Monday, April 20, 2020

Easy Beef Stroganoff Pasta - Instant Pot

This easy beef stroganoff pasta is a tasty one-pot meal, beefy and creamy with lots of mushrooms. It’s cooked in an Instant Pot so it’s on the table quickly without even firing up your stove.

Food Lust People Love: This easy beef stroganoff pasta is a tasty one-pot meal, beefy and creamy with lots of mushrooms. It’s cooked in an Instant Pot so it’s on the table quickly without even firing up your stove.


I was craving beef stroganoff during my kitchen renovation so initially I planned to cook it on my one little electric burner in the laundry room, like many of our meals. Then it occurred to me that perhaps I could boil pasta in the Instant Pot. After all, one can use it to cook rice. Why not pasta?

I found various instructional posts online, especially one on Tidbits for Tasty Living. The challenge was on! I have to tell you, we could not have been more pleased with how it turned out.

Easy Beef Stroganoff Pasta

Since the pasta is going to be cooked in the Instant Pot, if you don’t have bowties, make sure to choose another small wide variety. Long thin noodles are not recommended in case they work their way out of the float valve. Feel free to substitute your favorite mushrooms or whichever ones you have on hand for the baby Portobellos.

Ingredients
4 lbs or 1820g lean beef, cut into thin pieces
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon Ajinomoto (MSG)- optional
1/3 cup or 41g flour
2 tablespoons or 30g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons beef drippings (or sub more olive oil)
3 medium onions
200g or 7 oz baby Portabella mushrooms
1 cup or 240ml dry white wine
4 cups or 946ml beef stock
1 lb or 450g small dried bowtie pasta or other small pasta
2 cups or 490g sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Sea salt
Black pepper

Optional to garnish:
Parsley

Method
Sprinkle the beef with the white vinegar, salt and the Ajinomoto, if using. This helps to tenderize the meat. Refrigerate the beef for at least an hour but you can even do this step the night before.

When you are ready to cook the beef, drain any liquid that has collected and toss the pieces with the flour in a large bowl.



With the Instant pot on low sauté, melt the butter, adding a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. While the butter is melting, chop your onions.

Sauté the onions for about five minutes or until they are softened and translucent. Remove them from the Instant Pot and put them in a bowl that is large enough to hold the meat after you’ve browned it as well.



Turn the sauté function up to high and brown the meat a handful or two at a time, adding a little more olive oil if necessary. As the beef browns, remove the browned pieces to a bowl and add more to the Instant Pot, until all the beef is browned and in the bowl.



Meanwhile, trim any hard stem ends off of the mushrooms and slice them.



Turn the sauté function to low once more and add the white wine to the pot and gently loosen any browned bits on the Instant Pot pan. Cook on the low heat until the wine is almost completely reduced.

Add the meat back in with the onions and set your Instant Pot to pressure cook for 20 minutes.



When the time is up, turn it off but leave it to depressurize naturally.

Add in the beef stock, pasta and sliced mushrooms. Stir well.



Cook for 5 minutes on high and release the steam manually when done. When releasing the pressure, cover the release valve with a kitchen towel and pulse it a few times to release the pressure a little at a time until fully releasing.



Stir in the sour cream and lemon juice. Check for salt, adding more if necessary, along with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper to taste.



Garnish with a little parsley, if desired. Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This easy beef stroganoff pasta is a tasty one-pot meal, beefy and creamy with lots of mushrooms. It’s cooked in an Instant Pot so it’s on the table quickly without even firing up your stove.

It's Multicooker Monday again, friends! Check out all the great recipes we are sharing using various small appliances. Many thanks to the group creator and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.

Pin this Easy Beef Stroganoff Pasta! 

Food Lust People Love: This easy beef stroganoff pasta is a tasty one-pot meal, beefy and creamy with lots of mushrooms. It’s cooked in an Instant Pot so it’s on the table quickly without even firing up your stove.
 .

Friday, April 17, 2020

Baked Salmon and Veggie Parcels #FishFridayFoodies

Baked salmon and veggie parcels are an easy delicious meal that comes together quickly and, as a bonus, there are no pots or pans to wash up!

Food Lust People Love: Baked salmon and veggie parcels are an easy delicious meal that comes together quickly and, as a bonus, there’s no pots or pans to wash up! These little dinner packets are easily customizable to use whatever seafood and vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure than any raw vegetables are thin or thinly sliced. Vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes, should be cooked ahead.

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing recipes inspired by our travels. For my contribution, I reached way back to my backpacking days when my fellow Girl Scouts and I would cook whole meals wrapped in foil over a campfire.

We never did anything as fancy as salmon with asparagus, of course! But we did enjoy some fabulous meals under the stars. There is no more delicious meal than one that follows an all-day hike in the piney woods of East Texas, or really, anywhere outdoors.

The salmon and asparagus idea came from a dish I ate many moons ago in a seaside restaurant in Sydney. They look so pretty on a plate together, don’t you think? Especially if you add a slice of lemon. For my rendition, I also love the way the yellow squash peeks out, adding a little extra pop of color to echo the yellow of the lemon slice.

Baked Salmon and Veggie Parcels

These little dinner packets are easily customizable to use whatever seafood and vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure than any raw vegetables are thin or thinly sliced so they can cook quickly. Vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes, should be cooked ahead.

Ingredients
For the parcels:
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow squash
4-5 small cooked red potatoes
1/4 purple onion, sliced very thinly
4 wild salmon fillets
4 teaspoons butter
12 fresh asparagus stalks
4 slices lemon
salt
freshly ground black pepper
ground cayenne pepper

To garnish:
chopped parsley

Method
Preheat the oven to 400°C or 200°F.

Cut the ends off of the yellow squash and slice it thinly. Cut the cooked potatoes in 1/4 in or 6mm slices. Trim the hard ends off of the asparagus and then cut them into lengths about the same size as your salmon fillets.



Salt and pepper the salmon fillets.


Lay your foil out and drizzle the middle of the sheet with one teaspoon of olive oil about the size of your salmon fillet. Top the olive oil with one quarter of the slices of yellow squash and then potato. Salt and pepper the potatoes.



Top the potatoes with one of the salmon fillets then add 1 teaspoon of butter in two pieces.



Press a few slices of onion into the butter along with one quarter of the asparagus pieces. The butter helps hold them all neatly on top.

Top the whole pile with a lemon slice.



Pull the foil edges together and fold them over to seal the parcel. Repeat the process to create the other three salmon and veggie parcels.

Place all four parcels onto a baking tray and bake in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through.

Wild salmon takes less time to cook since the fillets are generally thinner and less fatty than farmed salmon. I find that 15 minutes is enough time for wild salmon to be done to our liking. Farmed salmon may take that extra five minutes. If you are unsure, by all means, check for doneness by cutting into one of the fillets before plating.

When time’s up on the salmon, remove the baking pan from the oven and leave to stand for 1 minute.

Food Lust People Love: Baked salmon and veggie parcels are an easy delicious meal that comes together quickly and, as a bonus, there’s no pots or pans to wash up! These little dinner packets are easily customizable to use whatever seafood and vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure than any raw vegetables are thin or thinly sliced. Vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes, should be cooked ahead.


Carefully open each parcel so you don't burn yourself with the steam that will pour out. Use a wide spatula to slide the pile onto a plate. Sprinkle on a little chopped parsley, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Baked salmon and veggie parcels are an easy delicious meal that comes together quickly and, as a bonus, there’s no pots or pans to wash up! These little dinner packets are easily customizable to use whatever seafood and vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure than any raw vegetables are thin or thinly sliced. Vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes, should be cooked ahead.


Enjoy!

Check out all the other great seafood recipes my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing today that have been inspired by their travels. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla for this great theme!

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin these Baked Salmon and Veggie Parcels!

Food Lust People Love: Baked salmon and veggie parcels are an easy delicious meal that comes together quickly and, as a bonus, there’s no pots or pans to wash up! These little dinner packets are easily customizable to use whatever seafood and vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure than any raw vegetables are thin or thinly sliced. Vegetables that take longer to cook, like potatoes, should be cooked ahead.
.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese Bundt #BundtBakers

This bacon broccoli mac and cheese Bundt is a delicious main course made with a wonderful cheesy sauce that includes heavy cream, extra sharp cheddar and five whole eggs.

Food Lust People Love: This bacon broccoli mac and cheese Bundt is a delicious main course made with a wonderful cheesy sauce that includes heavy cream, extra sharp cheddar and five whole eggs. This Bundt is much more than just baking your usual mac and cheese in a Bundt pan. The bacon, broccoli and eggs make this a full meal. Leftovers, if you should be so fortunate as to have any, are just as delicious the next day.


I’m not sure why I did but when I decided to host this month’s Bundt Bakers event, I chose cheese as the main ingredient. Cheese means that both sweet and savory bakes are an option! This could not have come at a better time.

Like the rest of the world, we’ve been self isolating for several weeks because of the novel coronavirus. We don’t eat a lot of sweets so I really wanted to make something we would eat for a main course, rather than a dessert. Thank God for cheese.

Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese Bundt

This Bundt is much more than just baking your usual mac and cheese in a Bundt pan. The bacon, broccoli and eggs make this a full meal. Leftovers, if you should be so fortunate as to have any, are just as delicious the next day.

Ingredients
12 oz or 340g large elbow macaroni
5 1/3 oz or 150g small broccoli florets (no stems –about 1/2 small crown)
12 oz or 340g (7-8 slices) thick cut bacon
1/4 cup or 56g unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the Bundt pan
1/3 cup or 41g flour, plus more for flouring the Bundt pan
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups or 360ml milk (I used 2 percent fat)
1/2 cup or 120ml heavy cream
12 oz or 340g extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a combo of your favorite cheeses), grated
1 teaspoon mustard powder (I use Colman’s)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese Bundt

While this recipe calls for only broccoli florets, don’t discard the stems after you’ve cut off the little florets. They are not only edible once you trim the hard outer stalk, they are delicious in a salad.

Method
Thoroughly grease and flour your 12-cup Bundt pan. I suggest using a classic design since we are baking with cheese, which can tend to stick. Bundt pans with too many nooks and crannies would be asking for trouble.

Cook your elbow macaroni in salted boiling water, according to the package instructions. Add in the broccoli florets for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain the macaroni and broccoli florets and rinse with cool water. Set aside in the colander to drain completely.



Meanwhile, cut the bacon into pieces and fry them in a skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on some paper towels.

Remove all but 1/4 cup or 60ml of the bacon fat and save in a clean jar for future recipes.

Add the butter to the skillet and once it has melted, Add in the flour and stir to create a light roux without any lumps.


Add in the onion and garlic and sauté till they are softened and translucent.


Turn the heat under your skillet right down to simmer and whisk the milk and cream into the roux.

Raise the flame a little and cook, whisking all the while, until the sauce thickens. This takes just a few minutes. You know you have the right thickness when a spatula pulled through it leaves a brief show of pan, then the sauce flows right back in.



Toss the mustard powder, smoked paprika and cayenne with the grated cheese then add it to the white sauce.



Remove the pan from the heat and stir until the cheese is melted. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.



Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the 5 eggs with salt.

Whisk your cooling cheese sauce into the eggs a tablespoon or two at a time, until it’s all mixed in.
You don’t want to add all of the warm cheese sauce at once since the heat will cook the eggs and you’ll end up with eggy lumps. No one wants that.

Sprinkle the bottom of the prepared Bundt pan with some of the bacon bits.



Stir the cooled macaroni, broccoli and the rest of the bacon into the egg/cheese sauce mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the Bundt pan and bake for 50 minutes in your preheated oven.



Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes and then loosen the sides and around the center hole with a wooden skewer. Invert on a plate to serve.

Food Lust People Love: This bacon broccoli mac and cheese Bundt is a delicious main course made with a wonderful cheesy sauce that includes heavy cream, extra sharp cheddar and five whole eggs. This Bundt is much more than just baking your usual mac and cheese in a Bundt pan. The bacon, broccoli and eggs make this a full meal. Leftovers, if you should be so fortunate as to have any, are just as delicious the next day.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This bacon broccoli mac and cheese Bundt is a delicious main course made with a wonderful cheesy sauce that includes heavy cream, extra sharp cheddar and five whole eggs. This Bundt is much more than just baking your usual mac and cheese in a Bundt pan. The bacon, broccoli and eggs make this a full meal. Leftovers, if you should be so fortunate as to have any, are just as delicious the next day.

Check out all the other lovely Bundts with cheese!

BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our home page. c

Pin this Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese Bundt!

Food Lust People Love: This bacon broccoli mac and cheese Bundt is a delicious main course made with a wonderful cheesy sauce that includes heavy cream, extra sharp cheddar and five whole eggs. This Bundt is much more than just baking your usual mac and cheese in a Bundt pan. The bacon, broccoli and eggs make this a full meal. Leftovers, if you should be so fortunate as to have any, are just as delicious the next day.
 .