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.

Spicy Coleslaw

This stack of new to me cookbooks is making me so happy! They are all by my all time favorite cookbook author, Mark Bittman. I have been cooking from his various incarnations of How To Cook Everything for over 20 years. I have made literally, dozens of his recipes of over the years and many of those recipes have made it to my favorites list. One of my cooking goals is to have every cookbook Mark Bittman has ever written. Adding these cookbooks to my collection gets me really close to accomplishing that goal.

I made a BBQ Bison roast last night and needed a quick and easy side dish so I made this coleslaw from one of my new Mark Bittman cookbooks. This is not your typical Midwest coleslaw recipe as there isn’t a drop of mayonnaise to be found. Instead Mark Bittman uses a basic vinaigrette to season and sauce the coleslaw. Its a refreshing change from the waterlogged, stodgy coleslaws that I grew up with.

You can use any type of cabbage here. I had some Napa cabbage so that is what I used.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted From How To Cook Everything The Basics

1 TBS Dijon mustard

1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp sugar

3 cups cored and shredded cabbage

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup scallions, chopped

salt and pepper, to tast

Whisk the mustard and vinegar together in a small bowl. Slowly, whisk the oil into the the vinegar/mustard mixture. Once the oil is combined add the sugar and whisk until dissolved.

Combine the cabbage, peppers, and scallions, toss with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Cinnamon Muffins

No, it isn’t a typo. There really are 2 1/2 tsp of cinnamon in a recipe for 6 muffins. I adapted this recipe for my friend, Steph, whose answer to all the world’s problems is, “it needs more cinnamon”. My goal was to add enough cinnamon to make her say. “Whoa, that’s enough cinnamon.” Sadly, I didn’t accomplish that goal with this recipe. I did accomplish making a yummy muffin that both Steph and I enjoyed so I am happy with that.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted From The Joy of Muffins cookbook

3/4 cup plus 2 TBS all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

3 TBS lightly beaten egg

2 1/2 TBS canola oil

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 6 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine, the egg, canola oil, and milk. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened.

Fill the prepared muffin cups 2/3’s full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Classic Blueberry Muffins

My mom doesn’t understand why I keep buying cookbooks when I already have so many. She doesn’t cook or bake much. It just isn’t her passion like it is mine so I can never make her understand that buying cookbooks for me is the same as her buying fabric for her quilting when she already has more then she will use in her lifetime. There is something about the cookbook that inspires me to want get into my kitchen and try a new recipe just like the way fabrics inspire her to get to her sewing room and sew.

Yesterday I had to be out my apartment for awhile, so I headed out to my favorite used book store, Books At A Fifth. I found a “New” muffin cookbook from 1989, called The Joy Of Muffins that featured muffins based on flavors from all over the world. You all know how much I love to make muffins so it isn’t often I find muffin recipes that I haven’t tried before. The Joy of Muffins is not only filled with muffin recipes I haven’t tried before, its filled with recipes I actually want to try. The recipes use, for the most part, Ingredients I already have at home or have easy access to. Best of all, the cookbook was only a a dollar. How could I resist?

Blueberry Muffins

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted From The Joy Of Muffins Cookbook

1 cup flour

2 TBS sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

6 TBS milk

2 TBS canola oil

1/2 cup blue berries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 6 cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well to combine. In another small bowl, combine the egg, milk, and canola oil. Mix well. Combine wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Fill the muffin cups 2/3’s full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Mini Banana Bread Waffles–Dash Mini Waffle Maker Review

My claim not to be a gadget girl maybe in jeopardy. Its not my fault. I blame my friend Audrey, Okay, maybe it isn’t Audrey’s fault but she started it. A few weeks ago we were able to get together for the first time since the pandemic started and she gave me a Dash mini waffle maker. Audrey wants me to try making Chaffles. If you don’t know what they are don’t feel bad. I didn’t either, beyond they were something people following the keto diet ate. I am going to try them but the first time I went to make them I was out of cheese and you can’t make chaffles without cheese. So I decided to make the banana bread waffles from the booklet that came with the waffle maker instead.

The reason I try and stay away from kitchen gadgets is they are often expensive, don’t work as promised, can only do one thing, and gadgets tend to be big and take a lot of space to store. Most gadgets are just not worth it. The question is is the Dash Mini Waffle Maker worth it or is it just another gadget taking up space in the kitchen?

What I like:

1. Surprisingly, the waffle maker works and works well. The wells are deep enough to make thick, fluffy waffles. The waffles don’t stick to the plates. The waffle maker preheats and cooks the waffles quickly.
2. The mini waffle maker is 9.99 on the Dash website and Amazon. I also saw them when I was at Walmart and Target for about the same price. In my opinion, this isn’t a bad price for what you get. I have seen less well made gadgets sell for a lot more.
3. Can you make other things than breakfast waffles on the waffle Iron? A quick internet search gave me a lot of ideas for dinner and dessert waffles. I also checked out a blog called the Will It Waffle, where I got tons of non waffle food ideas to make on the waffle iron. The only limit, I can see to what you can waffle is the size of your waffle maker. In some cases, having a mini waffle iron can be a drawback.
4. Its small size makes it easy to find a place for it in my cupboards. It takes up less space than my electric tea kettle so I can leave it on the counter without looseing too much counter space.

Suprisingly, the waffles are really delicious. I have to admit, I have been using this a lot more than thought I would and still have ideas of things I want to do with it. It isn”t practical if you are making waffles for a crowd but if you are making waffles for youself or two it is handy. The waffles freeze well and reheat nicely in a 350 degree oven for 5 – 10 minutes.

Mini Banana Waffles

• Difficulty: Easy
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Adapted from The Dash Mini Waffle Maker Instruction Manual

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup mashed banana

6 TBS milk or buttermilk

2 TBS brown sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 TBS canola oil

Preheat your mini waffle Iron while you make your waffle batter.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Stir to combine. In another small bowl, combine the mashed banana, buttermilk, brown sugar, egg and oil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and well combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Spray preheated waffle iron with a little non-stick cooking spray. Place 4 tablespoons of waffle batter in the middle of the lower plate. Close the lid and let cook until the indicator light goes off. Of the waffles aren’t done to your liking feel free to cook it a little more. Serve with maple syrup and butter, if desired.