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  • Welcome!
  • Air Frying
  • Main Dishes - Menu
  • Appetizers & Beverages
  • Desserts & Sweets
  • Grill Time!
  • Seafood and Fish
  • Side Dishes
  • Soups & Stews
  • Pressure Cooking
  • Contact
My Food Fantasia

Pressure Cooking

The BEST French Onion Soup

6/13/2017

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If you’re a fan of French onion soup, you’ll love this version made in the pressure cooker! I’ve also made this on the stovetop in a Dutch oven…and I will admit, hands down, that the pressure cooker makes THE BEST French onion soup!

There are many different recipes for this soup…from quick to more labor-intensive versions. The pressure cooker embraces the speediness offered by the pressure method of cooking…and it makes the soup taste like its been cooking for hours (even though the total cook time, including caramelizing the onions, is around 30 minutes!).
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In order to make onion prep a breeze, I love to use my Cuisinart mandolin. I set the thickness to 1/8” and…boom…perfectly, uniformly sliced onions in a jiffy! 

​Proper cooking and caramelization of the onions is the most important part of making French onion soup. On the stovetop, doing it correctly could easily take 45 minutes and a LOT of stirring. This is where the magic of the pressure cooker comes into play…and I’m in awe of the simplicity and yumminess of this soup every time I make it!

I have an electric Cuisinart 6-quart pressure cooker, but this works for the Instant Pot, too. I’m not familiar with stovetop pressure cookers, though, so I can’t provide much guidance with that particular gadget. ​

The BEST French Onion Soup

6 tbsp butter
4 to 5 large onions (approx. 2 lb), sliced 1/8” thick
2 tbsp brown sugar
7-1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
1/2 cup cooking sherry (or red wine or beef broth, but sherry will add more flavor depth)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
Seasoned croutons
Sliced gruyere, provolone, or mozzarella (or shredded cheese can be used)

Sliced onions before caramelization
Onions after caramelization
Turn on BROWN setting of pressure cooker and melt butter. Add onion slices and brown sugar to pot. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions soften and start to caramelize (about 15 minutes). 

Add stock, sherry, and all spices (thyme through black pepper); stir to combine. Lock lid and set on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes; then quick release pressure and carefully remove lid. Stir and add additional salt/pepper to taste.

Set oven broiler to HIGH. Place eight oven-safe crocks on a sheet pan. Ladle soup into each crock (fill to about 1/2” from top). Cover each crock with croutons and place slice of cheese on top. Carefully move sheet pan to oven and broil until cheese is bubbling and begins to brown (about 3 minutes).

Note: As an alternative to oven broiling, ladle soup into serving bowls. Sprinkle with croutons and shredded cheese and serve. The cheese won’t be browned but it will still taste great!
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Perfectly Easy Spaghetti

4/20/2017

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Some of the most flavorful spaghetti that I’ve EVER eaten was made entirely in…get this…my pressure cooker!

It’s no secret among my family and friends that I am a total food nerd and a kitchen gadget-aholic. However...one kitchen gadget that always scared the heck out of me was a pressure cooker. I remember seeing my grandmothers use them when I was a kid…and I’d heard scary stories about them “blowing up” in the kitchen. So I never had any inclination to buy one for myself… ever...

My husband, knowing my love of kitchen gadgets, came home one day (in March 2016) and said he had a surprise for me. Hmmmm…flowers?…chocolate?…or? He brought a large box into the kitchen, plunked it down on the counter, and…it was a Cuisinart pressure cooker. I don’t know exactly what my facial expression was at that moment, but it had to have been a mixture of shock, terror, and dumbfoundedness. Hubby said he knew I didn’t have a pressure cooker, it was on sale at Kohl’s, and he thought I’d enjoy it. At this point, I was having a bit of an internal panic attack…and all I could think about was how I would end up “blowing up” my beautiful kitchen! I thanked hubby…and then I snatched up the box and put the new gadget in a closet. (Out of sight is out of mind, right?!).

Fast-forward 8 months, to November. I’d been seeing so many advertisements and foodie posts on social media about the Instant Pot and how awesome it is. I suddenly had a few pangs of guilt, remembering that I had a brand new pressure cooker…still in the box…stashed in a closet. Okay…it was time to face my fear…time to free the never-been-used pressure cooker from its dark confines. Trust me, I did a lot of research by this point and came to realize that the newer electric pressure cookers are above-and-beyond more safe than the stovetop pressure cookers like my grandmothers used. (Big sigh of relief from me!) 

In the following months, I conquered my fear of the pressure cooker, trying many different recipes…and I’ve come to LOVE it! It really is a timesaver for prepping and cooking so many different things, and the concept of being able to sauté, brown, cook, and keep warm all in one pot is awesome.

This recipe for Perfectly Easy Spaghetti is very simple and is legitimately delish! The flavor that actually steeped INTO the pasta during the pressure-cooking process was unlike any other spaghetti that I’ve ever tasted! I never imagined that pasta itself (not even taking into account the tasty sauce) could be so incredible.
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Perfectly Easy Spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb ground chicken Italian sausage (or other ground meat) 
24 oz jar tomato-basil spaghetti sauce
5-1/2 oz can V8 tomato juice
2-1/2 cups water
8 oz spaghetti noodles (uncooked & broken into thirds)
4 oz sliced mushrooms
5 oz grape tomatoes, halved
4 oz Velveeta queso blanco cheese, cut into pieces (optional)
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
A pinch or two of red pepper flakes (optional)

Turn pressure cooker to SAUTE. Add olive oil and onion, cooking and stirring for several minutes until onions are softened. Add minced garlic and ground sausage, and cook until meat is no longer pink. Turn pressure cooker OFF. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well so all spaghetti noodles are covered. Secure lid, make sure that the steam valve is closed, and set to HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes. Quick release pressure when timer beeps, stir, and serve!
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