Instant Pot Bison Roast

On Saturday I went to the Farmer’s market with my friend, Steph. I wasn’t planning on buying anything. I just needed to get out of the house for awhile. Of course that meant I came home with a Bison chuck roast and about 5 pounds of yellow baby potatoes. I have never eaten Bison before, much less cooked it so I had no idea what I was going to do with this roast. Why do I do this to myself?

As always, when I have an ingredient I haven’t cooked with before, I search the internet to see the possibilities. This time the internet failed me there just aren’t many people posting Bison meat recipes on their blogs. So I decided to crowdsource some ideas from a tea group I belong to on Facebook. What does Bison have to do with tea? Absolutely, nothing, but the group is a supportive community that posts about everything not just tea. I got some great information and links to information.

One of the links was to a site called Rock River Bison that had a recipe I adapted using what I had on hand as I didn’t have the specific rubs they used in the video. I had decided to use my pressure cooker before I saw the video. Bison is very lean so it overcooks and dries out easily. You need to cook it low and slow in in the oven or crockpot for hours to prevent that or use a pressure cooker that makes it more difficult to over cook. I didn’t have hours. I was hungry now so pressure cooker it was.

It was so worth the wait. The meat was very tender and juicy, not dry at all. It would be very easy to adapt this recipe to use other sauces and spice rubs. How about teriyaki sauce, 5 Spice powder and rice vinegar or salsa, taco seasoning and apple cider vinegar?

I added a little sauce to some of the shredded meat and served it over a bunch of the baby yellow potatoes I baked. I have also served the shredded meat and sauce over pasta lot in a sandwich like the picture.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted from Rock River Bison

2-3 TBS of your favorite meat rub, I used Primal Palates BBQ Rub

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce, I used 8.5 oz bottle of Primal Kitchens Classic BBQ sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 lb Bison chuck roast.

If your pressure cooker has a saute setting, set it to high and let it preheat. If it doesn’t have a saute setting, heat a frying pan over high heat. While the pan is heating, cut your roast into steaks, season both sides with the whatever spice rub you are using. When your pan is hot add a little oil and sear the roast on both sides.

Add the seared roast to the liner of the pressure cooker. Add more spice rub to the meat and use your hands to coat the meat evenly. Add your BBQ sauce and vinegar. Close the lid and turn the vent to the closed position. Set the pressure cooker to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. When the meat is done cooking. Natural release until the pin goes down. Remove the Bison to a plate and shred with two forks.

Instant Pot Week #2 Cranberry Nut Cake

Baking probably isn’t the first thing a person thinks about when they hear the word pressure cooker but it is definitely something you can do. Baking is especially successful when you make something that thrives in a moist environment like a cheese cake or a baked custard. The pressure cooker is also good at baking things that don’t need to be crisp like cake.

I don’t usually bring out the cranberry recipes until the pumpkin spice everything threatens to take over the world at the end of September or beginning of October. This recipe, however, was screaming at me to make it and use up some of the cranberry stash in my freezer. I used a 3 cup Bundt cake pan to make this recipe but you can use a 6 inch cake pan or spring form pan if you don’t have one.

Cranberry Nut Cake

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted From The Instant Pot Bible The Next Generation

1 1/2 cup water, for in the liner

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

2 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS canola oil

3 TBS lightly beaten egg

1/4 tsp vanilla

Spray Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Add water to pressure cooker liner, add trivet to the liner and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

In a small bowl, combine the cranberry sauce, brown sugar, canola oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix well to dissolve the brown sugar.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently stir until ingredients are just moistened.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set on the pan on the trivet and cover with aluminum foil. Close and lock lid. Pressure cook on high for 50 minutes. Let natural release for 20 minutes then release any remaining pressure. Remove pan from liner and let cool.

Instant Pot Week #1 Turkey Tetrazinni

I am currently in the middle of a kitchen deep clean. The deep clean means getting rid of anything I haven’t used in the last three months, including ingredients, cookware and small appliances. Yeah, its brutal.

One appliance that is in danger of getting dumped are my pressure cookers. I love them and think they are a useful tool but I haven’t used them much in a lot longer than 3 months. In order to save my pressure cookers from the donation box, I am making a concentrated effort to use them more, starting with a week’s worth of recipes using the pressure cooker here on A Solitary Feast.

First recipe is Turkey Tetrazinni. A lot of people think you can’t cook pasta in the pressure cooker. You can but it is a little tricky, especially if you are using a tomato based sauce as they tend scorch on the bottom of the pot, giving the dreaded burn notice. If you like tomato based sauces for your pasta, check out this recipe at Desserts for Two to see a great recipe for Spaghetti in the Instant Pot . Its one of my favorite recipes for making Spaghetti in the Instant Pot.

A couple tips for making pasta in the Instant Pot.

1. Add your liquid first and then use a spatula to scrap the stuck on bits from the bottom of the liner if you used the IP to brown the meat. This will remove any stuck bits from the bottom of the liner and could possibly cause a burn notice.
2. Don’t add your pasta in on big clump. Add it in several different layers going in different directions. This will help keep the pasta from cooking into one big clump.
3. Don’t stir the pasta into the liquid. Just make sure it is submerged by gently pressing it into the liquid. Don’t let the pasta touch the bottom of the pot.

Turkey Tetrazinni

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted From The Instant Pot Bible The Next Generation

1 TBS butter

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 lb turkey tenders, cut into thin strips

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/4 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons chicken broth

6 oz raw spaghetti, broken to fit the liner of the pressure cooker

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated

Set the pot to saute. When the pot is hot, add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, 2-3 minutes.

Add the turkey and cook until no longer pink, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the oregano, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the broth and scrape the bottom with a spatula to loosen any stuck on bits. This will help prevent a burn notice. Layer the pasta in batches over the broth. Don’t stir. Instead gently push the pasta into the liquid, making sure it doesn’t tough the bottom of the pot. It doesn’t need to be completely covered with liquid.

Lock the lid. Cook 6 minutes on high. When done, quick release the pressure. Add the cream and stir well to get all the noodles mixed in. Turn off the heat. Add the parmesan and stir until the cheese is completely melted.

When you first open the pot it is going to look like a lot of liquid is in the pot. Have faith, once you add the cream and cheese and let it sit a few minutes it will be perfect.

Instant Pot Week Day 1 — Buttery Toasted Oatmeal

Welcome to Instant Pot week here on A Solitary Feast.  This week is dedicated to everyone who got an Instant Pot for Christmas and aren’t sure what to do with it or, maybe, even a little afraid to use it. My mom was convinced I was going to blow up my apartment when I got mine 5 years ago.  The good news is I have made 100’s of meals in my pot and I have never blown up anything.

This week is going to be all about recipes and resources I love and use when I cook with my instant Pot.  First up, is the hands down, best pressure cooking resource for beginners or experienced people using the pressure cooker. The  blog is called Hip Pressure Cooking. It has reviews for different brands of pressure cookers, lessons on how to cook with pressure cookers,  community forums and tons of recipes.  But the best, most useful thing on the site full of useful things is the detailed cooking time charts for just about every food imaginable.  If you ever wonder how long to cook something, if you should cook on low or high pressure, or what kind of pressure release you should use these charts will give you the answer to those questions and more.  I printed  these charts out and keep them in a binder on my cookbook shelves because they are so useful. 

One of the most common complaints I hear about pressure cooking is that by the time you bring the pot to pressure, actually cook the food  and release the pressure you haven’t really saved anytime and might as well cook it on the stove.  In some cases that is true, the recipe would get done faster on the stove.  In these instances, the way the pressure cooker shines is in its ability to be totally hands off once the food is in the  pot.  I don’t have to watch it at all.  I can go get ready for work, watch tv, do laundry or whatever.  When the food is done cooking it will flip to the keep warm setting and be hot and ready to eat when I am ready to eat. I love tossing my oat meal in the pressure cooker, getting ready of my day and then sitting down to my hot breakfast with no effort on my part.

• Difficulty: Easy
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1 1/2 TBS butter

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1 cup plus 2 TBS water

1/8 tsp salt

Preheat heat the pot on the saute function.  When hot, melt the butter.  Add the oats and stir until toasted, about 3 minutes.  Add the water and salt.  Lock the lid and set the timer for 4 minutes.  When the oats are done cooking, turn off the instant pot and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.  Quick release any remaining pressure.  Serve with whatever toppings you like.  I personally like milk, brown sugar and 1/2 tsp apple spice.

Instant Pot Gingerbread Oatmeal

Just because I got an air fryer doesn’t mean I am going to give up my pressure cooker. Especially when its cold outside and I need a warm breakfast fast.

I always thought I needed steel cut oats to make oatmeal in the pressure cooker. I assumed regular old fashioned oats would turn out mushy and inedible. Turns out, I was wrong. It is possible to cook any kind of oat meal in the pressure cooker.

If you like gingerbread you are going to love this oatmeal. Its like Christmas in a bowl. Beware, however, this oatmeal isn’t for the faint of heart. The oatmeal is very strongly gingerbread flavored. Don’t be surprised like I was.

Gingerbread Oatmeal

• Difficulty: Easy
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From Kitchen Simplicity

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 – 1 1/2 tsp molasses

Pinch cloves

Pinch salt

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 TBS dried cranberries

Combine all the ingredients in a small heat proof bowl; mix well. Add 1 cup water into the liner of the pressure cooker. Place the trivet in the bottom of the liner and the bowl on the trivet. Lock lid and cook for 10 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes and release the remaining pressure naturally.