Instant Pot Coq au Vin

 

Coq au vin sounds fancy - and it's a great meal for company - but it's basically comfort food, and it's easy enough to make for everyday.  This recipe is based on the classic Julia Child recipe, reworked a tad for the Instant Pot and using Kennedy Ranch chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 Kennedy Ranch Pick O' the Chick (breast, thigh, leg, wing)
• 1 1/2 c red wine - burgundy is the classic, but choose something you really like.  We like an old vine zin or merlot
• 1 c chicken stock (use homemade if you have it, if not use Swanson's Low Sodium)
• 3 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2" squares
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced very thin
• 2 large carrots, sliced into discs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (if you're doing this in the summer, replace this with a ripe heirloom tomato, diced)
• 4 sprigs worth of fresh thyme leaves
• 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
• 8 oz pearl onions, peeled

Instructions:

With a chef's knife or cleaver, chop breast into three pieces.  Use chef's knife to separate thigh into three pieces, leg into two pieces, wing into two pieces.  Placed pieced chicken in a bowl, pour over wine and chicken stock, and set it aside to marinate.

Slice medium onion, carrots and mushrooms, clean pearl onions, mince garlic, strip thyme leaves from stems.  Open your tomato paste.

Cut bacon into 1/2" or so squares. 

Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.  Save marinade.

Turn Instant Pot on to "saute", add bacon to render fat.  Stir it occasionally. When it's crispy, remove it from the Instant Pot and set aside.

Add chicken to Instant Pot, skin side down.  You will have to do this in two, maybe three batches.  Flip the chicken to get a good brown on both sides, and remove it from the pot.

Once all the chicken is browned and removed, turn off the Instant Pot, use some oven mitts to take out inner liner and pour off the fat into a heat proof container.  I use a glass measuring cup, keeps it simple.  

Return the inner liner to the Instant Pot.  Add about 3 T of the fat back in, turn it on to heat and then add the sliced onions and carrots.  Stir them to brown.  Add garlic and brown for about a minute.  Push the veggies aside and add the tomato paste.  Stir it until it softens, darkens and gets fragrant.  Add your reserved marinade and stir up the brown bits from the bottom.  Add chicken to the pot as well as about 4 teaspoons of the thyme leaves.  Cover loosely to help contain splatter, and let the pot saute for about 20 minutes.

While the pot is cooking, pour another tablespoon of your reserved fat into a small saute pan.  Heat it and saute your mushrooms until they are reduced in size, dark and tender.  Turn off heat and stir in your reserved bacon pieces.

After chicken has cooked for 20 minutes, stir in the pearl onions, cover loosely and cook until the onions are tender, 10-15 minutes or so.

Remove lid.  Taste and add salt and pepper to sauce if needed.  Pour bacon and mushrooms over the top of the chicken, sprinkle with the rest of your thyme leaves.  

Serve with good smashed potatoes and a nice green salad.

NOTE:  Julia Child's recipe adds a step at the end where you thicken the sauce with a butter/flour mixture.  I've not considered it necessary as the Instant Pot reduces the sauce during cooking, thickening it.  If you feel the sauce needs to be thickened, mix 2T of butter with 2T of flour in a small bowl, remove the chicken from the pot at the end, and stir in the flour/butter mixture until the sauce thickens.

Garam Masala Chicken - Instant Pot

Super easy, super delicious AND won't heat up the kitchen on those hot summer days.  Indian spices are healthy and are a perfect counterpoint to the cool bed of cucumber.  Yum!

This recipe is modified for Kennedy Ranch chicken from a recipe from Urvashi Pitre that appeared in The New Yorker magazine.  It's Whole 30 friendly if you substitute coconut milk for the cream.

Garam Masala Kennedy Ranch Chicken

• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 2 teaspoons garam masala, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package Pick O' The Chick Kennedy Ranch chicken
• ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream or full-fat coconut milk
• ¼ to ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. In the inner cooking pot of the Instant Pot, add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, paprika, one teaspoon of garam masala, cumin, and salt. Mix thoroughly, then place the chicken pieces on top of the sauce.

2. Lock the lid into place. Select Manual or Pressure Cook, and adjust the pressure to High. Cook for ten minutes.

3. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally. Unlock the lid. Carefully remove the chicken and set it aside.

4. Using an immersion blender in the pot, blend together all the ingredients into a smooth sauce. Let the sauce cool for several minutes.

5. Add the cream, remaining teaspoon of garam masala, and cilantro. Stir until well incorporated. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon when you’re done.

6. Remove half of the sauce and freeze it for later, or refrigerate for as long as three days.

7. Add the chicken back to the sauce. Preheat the Instant Pot by selecting Sauté and adjust to Less for low heat. Let the chicken heat through. Break it up into smaller pieces, if you like, but don’t shred it.

8. Serve over shredded raw cucumbers.

Note:  if you don't have pre-mixed Garam Masala in your cupboard, it's easy enough to make your own.  Here is the recipe I use:

• 2 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoon cloves
• 1 tablespoon crushed cinnamon stick (do not substitute ground cinnamon, use a pestle or rolling pin to crush a stick for this)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons green cardamom pods
• 1 tablespoon shah jira / black cumin seeds (substitute regular cumin seeds if you don't have access to an Indian food store
  

1. Lightly roast each spice in a small pan until they get hot, about a minute. Stir frequently. Make sure not to burn them by roasting them too long. The goal is to make them a bit toasty so they are easy to grind.

2. Cool spices and then grind fine in a coffee or spice grinder. Store in an airtight container away from direct sunlight.

Chicken Korma - Instant Pot

Chicken korma is an Indian food staple, and super-simple to make in an Instant Pot. Substituting Bundh Gobi Mutter as a side dish for the traditional rice or naan adds even more flavor and color to the plate, AND can make the dinner Whole 30 compliant.

This is super quick and simple to make for a weeknight dinner with stellar leftovers. These recipes are from Urvashi Pitre's Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, with some slight modifications in the name of Whole 30.

Chicken Korma

Place in a blender:

• 2 oz raw almonds
• 2 small onions, quartered
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 green serrano chile (I substituted a Hatch green chile I had on hand)
• 10 peeled garlic cloves
• 2 T minced ginger
• 2 t ground turmeric
• 2 t salt
• 2 t Garam Masala (I keep this mixed up and on hand. The recipe I use is below)
• 2 t ground coriander
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1 c water

Puree until smooth, and pour into Instant Pot.

Add:

• 2 lbs Kennedy Ranch chicken breasts, bones and skin removed and saved for a future stock project.

Lock the lid in place, close the steam vent, and pressure cook on HIGH for 12 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally (don't rush this). Unlock and remove the lid, and place the chicken on a cutting board.  Cut into bite sized pieces.

Stir into the sauce in the pot:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 t Garam Masala
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 pinch saffron

Return the chicken to the pot and stir.  Serve garnished with slivered almonds and cilantro.

While the chicken is pressure cooking, prepare the vegetables and measure your spices for the Bundh Gobi Mutter.

Bundh Gobi Mutter

• 1 T peanut oil
• 1/4 t cumin seeds
• 2 t minced garlic
• 1 t minced ginger
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 3 c chopped cabbage
• 1/4 c water
• Salt
• 1/2 c diced carrot
• Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Pour Chicken Korma into its serving dish and keep warm.  Wipe out Instant Pot.

Preheat Instant Pot at Saute>High.  When it is hot, add peanut oil and heat until shimmering.  Add the cumin seeds and cook for about 1 minute, until they start to sputter a bit like popcorn.

Add garlic and ginger and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add the onion and saute, stirring, until brown at the edges, about 5 minutes. Mix in turmeric.

Add the cabbage, carrots, water and salt. Lock the lid in place.  Pressure cook on HIGH for 1 minute.  When the cooking is complete, quick-release the pressure, remove the lid, place cabbage into its serving dish and garnish with cilantro.

Garam Masala

There are about a million Garam Masala recipes out there.  I use this one because the ingredients can usually be found in my spice rack.

• 2 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoon cloves
• 1 tablespoon crushed cinnamon stick (do not substitute ground cinnamon, use a pestle or rolling pin to crush a stick for this)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons green cardamom pods
• 1 tablespoon shah jira / black cumin seeds (substitute regular cumin seeds if you don't have access to an Indian food store)
  

Lightly roast spices in a small pan until they get hot, about a minute. Stir frequently. Make sure not to burn them by roasting them too long. The goal is to make them a bit toasty so they are easy to grind.

Cool spices and then grind fine in a coffee or spice grinder. Store in an airtight container away from direct sunlight.

Beef Shank and other slow cooker joy

We love beef shank and think it's one of the best cuts of beef around.  It's so incredibly simple to make and so incredibly rich and delicious.

This slow-cooker recipe works for chuck roasts, as well.  

Take a package of shanks out of the freezer the night before you want to use them.

INGREDIENTS

• Beef shank, short ribs, or chuck roast
• Chicken schmaltz or light tasting olive oil
• 2 medium onions, rough chopped
• Head of garlic, peeled and minced
• Quart of canned tomatoes, or 2 14-oz cans from the store
• Fresh ground pepper and kosher salt
• Fresh herbs (sage, thyme, or whatever you like with beef)
• Splash of sherry vinegar

METHOD

Start the night before, or the morning of.

Melt some chicken schmaltz (olive oil if you haven't been saving your chicken fat) in your Instant Pot or a frying pan. Saute a couple of medium onions, sliced, and several cloves of garlic, until soft and a little brown. Remove veggies and set aside.

Brown your shanks in the frying pan. Put them in the Instant Pot on top of the veggies. Sprinkle generously with fresh-ground pepper and kosher salt. Throw in a few sprigs of fresh herb... I like sage, thyme, rosemary... whatever you like best with beef.  Pour over a quart jar of tomatoes, or a couple of 14-oz cans from the store.

Cover and let cook until dinner time, checking occasionally to make sure it doesn't boil dry. When it's done, the meat should be falling off the bone.

Just before serving, add a splash of sherry vinegar to cut the richness (this will be very rich).

Serve with potatoes and a BIG green salad, again this is very rich and the salad will balance the meal nicely.

Note:  if your shanks aren't particularly meaty, you can add a chuck roast or stew meat to make it beefier.  The shank will have plenty of richness to spare.

Braised Beast

This method works for any cut of meat that needs to be cooked long and slowly to be tender. Short ribs, brisket, shank, chuck roasts are all candidates for this style of cooking. Short ribs cooked this way are my absolute favorite. Add carrots, potatoes, etc. to the pot for the last 45 minutes if you want.

While this is written to use a Dutch oven and, well, your oven, it can obviously be made in a slow cooker or Instant Pot. And if you're using more lean meat, like stew meat, add a little bit of chicken schmaltz for richness.

INGREDIENTS

• 2T light tasting olive oil or chicken schmaltz
• 3 lbs beef (short ribs, chuck, shank, brisket, etc)
• Salt and pepper
• 6 medium onions, cut into rings
• 6+ fat garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 c low sodium chicken broth
• 2T brown sugar
• 1T tomato paste
• 1/2 dry red wine 
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 springs fresh thyme
• 1T sherry, rice, or apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in Dutch oven on stove top until just smoking. Brown beef well and evenly on all sides. Remove from pot, season with salt and pepper.

Pour off most of the fat. Saute the onions and garlic until browned. Use chicken stock to deglaze pot, stirring up the brown bits on the bottom.  Stir in the sugar and tomato paste.

Return beef to the pot, stir in wine and herbs. Cover pot with aluminum foil, then pot lid. Bake until meat is falling off the bone, 2-3.5 hours depending on the cut. Stir in the vinegar just before serving.