setting to "soup" and whisk together the water and corn starch before adding it to the broth, whisking occasionally to form gravy. Season gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Slice or shred the roast into chunky pieces and serve immediately covered with the gravy.