Instant Pot!

[GoingNuts]

Ooooh, tell me about this orange chicken!

[BensMom]

I liked the orange chicken more than I expected. I thought it was good. Dd thought it was "fine", but not really good enough to make again. DH isn't a huge fan of breast meat, so if I did make it again, I'd need to add thighs. He said it wasn't that flavorful, which is really just completely wrong. I don't know how he thought that. The leftovers are even better. I might see if I can find another orange chicken recipe to try that will just be a little different and try that. I liked that it's different than anything else I make. Too often new recipes are just similar to something else.

The red beans were good too, in that they're different. I use the same cajun spice mix on a chicken and pasta recipe, so when the beans were cooking, I though it would just taste like that, but it doesn't at all. The chicken recipe is a cream sauce and the beans are tomato based and it's just totally different. For the beans, I used chicken sausage that was "andouille style".

[becca]

When you cook the chicken breast recipes for 20-25 minutes, isn't it over cooked?  I'm presuming you are working through the link of freezer meals you posted, Bensmom?

[rebekahc]

I made this orange chicken recipe last night.  It's different, but the flavor is good and we all liked it.  I reduced the garlic by about 1/3 since we're not super garlic fans and I forgot to add the orange zest before cooking, so I added it in with the slurry and it was fine that way.  Next time, I may brown the chicken in a skillet first because my IP couldn't seem to get any color on it.  I think some carmelization on the meat would have added just the hint of flavorfulness I felt this was missing.  Maybe I could even set the IP on the stove to get the sear to keep this one pot...

https://sweetandsavorymeals.com/instant-pot-orange-chicken/

[BensMom]

That looks good rebekahc. I might try that. I did like the one I made with orange marmelade and it's certainly easier! It had bbq sauce, which I thought was weird, but it ended up good.

becca, I think they turn out fine, but I like my chicken overcooked probably. But I do think the instant pot keeps it more tender than on the stove.

[GoingNuts]

Oooh, that looks delish!

[BensMom]

I made pasta in my IP last night. It counted down the time and beeped when done, but when I went to release the pressure, there was no pressure. The ring was seated properly. The pot must have thought it came up to pressure because it counted down, so I'm not sure what's going on. I'll have to try a test today and see what I can figure out. The pressure valve thingy seems fine. the knob was in the sealing position. If it hadn't come up to pressure, that would be one thing, but the fact that it thinks it did and counted down the time--that has me confused.

[rebekahc]

Mine did that to me a couple of weeks ago.  I messed around with it and I think the valve that pops up was a little stuck and never popped up.  I pushed it up and down several times to make sure it was free floating and cleaned everything really well.  So far, so good, but I'm keeping an eye that the button pops up now when I use my pot. 

[hezzier]

Mine didn't seal properly last night either, but it was due to the ring not being seated properly...didn't check it before I put the lid on.

[PurpleCat]

Hey all, I have not read this thread, I do not have an instant pot.  I am jealous of those that do.  They don't make one big enough to feed my teen boys. 

However, someone at work today told me there is a guy who has found a way to use his to turn Welches grape juice into good tasting wine!!!!

[becca]

Lol!  How about that!  It really does do everything.

[SilverLining]

Making a stew tonight. Anyone know if canned mushrooms can be added? Would it matter whether they were whole or sliced?

[becca]

I don't think that would matter, SL.  Canned, fresh, or whole vs sliced.

[Stinky10]

I would just stir in canned mushrooms at the end...

how did it turn out?

[SilverLining]

Stew was delicious, but I skipped the mushroom.

I find canned mushrooms tasteless unless the soak in whatever I'm making. Like stew or spaghetti sauce. I do like the convenience though.