Because I am off for summer break, I've been delving into trying out some new stuff.
First two recipes are from books that I was gifted by family members; first was from my grandma and second was from my auntie.
1.
https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pork-chops-with-apples-and-creamy-bacon-cheese-grits/To be honest, I replaced the grits with mashed potatoes, so I really just made the pork chops. Really good with the maple and apple sauce, and the sauce makes a delightful topping for the potatoes (although I like my potatoes cheesy and without gravy typically). The cookbook version also recommended adding a bit of rosemary, which I did. Great decision. Not the world's biggest pork fan, a little on the dry side, but pretty damn good for pork.
*Note: I halved the recipe for 2 people and had enough for the meal and no more. Leftover pork sounds questionable.
Verdict: 4/5; great dish if you like pork, pretty good even for me.
2.
https://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/thai-it-youll-like-it-hot-curry-beef-noodle-bowls/This is a funky recipe with a mixture of the curry paste and the hot peppers. The original recipe book, which I was using to make the recipe, omitted the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch present in this recipe (not sure if just an error?) but the product ended up being pretty watery (and to be honest, if I had tried to boil the water off the peppers would have rapidly gotten really gross.). It tasted good and had a nice kick, but the consistency was definitely off. Since I used powdered broth mix rather than real broth, I would probably just add some broth mix and a little bit of water instead of the way-too-much-water that I added this time. Basil is, not gonna lie, super great in pretty much all southeast Asian style recipes.
*Note: The recipe is enough for 2 leftovers.
Verdict: 3/5; pretty good but not exceptional.
3. I decided to double down on new recipes and make a couple of new Indian foods. The first recipe is from the cookbook of this amazing Indian InstantPot woman; I discovered her website when looking for a dahl InstantPot dish and decided to pick up her Indian InstantPot cookbook. She hasn't let me down yet! Second recipe is just something I decided to search up after having a fabulous version of it at an Indian restaurant. Of course, this sets you up for disappointment. I just found one that was highly rated and didn't seem too fatty / cream heavy.
https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-chana-masala-punjabi-chole-spiced-chickpea-curry/https://www.easycookingwithmolly.com/2016/02/indian-methi-chicken-murg-methi/Note: In all recipes, I omit ginger because it makes my stomach hurt. I also replaced the 2 crushed tomatoes with 2.5 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water.
This was definitely a kickass meal.
The chickpeas were just the right consistency (I thought to myself 35 minutes of pressure cooking? but it was correct) and the tomato paste added the right amount of a tomato taste without overpowering. This recipe has a lot of spices, but thankfully I live next to a huge spice store, so I was able to get everything for it. The one minor bit of pain was the roasted cumin powder; as it turns out, the pepper grinder isn't very good for grinding large quantities of things. Oh well.
The other nice thing about this recipe is that chickpeas, especially without the presence of creamy bases, are really damn healthy. Lots of protein, fiber, and not too caloric.
The methi ended up being quite good even if I was concerned at first as the yogurt in the recipe began curdling pretty quickly. The fenugreek leaves are what really gives it its flavor. This one had quite a kick due to the green chiles and cayenne pepper (I added half of what she recommended and I felt like that was a good space for me, someone who likes some spice but not too much). Ultimately, because the sauce was not the focal point of the recipe, the yogurt ended up just sticking to the chicken and it was fine.
*Note: I made this with steamed rice and had three meals worth of leftovers at the end.
Verdict: 5/5 for the chana masala and 4.5/5 for the methi. I would definitely make both of these again. The half a point mostly represents how much easier the chana masala was to make.
Just as an extra note, here's the original dahl recipe that inspired me to buy this book.
https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-dal-makhani/and here's a bunch of other InstantPot recipes for soups and stews:
https://encouragingmomsathome.com/100-best-instant-pot-recipes-soups-stews/I've tried a handful of these (Hearty Broccoli Soup, Beef Curry, the dahl mahkani above, African Peanut Butter Stew, Smoky Lentil and Potato Soup, 10 minute baked potato soup) and most of them are pretty damn nice. Smoky Lentil and Potato Soup has become a staple in our house. It's a nice starting place for the InstantPot if you don't know exactly where to start.
I also adapted Saika's Portuguese chicken stew for the instantpot as well, which worked pretty well even if cooking the chicken was a bit time-consuming at the beginning.
Desserts:
I bought
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/sallys-cookbooks/sallys-cookie-addiction/ after reading an article on Buzzfeed about the best recipe books on the market. I am largely pretty happy with my selection of non-dessert recipe books, but I picked up a couple of dessert-special books. So far I've tried the pecan chocolate chip, the brown butter snickerdoodle, the pistachio molasses (I caved and put ginger powder in this), the peanut butter, and the vanilla spice slice-n-bake. Every single one has been better than any cookies I've baked in my life.
I'm gonna keep experimenting. I have some particularities with recipes; in particular, I do not like tomatoes in their slimy form. For recipes that require tomatoes as a base, I usually use tomato paste. For recipes that want them chunky, I usually use red peppers. It has worked pretty well for me. Excited to try more new stuff. ;)
