Tag: #quickandeasy #onepotmeal

Bourdain, Cinco de Mayo and Chicken Chile Verde

Bourdain, Cinco de Mayo and Chicken Chile Verde

Friday night, its Cinco de Mayo!  Time to make something yummy, kickback, relax and catch up on one of my favorite TV shows, Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown.  This episode features the Los Angeles Mexican community thus making my dinner choice easy, Chile Verde.  I am stoked.

When I was a kid our Friday night ritual was Swanson’s TV dinners (turkey for me, meatloaf for my brother) in front of the tube.  A multi-course meal contained in a cool space age aluminum tray with individual compartments for each course (so cool).   Later Swanson’s added a little square squished between the veggies and potatoes like a tiny jewel box.  It contained a perfect 2-bite apple cobbler or brownie. Since we ate Chinese food most of the time a meal of roast turkey or fried chicken was a special treat.  To top it off we got to watch The Flintstones while we were eating and then Jiffy Pop to finish the evening (kids ask your parents about Jiffy Pop or watch Real Genius).  The best, Friday nights were the bomb.

So there we were on Cinco de Mayo, sitting back on the couch with bowls of steaming hot Chile Verde and warm corn tortillas watching Bourdain gettin’ real with the homeboys in Eastside LA. Traditions should #persist don’t you think?

Still on my Instant Pot jag I searched for a recipe for a Chicken Chile Verde in a pressure cooker.  I found a couple that sounded good so I decided to do a mash-up.  I started with a recipe from Serious Eats by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.  Really difficult (NOT)-chopped tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos & Anaheim peppers, add chicken thighs and legs, toasted cumin seeds, salt, bunch of garlic, a white onion also chopped and throw it in your pressure cooker.  Seal, set and dinner…It’s yours (Thank you, Stevie). Yep, thirty minutes later eating Chile Verde.  Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Serious Eats adds a bit of Thai fish sauce at the end for that secret flavor bomb.  Surprisingly it does round out the flavor. I like lots of veggies so I included potatoes and if my kids were home I would have added corn.  I also added a pinch of oregano, fresh ground pepper and some smoked paprika. Delish.

You can substitute pork for the chicken for a classic Chile Verde.  Use 3-3.5 pounds of Pork Shoulder (aka pork butt) cut into 2 inch pieces.  Set Instant Pot for 30 minutes and use quick release.  Also Delish.

The recipe makes a lot of sauce, so save the extra sauce to make some awesome enchiladas.

Chicken Chile Verde

Ingredients

Adapted from Serious Eats and Lemon Lavender Love

  • 3 pounds skinless chicken thighs or legs
  • ¾ pound tomatillos 3-4 large tomatillos, quartered, husks discarded
  • ¾ pound poblano peppers halved with seeds and stem removed
  • ½ pound Anaheim peppers halved with seeds and stem removed
  • 2-3 jalapeño peppers halved with stem removed (you can remove the seeds if you don’t want the heat – make sure you wear gloves or thoroughly wash your hands after cutting, trust me)
  • 1 white or yellow onion quartered
  • 1 russet potato cut into good size chunks 6 pieces
  • 6 medium whole garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds toasted and ground
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Garnish:

  • Cilantro
  • Sour cream
  • avocado-sliced or cubed
  • red cabbage-shredded
  • Corn tortillas

Instructions

  • Place chicken, vegetables and seasonings except fish sauce in Instant Pot bowl.
  • Cover and seal pot making sure vent knob is set on sealed
  • Select poultry or manual cook mode
  • Adjust cooking time to 30 minutes using the +/- timer
  • When Instant Pot beeps the cooking cycle is complete. Carefully release pressure by moving top knob from sealing to venting.
  • Once pressure is released, uncover.
  • Remove chicken and potato chunks and reserve in bowl.
  • Add fish sauce to pot. If you have an immersion blender, puree vegetables in Instant Pot to desired consistency or spoon vegetables and liquids into a blender to puree.
  • Shred chicken
  • Add potatoes and chicken to pureed sauce.
  • Serve with warm corn or flour tortillas
  • Garnish with cilantro, shredded cabbage, avocado
  • Yum!
Thai Curry in a Hurry-Thanks to Instant Pot

Thai Curry in a Hurry-Thanks to Instant Pot

Have I convinced you to try an Instant Pot yet?  If not, here is the recipe that may just tip the scales in favor of that new kitchen gadget.  I came home after a long day at work and pulled out my pot.  Threw in sliced chicken, chopped veggies, coconut milk, curry paste and 30 minutes later we were sitting down for dinner.  Yep, thirty minutes to fragrant bowls of Massaman Curry Chicken over rice.  A complete meal, a party in a bowl and my mouth.  Chunks of cauliflower, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, and chicken surrounded by a rich autumn orange hued curry sauce that is creamy, spicy and sweet.

Curry On

Despite being somewhat of a purist (no box cake mixes or frozen pre-formed pie crusts in this house, nope) the key to this meal, besides the Instant Pot, is the pre-made curry paste.  I vow (lol, not) to one day make my own curry paste but for now I’m wimping out, life’s full of compromises.  Find my favorite curry pastes, either Mae Ploy and Aroy-D, at your neighborhood Asian market or on Amazon.  There are quite a few different ones you can pick from so I thought I would give you the quick and dirty on curries.

Green-Spiciest of the Thai curries, fresh green chilis, kaffir lime leaves, basil, shallots, ginger, garlic and coconut milk for sweetness

Red-Red chilis, lemongrass, shallots, ginger and fish paste and coconut milk. Not quite as spicy as green curry and a work horse for curries. Goes well with chicken, seafood, beef and a variety of vegetables

Yellow-Mildest of the curries.  It is a combination of kaffir lime leaves, turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds and coconut cream. Great with vegetables

Massaman- Finds its roots in Indian curries and is made of red chilies, galangal, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom, coriander,  cloves, and cinnamon.  Coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves are then added to create the sauce.  Peanuts and potatoes finish off this delicious curry.  I used Massaman curry for the dish in this post

Panang-Found its way to central Thailand by way of Laos  It is milder and subtle, spicier than Thai curries.  It is made from dried chilies, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, lemongrass, cilantro, cumin, garlic, ginger, shallots.  Peanuts are often used in this curry

I am sure there are rules for what vegetables or meats and which you should use with each type of curry you should use but my motto is experiment.  Try different vegetables and meats with any of the curries and create your own favorites.

This recipe is an adaptation from Paint the Kitchen Red, a wonderful site devoted to Instant Pot recipes.  The OG recipe calls for sautéing the vegetables after the curry is cooked in the pot. I like my vegetables on the soft side so I cooked them with the chicken in the Instant Pot. Use your favorite veggies, or whatever is in the fridge. So good and so easy.

Thai Curry in a Hurry-Thanks to Instant Pot

Course Main Course, one bowl meal
Cuisine Thai
Keyword 3 Cup Chicken, Carnitas in an Instant Pot, Thai Curry

Equipment

  • 1 Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp Thai red curry paste or Massaman curry paste preferably Maesri or Mae Ploy brand
  • 1 14- oz can regular-fat coconut milk
  • 1 lb boneless chicken thighs sliced into good bite size pieces
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth

Vegetables

  • The vegetables will cook along with the chicken so don't make the pieces too small
  • 1 cup red and/or green bell pepper cubed
  • 1-2 carrots cut into 4-5 pieces (only 1 if using potato)
  • 1/2 cup onion cubed
  • 1 small eggplant cut into cubes
  • 1 russet potato cut into chunks
  • Really any vegetable of your choice-squash cauliflower

Seasonings

  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce more to taste
  • 2 tsp brown sugar or to taste
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • 4 Kaffir lime leaves slightly bruised (I have a calamansi tree so I used the zest)
  • 12 Thai basil leaves or regular basil leaves in a pinch
  • Cilantro

Instructions

  • Press ‘Saute’ and stir fry onions and curry paste for 1-2 minutes, add 1/2 can of coconut milk until mixture is bubbly, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Press 'Keep Warm/Cancel'.
  • Stir in chicken, remaining coconut milk and chicken broth and add your fresh vegetables
  • Close Instant Pot and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
  • Cook on 'Manual' mode for 4 minutes.
  • Do a Quick Release of pressure and open the Instant Pot.
  • Add in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and Kaffir lime leaves.
  • Press saute' and stir curry, bring to a bubble and cook for additional 2-3 minutes
  • Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar or lime juice.
  • Stir in the Thai basil leaves.
  • Serve over rice, garnish with cilantro