Spicy Italian Sausage Tortiglioni PPCXL Style

Supper tonight needed to be fast & spicy.  Why you may ask?  Well I have been feeling under the weather, congested and coughing like crazy.  I decided that supper tonight needed a little kick to it but it had to be super easy to make and here's what I can up with.

Spicy Italian Sausage Tortiglioni PPCXL Style

Start your PPCXL by pressing the meat button, spray the pot with oil. 

The ingredients in this recipe are very basic.

1 package of Mild Spicy Italian Sausage from Costco I remove the meat from the casing simply by squeezing it out right into the hot PPCXL.  Cook the sausage meat throughly.

Now added the canned tomatoes, and 2 jars of four cheese pasta sauce, rinse the jars with approximately 1/4 Cup of water in each and add to the PPCXL.

Next stir in approximately 400g or 2Cups Tortiglioni ( you could use fusilli or rigatoni whatever you like but it should be a bigger pasta) 

Made sure you stir the pasta into the sauce really well and that all the pasta is submerged in the sauce.  (If it is not add a little more water or sauce until it is)

Stop the PPCXL by pressing cancel button now you want to restart if using the rice/risotto button it should read 6 minutes.  Apply the lid and make sure the valve is closed.

I thought I'd make some garlic bread to go with the pasta and here's how I did that.

As you can see I use my baby pro chef to mince the garlic.  (There are 20 cloves of garlic there I use half on the bread and add half to the pasta when it's done). Cut your French loaf in half and butter or becel the entire surface making sure you go all the way to the edge.  Spread half of the minced garlic evenly on both sides, sprinkle with garlic powder, garlic salt & parsley.

Preheat your oven on broil place bread in the oven and cook until desire toasting has occurred.

You need to stay by the oven as this happens very fast.

By now the timer will be going off on the PPCXL do a quick release.  Remove the lid and stir the pasta, add the remaining garlic & 1/4 Cup of grated asiago cheese.  Stir thoroughly.

  I don't make it too spicy as my boys don't always like a lot of spice.  Serve this delicious pasta with hot sauce, red pepper flakes & more cheese I used Asiago, you could use whatever you like.

This dish is very easy to make and so good. I feel less congested already!!

Dill Pickle Potato Salad PPCXL Style

Spring has arrived and I have visions of flowers blooming, birds singing and me hosting my friends for an awesome BBQ.  I've been trying new things all the time in my power pressure cooker XL and today it's Dill Pickle Potato Salad.  I am not a fan of the long drawn out process of making potato salad but man I love to eat it.  I figure the PPCXL makes everything else faster why not my potato salad.

Here's how I decided to make it! (Just to let you know I am notorious for not measuring so I've taken several photos to give you a visual of everything.). I should probably note that I am using a 10qt PPCXL.

DILL PICKLE POTATO SALAD 

Peel & cut approximately 15 medium potatoes (I used yellow but you could use red or whatever you like)

Add 1 1/2cups of water and a sprinkle of salt (I like Pink Himalayan Salt again use what you like)

Add the steaming rack to the PPCXL and place at least 6 eggs for this recipe & more if you want to use them for something else

Press the fish/vegetable button it should read 6 minutes.  Apply the lid and make sure the valve is closed.

While the potatoes and eggs are cooking prepare an ice bath for your eggs to go in once they are done.  When the timer goes off do a quick release of the steam and put the eggs directly into the ice bath.  Doing this will insure they stop cooking and will be easy to peel.

Remove the potatoes from the PPCXL & set aside to cool.

Next you want to chop one medium Onion, 1Cup of Celery, 1 1/2Cups Dill Pickles in 2Tsp of Pickle Juice.  Here's where I get to use one of my other favorite kitchen gadgets the ProChef made by Tupperware.  If you don't have one of these I suggest you track down your nearest Tupperware lady and get one ASAP!  Honestly this thing makes chopping so darn easy and the clean up is so fast.

I started with the onion removed it from the chopper into a bowl, then I chopped the celery added that to the onion in the bowl.  Lastly I did the pickles in the juice & adding them to the bowl.

Next dice the potatoes to whatever size you prefer!! Or leave them bigger totally up to you.

Next peel the eggs.  I suggest that you crack the bottom of the egg and then roll it on its side on the counter.  My eggs basically peeled themselves when I did this my kids were so amazed.  Now you need to chop the eggs and guess what I have a gadget for that too!!  This egg slicer I bought at a garage sale but I bet you can find one in your Mother or Grammies kitchen.  It works perfect for chopping the eggs, lay the egg in slice, open the slicer turn the eggs and slice again right into the bowl. (Side note this slicer slices mushrooms & strawberries really nice too)

Next we want to mix everything together.  I like to use a very large bowl so I have room to stir without it ending up all over the counter.

Add 1 1/4Cups Mayo, 1 1/2Tsp Colman's Dry Mustard, 1 1/2Tbsp Paprika and mix well.  (Here's where you can add whatever spices you like or more mayo or pickle juice, maybe apple cider vinegar.) Tweak it to the yummy goodness you like.

The end result was amazing and it only took me a fraction of the time to make it.  This will definitely be on my BBQ entertaining menu this summer for sure.  If you have any questions or would like me to try a recipe please comment below.  Happy cooking my friends!

Unbelievable Beef Dip PPCXL Style

                                    

I have never had much success making a tender flavour infused roast beef that would be worthy of making a beef dip sandwich.  I always found that my crockpot slow cooker made my roast taste bland or boiled.  The meat was dry, never really moist and tender. I decided that I was going to try and make the roast beef in my power pressure cooker XL.  THE RESULTS WERE AMAZING and here is how I did it.

I used a really cheap sirloin tip roast from Costco. I have a 10qt PPCX I set it on meat and set the timer for 50 minutes 

As it was heating I used the PPCXL to seared the roast in olive oil seasoned with seasoning salt on all sides to seal in the juices.

 I then added approximately two French onion soup dry mix packages (I used bulk soup 1/2c so I am estimating) 

I added 3c water and 1/2c cooking sherry and 6 sprigs of fresh Thyme removed from the stem 

I then put the lid on making sure the steam valve was closed allowing it to reach the correct pressure.

When the timer was done I did a quick took out the roast and sliced it at this point the meat was medium well. 

I then put the slices back in the PPCXL for an additional 5 minutes. When it was done I did a quick release again. 

I then prepared a ciabatta bun with a mix of mayo and horseradish added the beef slices, caramelized onions and mushrooms and then topped with grated Asiago cheese. 

I then used the broth that I cooked the beef in as the au jus or dipping. 

Too Carmelize the Onions & Mushrooms

While your roast is cooking prepare the following:

Slice 3 cups of Onions & 3 cups of Mushrooms (you can use whatever kind of onions or mushrooms you prefer I used yellow onion and a mix of white & cremini mushrooms)

Melt 2 Tbsps of butter to a large frying pan on med high heat

Add onions and continue to cook them until the have reduced significantly and have turned a caramel brown.

Move the onions to one side of the frying pan 

Add 1 Tbsp of butter and the mushrooms

Continue cooking until the mushrooms have reduced and have turned brown.

Incorporate the mushrooms and onions together and continue to cook until completely camelized.

I can't even believe how good these turned out! Better than any restaurant I've ever been to.  You could adjust the cooking time of the meat if you prefer it more rare. I have made this again because it was so delicious.  The second time the roast was frozen but I did everything the same except after I cooked it and sliced it I returned it to the PPCXL for 20 minutes instead of 5 minutes. (Again we like our meat well done so you can adjust your cooking times to how you prefer your meat cooked)

The au jus was so good the sherry gives it such an amazing flavor. The meat was fall apart tender!  

I've said it once and I will say it again you will never use your crockpot again after getting this electric pressure cooker.  Never could I have imagined taking a frozen roast out and having it on the table cooked full of flavor and fall apart tender in 70 minutes. Comment below if you try this recipe or if you have any suggestions of recipes you'd like me to try.

                                  

                        

Spicy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes PPCXL Style

Anyone whom knows me knows I love my kitchen gadgets!  My new favorite kitchen appliance is my 10qt Power Pressure Cooker XL electric pressure cooker.  I bought this baby at Bed Bath & Beyond for approximately $190CAD with the 20% off coupon.  I suggest everyone buy one even if you just start with the 6qt.  You will probably never use your crockpot slow cooker again after trying this machine out.  The way this cooks it forces pressurized steam through your food to cook it and in the process infuses it with flavour.  The cherry on top is that after the machine pressurizes it only takes a fraction of the regular time it would normally take to cook things!

Tonight I made my version of spicy cheesy scalloped potatoes in my PPCXL it took 7 minutes to cook.  

Here's the recipe.

First of all I sprayed my insert with olive oil to ensure easy clean up.

15 sm/med potatoes sliced with my mandolin they filled my pot about 2/3 to the fill line.

1lrg yellow onion diced

I use epicure spices but you can use any brand or combination you like here is mine

1tbsp chipotle bacon (epicure)

1tbsp herb & garlic (epicure)

1tbsp onion & bacon (epicure)

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbsps butter cut up in pieces

1 1/2 cups fat free cream (you could use milk if you like)

1 cup fat free sour cream (you can use full fat if you like)

1 cup water

Mix it all together put lid on and set on rice/risotto for 7 Minutes 

When it's done do a quick release

Add 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheese (or any combination of cheese you like)

It just amazes me how fast and good everything turns out in the PPCXL. I am going to be sharing all my recipes here as I try old recipes I've adapted and new one I will experiment with.  Please comment below if you have a recipe idea you would like me to try.