Instant Pot Refried Beans

For years we've been wanting to add more beans to our diet but it's a hassle to deal with soaking overnight. The Instant Pot has enabled us to make beans without pre-soaking. We tried a new recipe today from the Allergy Free Alaska blog, Instant Pot Refried Beans.

We didn't have the exact ingredients, so we made some changes to the recipe. Here is what we made.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds dried pinto beans, sorted
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
pungent spices: cubebs, long pepper, black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (I used some cardamom and paprika)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 Tbsp bacon drippings (or lard if you are a traditionalist)
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1-2 tsp sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, add the sorted dried pinto beans and fill the bowl with enough water to cover the beans by several inches. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

To the Instant Pot bowl, add the chopped onion, garlic cloves, jalapeno, dried oregano, ground cumin, ground black pepper, lard, chicken broth, and water.

Use a colander to strain the beans and discard the soaking liquid. Rinse with fresh water.

Now add the beans to the Instant Pot bowl, and stir all of the ingredients together. It’s okay if the lard is in a solid lump, as soon as the Instant Pot comes up to pressure/temperature, the lard will melt.

Place the lid on the Instant Pot and ensure the steam release valve is set to sealing. Press the “Bean/Chili” key, which will show 30 minutes of cooking time, and increase the time to 45 minutes. Now walk away. When the Instant Pot is done cooking, it will come down from pressure naturally, about 40 minutes.

When the pressure is released, open the lid of the Instant Pot and add the sea salt to taste.
While directed to "Use an immersion blender" I opted for a potato masher to blend the beans to the desired consistency. Then I openly laughed at my hubris, and pulled out the food processor in which I processed half of the bean mixture for a few pulses, then the other half.  The beans will appear soupy, but will thicken as they cool.

Recipe made six pints.

Tasted good in a burrito with rice, cheese blend, chopped greens, and yogurt. 

Peach Risotto

I have been making a lot of roasted chicken. This leaves me with all the bits you don't eat that I make into broth. So, what better to make from stock than risotto? I'll tell ya: Peach Risotto.

Belated bacon jam

Last winter I got a lesson in making bacon jam. Thanks Tanya! Somehow I never got the photos put here.


Ended up with three jars of deliciousness.

Another failed attempt at bacon jam. You may recall the first attempt at Bacon Butter FAIL which had almost the same outcome. I was much more diligent with the stirring, so I don't think it was inattention. I suspect I am applying much more heat in the early part. Also there isn't much mention of lids. I assumed that simmer implied lid off to allow reduction, but maybe it is simmer lid on?

I am going to have to schedule a time to make it with my friend who has made it successfully.

Anyway, the salami, pastrami, turkey quesadilla for dinner worked out.
And now I have some lumps of Bacon Coal to save for unsuspecting naughty girls and boys stockings this christmas.

Bacon Butter FAIL

I was camping with a buddy of mine and he pulled out some bacon butter. Wow. Just wow. So I sought out the recipe and here is my first attempt.

I made a couple of tweaks from the original ingredient list.

Apple Bacon German Pancake

Another take on one of my favorite breakfast foods, the german pancake, but this time with bacon!

Quick Braised Asparagus with Bacon and Strawberries

With asparagus in season and and an abundance of strawberries and a wife that demanded bacon with her birthday dinner I was inspired to try combining them all into what proved to be a quite lovely dish.

• Wash and trim fresh asparagus. 
• Put in a pan with 1 Tbs each of bacon drippings, butter, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, water, and sugar. 
• Cover bring to boil over high heat and braise for 3 minutes. 
• Add chopped cooked frozen bacon.
• Cook uncovered for a couple minutes. 
• Add fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and quartered. 
• Cover for a minute or two until the strawberries get up to temperature, but you don't really want to cook them. 

Serve hot and enjoy!

Vorax Egg Muffin

A friend brought us some sourdough English muffins from the Bay Area. So, we had to come up with some special way to enjoy them. I had some leftover lunchmeat and cheese so I decided to make a breakfast sandwich.

This is not gluten-free, vegetarian, locavore, paleo, low-carb, low-fat, or raw food. But it is quite tasty and satisfying. And maybe every once in a while, life should just be tasty and satisfying.

First assemble the ingredients. Then realize you forgot the turkey after you took the picture. I had some nice pastrami from Grocery Outlet that were the ends from large deli rolls.

Pi-tato pi-ttata for Pi Day

In honor of Pi Day I wanted some pi themed lunch. With mashed potatoes staring me in the face as I opened he fridge I wondered about a potato frittata, or rather, a pi-tato pi-ttata!

Scramble on tortilla

Here is another take on a veggie scramble of winter veggies. This time with potatoes.

I parboiled the carrots and potatoes, cut into chunks, for long enough to become fork tender. I chopped the greens pretty fine so it wouldn't feel like the same dish I did earlier.

And of course bacon. Because bacon.

Spinach pecan bacon sautee

Spinach. Pecans. Bacon. Mmm.

In the queue: things I want to try ...

Here is a running list of things I want to try sometime soon...

• chocolate brownie cookies
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Zucchini bread pancakes
• Almond zucchini bread
• Another almond zucchini bread
• Gnudi
• Italian Meringue -- from Cooking for Geeks
• Make simple syrup of 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup water to 240 degrees. Set aside.
• Whisk 3 egg whites to soft peak. Slowly pour in sugar syrup while whisking.
• Creamy Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Soup
• Bacon fat biscuits 
• Bacon fat whole week pancakes
• Bacon fat tortillas
• Bacon fat brownies
• Super easy cider
• Paleo pumpkin pie

Signing up for a Meat CSA

I'm defrosting the freezer right now so we can stock up on the summer harvest. And so we can get some more meat.

We are soon going to get our first box from Deck Family Farms with:

• 10lbs of Grass fed beef; 50% ground, 12% steaks, 38% everything else; ribs, roasts, stir-fry, & stew
• 5lbs of Pasture Raised Pork; bacon, sausages, shoulder, chops, ham.
• 2lbs of Pasture Raised Spring Lamb
• 8lbs of Pasture Raised No Soy! Roasters
• 1 dozen eggs

Looking forward to the variety.
Need to figure out what to do with lamb...

Hakuna Frittata

I got hooked on frittate when we got our first CSA and they supplied a recipe for a "Greens Frittata" (which itself was adapted from Antipasti by Joyce Goldstein) that became one of my goto recipes. It reminded me of the "Use it up quiche" from the Tightwad Gazette.  I adapted it in several ways.

Bacon Pancakes

Bacon Pancake

I saw a picture on Facebook of someone pouring pancake batter over a strip of bacon on a griddle. I knew I had to try this.

I decided to go for a more traditional round pancake so I cut the (precooked and frozen) bacon strips in half and put them side by side. Not much more to say about it than that, other than they were very tasty.

Two Bacon Pancakes: Twice as good!

Sausage Potato Casserole

I had some pork sausage and some potatoes that I wanted to cook. So after a little googling, I found an interesting looking recipe for Sausage Potato Casserole.

I mostly followed the recipe, except I used cream of potato soup rather than cream of mushroom. And I added some spices: ginger, galangal, grains of paradise, long pepper, and cubebs. I used a little more potato and pork than the recipe called for so it ended up being three layers rather than two. I thought about using a larger dish, but I like the added thickness.