It is the day after St. Pat’s Day, but my wife was working yesterday, so we are having our corned beef today.
I almost didn’t use the “Save Money” tag, but I still believe it is cheaper to make this dinner at home than to go out to a restaurant. Corned beef has traditionally been a loss leader around St. Pat’s, but this year it was plenty expensive at close to $40, likely due to inflation, the Trump tariff taxes, and now the war with Iran.
Are the tariffs still a thing? I’m not sure, but prices haven’t gone down. During his first term, the US-based Whirlpool Corporation convinced Trump to impose tariffs on foreign washers and dryers, forcing them to raise prices in the US. However, Whirlpool also raised its prices (I think by $200). Guess what, those prices never went down. But I digress.
A corned beef dinner is one of the easiest dinners to make if you have a slow cooker or a pressure cooker. I often make my yearly corned beef dinner in a pressure cooker, but this year I thought I would go the slow cooker route. Why? More people have slow cookers than Instant Pots, so I felt a recipe using a slow cooker would be more useful.
I’m a big fan of slow cookers. You can buy expensive ones, and they are great. However, you can also get inexpensive ones that will do the job. In my post on 55 ways for seniors to save money on food, I mentioned that you can buy a 2-quart slow cooker for under $20. However, the slow cooker that I’m using for today’s corned beef dinner is a 6-quart one. I bought it for less than $25 a few years ago. It’s basic, but it works.
Slow cookers are famous for dump-and-go recipes, and the variety of dishes that you can make in them is amazing. There is nothing like coming home and having dinner waiting for you. If you don’t have a slow cooker, consider getting one. The higher-priced ones will include features such as timers, high-end construction, and a more precise temperature regulation. However, the cheap ones work well enough. If you have cash burning in your pocket, go with a premium brand; if not, go with a simple unit.
The recipe for corned beef in a slow cooker is simple, so I won’t list out the ingredients separately. Instead, I’ll mention them in the photos.
Add some potatoes. Red potatoes cut into chunks are traditional. However, I had these baby potatoes on hand. Wash and remove obvious blemishes, but there is no need to peel them.
Peel and cut up an onion into big chunks. Toss it into the pot.
Toss in some carrots. I’m using a bag of baby carrots, but you can also use peeled regular carrots cut into “baby sized” pieces.
I’m adding a very light dusting of some seasoned salt. You can use salt/pepper or omit any seasoning, as the corned beef is already salty. I also added a spoonful of garlic and a cut-up celery rib. All of these are totally optional. I just had them on hand.
Here is our corned beef, it is pretty large at over 4 pounds. I was going to make only half (and vacuum-seal the other half), but my daughter will be here over the weekend, and she loves the hash I make from the leftovers.
Put the corned beef in fat side up. Sprinkle the included pickling spices over the corned beef.
The jury is out on whether you should rinse the corned beef or not. I choose to rinse it. Fill the slow cooker to the top edge of the corned beef with liquid. Some use broth, some use water plus beer, I’m just using water today. The pot was so full that I could only get the water halfway up the corned beef. That will have to do.
How do I make the leftover hash? I put chunks of corned beef and the remaining potatoes and carrots in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds. I’ll fry the resulting hash and serve it with some sunny-side-up eggs and hot toast made from my homemade bread. Delicious!
Ready to go! Oh, why the cookie sheet? The pot is so full that I added the sheet as a precaution in case of a boil-over. Yes, the sheet is well-used. It has baked thousands of things over the years. If you see someone with a perfectly clean cookie sheet, they just bought it, or they are a cooking influencer with a budget bigger than mine. This cookie sheet will continue to serve us for many more years. Those aren’t char marks, they are love marks!
There is also a debate on whether to cook on high or low. Since I couldn’t add water to cover the entire corned beef’s side, I’m using high. The important part is to cook it for a long time so it is tender. Generally, that is going to be 8 (or more) hours. Usually, you add the cabbage during the last 1-2 hours of cooking.
The slow cooker was simply too full, so I had to resort to plan B with the cabbage. I quartered the cabbage and removed the core. I placed it in a microwave-safe baking dish. It was a bit crowded, but our microwave isn’t huge, so I couldn’t use a larger pan. I added a couple of tablespoons of water and a little salt and covered the dish with cling wrap. You could also use a covered dish if you had one. I microwaved the cabbage for around 9 minutes. This is a personal preference; you can go a minute or two less for crisper cabbage or a minute or two longer for softer cabbage.
Dinner was delicious. My homemade soda bread turned out well, and the corned beef was super tender. I liked using baby potatoes and may continue to use them on future St. Pat’s Days. For condiments, we had mustard and “horsey” sauce, which is mayo with a bit of horseradish. Add a little butter to the vegetables, and we were all very satisfied. And there is a ton of food left over for me to make corned beef hash.
Using a slow cooker made the process extremely simple. It was a simple dump-and-go dinner. Yet it felt very special and appeared labor-intensive. It was not.
Years ago, I was talking to a man who had just done something very uncharacteristic for him. When I asked him why, he simply responded, “It’s complicated.” We live in a world where it is easy to make judgments about another person based on very limited observations. His statement was not of the throwaway variety; many things that we do are complicated and don’t always fit others’ expectations. And so it was with the photography club.
Depending on the setting, your impression of me may be completely different. Yet, they are all me; it’s complicated.
I’m an introvert, but in certain settings you might think I’m an extrovert. I observed what extroverts do, as understanding this was necessary in my professional life, but I’m not one; I just know how to act like one. It’s complicated.
I’m also a strange mix of being very confident and, at times, vulnerable. It’s complicated.
One of my strangest characteristics is my comfort level when dealing with others. That is very complicated.
Many have an intense fear of public speaking; I do not. I have lectured and taught at 5 universities. I have been an assistant clinical professor at three medical schools and have given lectures to audiences ranging from college students to senior attending physicians. I have interacted with and instructed thousands of patients. Once, I was one of the presenters for a two-day seminar attended by several hundred police officers. Some of the lecturers’ talks were very practical for the audience. For instance, ways to de-escalate an angry suspect or how to deal with a volatile domestic situation. Topics that the officers could use. Do you know what my talk was about? The biochemistry of monoamines and their role in addictive behavior! How is that for a mouthful? Imagine giving that lecture to a bunch of cops, most of whose knowledge of monoamines was likely below zero. However, I had no problem giving the lecture and was told by the conference organizers that the officers gave my lecture the highest rating of the entire conference. I don’t fear such interactions, and I give them my all. I know those groups or individuals are asking for my help, so I put on my functional extrovert hat and deliver. In such settings, I actually enjoy the process, but it is exhausting at the same time. That is the difference between a real extrovert and a functional one. A real extrovert is energized by intense interactions, a functional one (like me) has to recharge post-event.
Contrast the above behavior with my personal life. It is very hard for me to join a group of strangers. I have some wonderful friends, but do you know that I almost always have waited for them to approach me at the beginning of our friendship? Further, they had to prove to me that they wanted to be my friend before I committed to the connection. In fact, I can think of only one recent time that I actually asked someone to be my friend. That was my great friend, Tom. I felt compelled in that instance, and the compulsion exceeded my usual resistance. That connection is especially interesting because on the surface, Tom and I are complete opposites. Why did I do such a risky thing? It’s complicated.
Am I some arrogant jerk who thinks the world revolves around him and that people need to “earn” my friendship? Of course not, quite the opposite. I’m happy with my circle of personal connections. I have my family, my extended family, and my friends. I will never be a social butterfly. My limited interaction reflects my concerns rather than arrogance.
I was able to teach myself how to reach out to others in my professional life, but it has been difficult to do so in my private life. Yet, I don’t like to limit myself because of fear. However, sometimes it is easier to settle into a routine. This can prevent me from growing. Remember that my three turn-ons are learning, teaching, and creating. I don’t want my fears to prevent me from those adventures, but it is sometimes easier to say, “I’ll do that tomorrow.” We all know that tomorrow never arrives.
When it comes to unknown interactions, I worry. Does that person or group really want me? Am I intruding? Am I talking too much? Am I not talking enough? Do they wish that I just leave? Did I interrupt a conversation that they were having or about to have with someone else? It creates a lot of anxiety in me, so I tend to avoid such situations. Add to this a defect I have: it is very hard for me to remember names (I really try), and it is sometimes difficult to recognize people outside situations where I know them. That is very embarrassing, because I fear the other person thinks I don’t care enough to remember their name, rather than this being a defect of mine (and the rest of my siblings, for that matter).
I’ve developed new behaviors to address these shortcomings. I have mostly done this through watching my friend, Tom, interact with others. Honestly, he could talk to a tree and in 5 minutes he would have the tree’s phone number, and they would be sitting down and having coffee. I have had some success, but mostly in casual interactions. What Tom has taught me is that most people are very receptive to interactions. In fact, many are lonely and welcome them. However, I still have a ways to go.
Why am I like this? I’m sure some of it is personality-based. Some is from my childhood experience. However, that is still a mystery to me. I was raised in a time when children were seen but not necessarily heard. However, I don’t have objective memories of being shut down by others, either at home or at school. In fact, I have always been a person of strong (some may say very strong) opinions, and many have told me that I’m a take-charge type. So, go figure. I guess it’s complicated.
I have many interests, most of which are shared only by a limited number of others. One that is a bit more generalized is my love of capturing images. I’m constantly taking pictures. I love learning about photography. I love camera equipment. I love seeing beauty and interest in places where others ignore and walk by. It really is a passion; it’s complicated.
I have wanted to join a photography club for ages. What fun it would be to hang with others who share my passion. I can learn, help others, and be creative in the process. I joined such a group over a decade ago, but it was a massive club, and I was lost in a sea of photographers, each vying for the same image. I stopped going.
At another time, I was taking photos of a local parade, and a random man approached me and gave me a business card for another photo club. I remember telling Tom that I was going to look into it and kept the business card in my wallet for years. I never acted. It’s complicated.
A few months ago, I was on YouTube when a random video from a photographer I didn’t know popped up. For some reason, I clicked on it. Here was a guy talking about going to small towns to take pictures. That is exactly something that I love doing. I recognized the university logo on his sweatshirt, which was where I earned my undergraduate degree. I dug a bit deeper and found that he lived not only in Illinois but also not too far from me. A little more digging revealed that he organized a small photography club that met less than 20 minutes from my house. Was this the answer that I was looking for? An intervention from above? Small group, similar interests, close by? I hesitated reaching out. Why? It’s complicated.
I decided to use some of the same tricks I would teach patients to move forward. I researched and found the club’s Facebook page to make myself more comfortable. I told others I was planning to contact him to set this goal as an expectation. I asked to belong to the club via the club’s page, putting the ball in the organizer’s court. Each step required some courage, but each was a baby step, so it was achievable with minimal discomfort on my part. Yet, the process was complicated.
I went to my first meeting, and everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming. I decided to do something risky. Instead of silently feeling uncomfortable, I would include the group by telling them I was an introvert and a bit anxious about attending. Further, I told them that I’m terrible at names, as I don’t want to offend anyone when I will inevitably forget theirs. I’m reviewing the club’s roster to learn the members’ names, at least to the best of my ability.
What is my hope? Well, I feel that this experience is already a win, so I’ll take that. It would be nice to find a camera travel buddy to go out to places to take photos. Someone to share conversation and gas expenses. I wouldn’t mind gaining a friendship or two, or at least a friendly acquaintance or two. I would like to learn more about photography, but that is surprisingly a lesser goal. Over the years, I have developed my own style, and I like it. I always enjoy learning new things, but I don’t want to be a cookie-cutter of someone else. It is more important to me to like my photos than to have others praise them. As I write this, my true goal has appeared to me. I think the goal would be to share a love of photography with others whom I enjoy and accept, and who feel the same way about me. Sort of like how I feel with my friends. A place where I don’t have to be “on” or the smartest person in the room. A place where I can just be me, flaws and all. Is that possible? I guess, but it’s complicated.
Dear readers, I’m a purpose-focused person. Most of the things that I do have some sort of a goal, some of which are nonsensical or trivial. However, the goal of many of my posts is to encourage others to expand or improve their lives. Too often, we let our fears stand in our way and are left with life regrets. I would never encourage reckless behavior, but I absolutely encourage reasonable and healthy risks. Life is complicated; let’s just accept that and move on.
Despite being a doctor, I am just a person with some strengths and some weaknesses. I’m a retired guy who is still trying to move forward. To grow, to become a better self. Why not… Consider doing the same. I know, it’s complicated.
Dear Reader, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m Eastern European, and my wife is Swedish, but on St. Pat’s Day we consider ourselves Irish.
On St. Pat’s Day, we follow tradition and make corned beef and cabbage. I enjoy the combination of corned beef, boiled potatoes, and carrots, so it surprises me that I only make this dinner once a year.
I picked up a corned beef at Costco about a week ago and was shocked by how expensive it was. I guess inflation, the Trump tariff taxes, and now the war in Iraq have impacted the holidays too.
Yesterday, I went to the market to buy the other ingredients for dinner and was mostly successful, except for one item: Irish Soda Bread. I love that massive and somewhat sweet biscuit that masquerades as bread. What to do?
Certainly, I could have gone to another store, but I was feeling lazy. Anyway, making this bread is super simple, so I decided to throw one together. There are many recipes for Irish Soda Bread; the following one is simple and doesn’t involve cutting the fat into the flour. Let’s take a look at the ingredients. This recipe is from Alexandra Stafford.
Ingredients
4 C AP flour (510 grams)
2 t kosher salt (12 grams)
1T sugar (13 grams)
1 t baking soda (5 grams)
1 C dried fruit (optional)
1 egg
1 3/4 C buttermilk
2 T melted butter
Preheat oven to 400° C (205° C)
Mix all of your dry ingredients in a bowl. I’m weighing my ingredients in lieu of using measuring cups, as it is easier and creates less mess.
I added some dried fruit. In my case, cranberries, as we have someone in the house who doesn’t like raisins, which are more traditional. Add whatever you like here. For instance, a small amount of caraway seeds is also a nice addition.
You can buy buttermilk, or just make your own. I’m doing the latter. In a measuring cup, place 2 T of vinegar and then fill the cup with milk to the 1 3/4 C mark. Stir and let this mixture sit for around 10 minutes (or so).
I then added the egg to the liquid and stirred it in.
I did the same with the melted butter.
I combined the wet and dry ingredients, making sure to incorporate all of the flour. The dough will be sticky. Don’t overmix.
I put a little flour on a surface (and also on my hands) and turned out the dough. I kneaded it a couple of times to pull it together, but not like you would work bread dough. I then form it into a disk.
Most recipes use a cast-iron skillet, but I’m using a 9″ pie pan. Make sure you grease the pan. I just used some cooking spray. I cut a fairly deep X in the bread. This is important, or the center won’t bake properly.
Bake at 400° F (205°C) for 35-40 minutes. I only baked mine for 30 minutes, and it was done, so make sure to check it. I let it cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan and allowing it to cool completely on the rack. I then wrapped it and froze it for the big day.
Making the soda bread was extremely simple and kept me from having to go to another store. If you make a thicker bread, you may want to make the center a bit more depressed in addition to making an X in the loaf. Otherwise, the center may not be completely cooked.
St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, and he is also the patron saint of engineers (who knew?). However, most of us celebrate his day with food and fun. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!
I love my son, and so when he asked me, I didn’t hesitate, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
My son is my youngest child, and he still lives at home. We live in the suburbs of Chicago, and he is currently a graduate student at a university in the city. For now, it makes the most sense for him to live with us, but I know he will likely move to his own place within the next few months.
Before I went to medical school, I wanted to become a university professor and spent many hours as a graduate student at the very same university he is attending. His personality is similar to mine; he tends to be easygoing and kind. We have a lot in common, and we get along well.
His work involves studying the effects of climate change on animals. The actual animal that he is studying is an insect. Understanding how insects respond to climate change is critically important, as insects impact crops and spread disease. However, they also pollinate flowers, help decompose waste material, aerate soil, control other insect populations, and do much more. You may find bugs annoying, but without them, you could not exist. About 70-80 percent of insects exhibit similar biological and behavioral adaptations to temperature changes, so it is easy to see how important understanding one bug can be for understanding the entire class.
His research involves changes at both the macro and molecular levels, and one of his major efforts has been to extract and analyse a cellular component, RNA, from a specific region of the insect’s larvae. You can imagine how difficult that is, as he has to dissect many, many larvae under a microscope. Then he has to extract the RNA, a process that he has been trying to perfect for over a year. He has finally succeeded in doing this, but now the RNA has to be “sequenced.” RNA is a copy of DNA and serves as the blueprint for protein synthesis. By studying RNA from insect larvae grown at different temperatures, we can see how the bug adapts to different environments.
After over a year of work, my son has enough samples to sequence this RNA, but there is another glitch. Research is driven by long-term goals, and basic research is mostly funded by government grants. The government recognizes that this type of research often leads to practical applications. For instance, in the late 1970s, I was working with monoclonal antibodies and conducting basic research at the University of Chicago. Now, monoclonal antibodies are used as a miracle medicine in the treatment of cancer. It took over 20 years for monoclonal antibodies to go from a laboratory tool to a clinical treatment that saves thousands of lives. Research moves slowly; that is the way it is.
Unfortunately, when President Trump entered office, he cut off many established research grants in a very random way, under the guise of cost-cutting. This is devastating, and it could put US research years, if not decades, behind other nations. The one big thing that the US had was its prowess with innovation and research. Now, countries like China can move past us. It really is a tragedy. Because of this, some of the grant money for my son’s project will run out in about a month. A special lab is needed to sequence the RNA, and that lab charges a hefty fee. My son has been working overtime to prepare samples so he can get them to this lab before the grant money runs out.
The sequencing lab is in another state, and he doesn’t want to risk sending the samples by mail for obvious reasons. His PI (Primary Investigator) very generously told my son that he would drive with him to this state. My son thinks very highly of his PI, who he also feels is a great guy, but their relationship has been strictly professional, and I could tell he was anxious about spending 12 hours in a car with him. This was compounded by the fact that his PI is extremely busy, and I know my son felt guilty for taking him away from his work for an entire day.
The day before his departure, my son approached me. “Dad, you can say no, and I won’t be upset, but would you consider driving me to drop off the samples?” This would involve a very long drive and other complications for me. I looked at my son and said, “Yes.”
Before driving to the other state, I would have to drive him to the city to pick up his samples during rush hour traffic, and that was my main issue. Dear reader, I have an absolute aversion to driving into the city during rush hour. I avoid it at all costs. I would even say that I have a bit of a phobia about doing it. Over the last few years, I have had to make the drive so my wife could get advanced health care. She is highly stressed during these times and doesn’t want to drive, so I do it for her. However, it usually results in a blazing headache, a stomachache, or both. I do it because she needs me to and because I refuse to let irrational fears keep me from moving forward. I accept the “pain” and move on.
And so it is with helping my son. He needs me to do this, I can do this, so I will deal with the discomfort. However, the trip into the city was an absolute nightmare. In fact, I got off the expressway a few miles before his campus just because I was about to lose my mind. Thankfully, leaving the city was much less congested, and in no time, we were on the road for 5.5 hours to the other state.
Soon, we were having many conversations. His life in grad school, my memories of being a grad student at the same school. Why I decided to go to medical school. The state of the world. Family talk. What his friends were doing with their lives. His future plans. And, music, lots of talk about music. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music and has recently been into Miles Davis. I also love jazz, so we had a lot to talk about. And yes, he was educating me on the topic, not the other way around.
Here and there, we stopped. A bathroom break, a lunch break, a gas break. Mile after mile we traveled. Finally, we crossed the Mississippi and left Illinois. I was somewhat familiar with the university that we were going to, as my one daughter was accepted there, but chose a school that offered her more money to attend. The school isn’t that far from that city’s downtown. However, traffic was light (thank God).
I found parking, and he rushed his samples in. Fifteen minutes later, we were back on the road, talking, laughing, and observing the landscape around us. We left our home around six in the morning and returned late at night. I was tired, my back was hurting, but I was also happy. Not only did I help my son, but we also got to spend more time together. How many opportunities will I have to spend 12 hours with just the two of us? He has a life well beyond me, a long-term girlfriend, friends from everywhere from grade school to grad school, his research, his music, and so much more. Soon, I will be a footnote in his life. I refused to let my fears deny me an opportunity to learn more about him and to increase our bond. I refuse to let a fear or phobia stand in my way of experiencing life. Sometimes you have to experience a little pain. That is just the way it is. Time moves forward, and some events can’t be recaptured.
Despite my fears, my fatigue, and my backache I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to not only help my son, but to also learn just a little bit more about him. A gift was given to me, and I’m glad that I had the common sense to take it.
I love one-pot meals. There is less mess, less cleanup, and often less cost. That last identifier is especially important as we are not only dealing with inflation and the Trump tariff taxes, but now we are facing increasing gas prices due to the war in the Middle East. We can’t catch a break.
My mom would make an awesome chicken paprikash using her Presto stove-top pressure cooker. She would serve it on a bed of Spaetzle that she made from scratch. I remember her making the dough, then rolling it into pencil-sized ropes. The dough ropes were kept on a cutting board, which she would balance over a pot of boiling, salted water. Using a knife, she would cut off 1″ segments of the dough into the boiling water to make Spaetzle dumplings. The paprikash would be served over the Spaetzle. It was delicious.
My mom made most of her regular dishes without a recipe, so I can’t duplicate her wonderful paprikash. However, there are many similar recipes for paprikash, which is a stew seasoned with paprika. Today, we will be exploring one, but with a twist. I don’t have all of the ingredients for a traditional recipe, so I’m going to do a lot of substitutions. Being able to substitute one ingredient for a similar one is an important step in saving money, as you can use up ingredients you already have. This also prevents you from going to the grocery store, which helps curb impulse purchases. Because of my substitutions, I can’t really call the dish that I’m making a true paprikash; it is paprikash-like. However, it will still be delicious.
I’ll list my ingredients as I go rather than using an ingredient list, since I’ll be flying by the seat of my pants. Remember, the goal of home cooking is to make good-tasting food, so let your creative juices flow! You are not a clone, so you don’t have to clone every recipe!
I think in-bone chicken thighs, or legs and thighs, work best. However, I had these boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, so I used them. I seasoned them with a little season salt, but you could use whatever you have on hand.
I set my electric pressure cooker to sauté and heated some oil. I then lightly browned the chicken on both sides. I did this in batches to avoid overcrowding the chicken. As the pieces browned, I removed them from the pot.
With the chicken removed, I added one chopped onion (two would have been better, but I only had one) and a heaping teaspoon of jarred garlic. I sauted these vegetables until the onions became more translucent.
I then added 1 T of tomato paste, plus around 3 T of sweet paprika, and stirred the mixture for about 30 seconds to “bloom” the spices. I added 1 cup of chicken broth (I used 1 cup of water with some Better Than Bouillon) and returned the chicken to the Instant Pot.
I cancelled the saute function, sealed the pot, and set it on pressure cook for 15 minutes. I then did a natural release for around 10 minutes before releasing the pressure and opening the pot.
I was too lazy to make Spaetzel and had about 1/3 of a package of noodles, so I boiled them up. In reality, I needed more noodles (likely around 1/2 of a bag), but this is what I had.
When the noodles were done, I drained them and added some butter and poppy seeds. The poppy seeds were totally unnecessary, but I thought that they added a nice touch. The noodles will be a base to pour the paprikash on.
I only had around 1/2 C of sour cream, so I added some cream and mixed it all up. I could have used only sour cream (around 1 cup), or sour cream with some milk, or whatever. However, some sour cream is a must for this recipe.
After the pressure cooker’s rest period, I released the steam and opened it. I canceled the pressure cooker function and placed the pot back on “saute” to get the paprikash boiling. I added a little of the hot paprikash to my sour cream/cream mixture and then poured the mixture back into the pot, stirring constantly.
I tend to like thicker stews, so I mixed a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch in a small amount of cold water and then drizzled it into the boiling stew, mixing constantly. This thickened the paprikash almost instantly.
Since the chicken was not on the bone, it turned into more of a shred than nice whole pieces. That’s OK.
I had all of this spinach that was starting to go soft, and I didn’t want to waste it, so I wilted it into the stew. That is absolutely not a paprikash thing, but as a home cook, I can do what I want as long as it isn’t too far afield.
I then adjusted my seasonings, mostly by adding a little salt and pepper. Dinner was served!
Here it is all served up. Honestly, it was delicious! My wife and I were the only ones home, so there is a huge amount left. Three of us will eat it for dinner today.
I wanted to do today’s blog to illustrate how easy it is to substitute what you have on hand and still wind up with a delicious final product. The trick is to stay within the recipe’s theme. In this case, meat, sour cream, and paprika were required. However, I used boneless chicken instead of in-bone chicken, stretched the sour cream with some cream, and used one onion instead of two.
Additionally, I didn’t make spaetzle; instead, I used noodles. I could have used pasta, rice, or even mashed potatoes. All of the above were similar enough that my final product remained paprikash-like. Lastly, spinach goes well with most soups or stews as it is pretty neutral, yet adds a ton of nutrition.
If you are starting your “make-from-scratch” journey, don’t think that you have to follow every recipe exactly; you just need to follow the “theme” of the recipe. What makes a beef stew a stew? What makes a chicken soup a soup? What makes a tuna casserole a casserole? Once you understand the theme, feel free to do a little substitution. For instance, you need tuna and noodles to make a tuna casserole, but after that, you have many other substitution options.
I am a gadget nut, I really am, I love gadgets and comparing gadgets. I’m also a former scientist, and these two characteristics combine to help me solve gadget problems.
One gadget I have been comparing since the late 1980s is the bread maker. I like bread makers for a couple of reasons. First, I think that they are amazing. Dump in some ingredients, press a button, and you get bread! Second, many different ones have been manufactured over the decades, and I have found that subtle differences can significantly affect the finished product. Third, I can acquire machines that were hundreds of dollars new for pennies on the dollar used. I have purchased many bread makers at thrift stores for less than $10, some as low as $4.99. Granted, they were often grubby, but a little soap and water easily fixes that problem.
Over the years, I have tested 30 different bread makers. Yes, thirty. I have used high-end brands, such as Zojirushi, Panasonic, and Breville; classic household brands, like Oster, Breadman, Cuisinart, and Regal; and newer value brands, including KBS, Kitchen Arm, and Osipoto.
On my last birthday, my wife gifted me two bread makers she thrifted: one was $4.99, and the other was $10. I thought they were the perfect gifts, as she put considerable time into finding and cleaning them. My wife isn’t into bread makers, so her efforts were absolutely a gift of love.
Premium brands are great, but let’s face it: a top-of-the-line Zojirushi now sells for $500, and the other high-end brands aren’t much cheaper. Less expensive brands may not be as durable, but they can also make excellent bread. And let’s not forget those used bargains that can be picked up at thrift stores. Not everyone can drop $400-$500 on a bread maker, but everyone deserves great bread. Getting a reasonably good bread maker at an affordable price can be a reality with a little effort.
In my bread-making travels, I have discovered that bread makers fall into three categories.
The first category: breadmakers that reliably make great bread. They may have a glitch or two when making a new recipe, but those glitches are easy to correct.
The second category: bread makers that generally do pretty well, but they have a singular problem, usually underproofing or overproofing. These problems can be corrected with a little experimentation. I most often see this issue in older bread makers, and it may be due to miscalibration over time. For instance, the baking chamber may heat up a bit more than intended during the proofing period. This is the category I’ll be exploring today.
The third category: machines that act oddly but consistently, suggesting they were designed for a different environment. Perhaps a place where the temperature is different, or the flour is different, or where a different strain of yeast is used. These machines tend to over proof 2 pounds loaves and under proof 1.5 pound loaves. I have seen this characteristic across several machines, suggesting that the problem is a programming issue. These machines can also work properly with ingredient adjustments, but new corrections may be necessary for each bread type and loaf size. If you make one or two types of bread, then this is no big deal. However, if you like to make many types of bread, these machines can be a pain.
The two used machines that my wife found were different models of older Oster bread makers. One made perfect bread, but the other tended to overproof. Since the bread makers were a gift, I felt compelled to put on my scientist hat and fix the second machine’s problem. Since these machines are old and not programmable by customers, I had to use my chemistry knowledge to fix them.
I thought it would be useful to write about overproofing in general, and then look at how I fixed the overproofing in my old Oster machine that my wife gave me.
A case of severe overproofing. The bread looked great until the baking process started, then the whole top exploded.
Some easy chemistry.
Gluten is what makes bread chewy, stretchy, and delicious. Gluten is formed in the process of kneading. Too little kneading and you will have inadequate gluten; if you knead your bread too much, you can break down the gluten. It is hard to over-knead bread by hand, but a machine can over-knead dough.
Yeast is a living organism that converts the starches and sugars in bread dough to alcohol (burned off during baking), flavor compounds, and carbon dioxide gas.
During the fermentation process, yeast grows and divides, releasing carbon dioxide, which is trapped in the bread by the stretchy, elastic gluten. If the yeast doesn’t grow enough, you will have a low rise. If your gluten is inadequate, it will be unable to contain the carbon dioxide, and you will have large holes in your bread and a collapsed top during baking. A collapsed top can happen if too much yeast produces too much carbon dioxide gas, if the gluten is too weak to contain the gas, or if both occur.
It is the balance between carbon dioxide production and the strength of the gluten that determines a properly raised bread dough. Not enough carbon dioxide because of inadequate yeast or too much gluten, and you will have a poorly risen loaf. Too much yeast activity or not enough gluten development will cause your bread to overproof and collapse during baking. Why does baking cause it to collapse? The heat makes the carbon dioxide expand; if the gluten is weak, it can’t contain this additional pressure and bursts.
Properly risen bread is dependent on the interplay between yeast and gluten. If you understand this sentence, you can fix your over-proofing issues.
Let’s look at three levels of “fixes,” from simplest to most complicated. Every user of a bread maker should implement level-one fixes automatically, as they are good bread-making practices. The other two levels should be applied in order if level one fails to produce decent, correctly proved loaves.
Please note that every ingredient impacts the rise of a loaf. However, some ingredients, such as sugar and salt, also affect the quality of the bread. Although these ingredients can be altered, doing so will likely have an adverse impact on the bread and should only be done when simpler options are exhausted.
Additionally, all-purpose flour has less gluten than bread flour and can lead to overproofing if the recipe calls for bread flour.
Always explore a new machine by making the recipe for basic white bread in that machine’s manual. If you bake a successful loaf, you know that the machine is working properly. Recipes from third parties, especially from individuals, may work well in one machine, but not another. However, you can then use your successful basic recipe to decode the differences between the two and get the new recipe to behave. If the basic recipe is overproofing and you are using good practices, then move on to level two, then three.
For me, overproofing is the most common problem that I encounter. If there is an interest in underproofing solutions, I can write about that in the future.
Level One Fixes (good practices)
Check out your ingredients. Are you using the recommended yeast type? The correct type of flour? The correct salt type? Salt inhibits yeast, and large-grain salts are less salty by volume than table salt. Adjust accordingly.
Check out the temperature of the ingredients. They should be at room temperature for consistency.
Measure correctly. This is incredibly important. I use a food scale to measure my flour, as using volume measurements for flour is notoriously inaccurate. Additionally, I use measuring spoons for low-volume items like salt and yeast and level them off. Some food scales can be inaccurate when weighing items under 10 grams, which is why measuring spoons are better for small quantities.
Make sure the dough ball looks good during kneading. I check after a minute or two of kneading. If the dough ball looks too slack, I’ll add 1T of flour and repeat every 30-60 seconds until it looks good. Since I weigh my flour, I usually don’t need to add any, or if I do, only one tablespoon. The converse is also true. If the dough ball looks dry and ratty, add 1T of water every 30 seconds or so until it is smooth, round, and slightly sticky.
Check your room’s temperature. If it is too hot, your bread may overproof. Look for obvious problems, like exposing your machine to direct sunlight, which will heat it up.
Level one quick fix
If you don’t want to go through the hassle of figuring out why your bread is overproofing, use your bread maker to knead and ferment the dough, but then place the dough in a bread pan for its second rise and bake it in the oven. Some home bakers do this, but I’m a lazy guy and want a “door-to-door” solution.
Level two fixes
Try a different high-quality brand of bread flour. Bread flours can vary from brand to brand; look for one with higher gluten content.
If using bread maker (instant) yeast, try active dry yeast, which is slightly less powerful.
Try reducing your yeast by ¼ teaspoon.
Try a commercial dough enhancer. However, dough enhancer ingredients vary by brand. Some can actually make the dough softer or encourage yeast growth, which can have the opposite effect that you want.
If your bread maker allows custom programming, reduce your last rise time by 5-minute increments until you achieve an adequate, quality rise.
Level three fixes
Now it is time to put on your scientist hat. Let’s learn a little more chemistry.
Professional bakers use a variety of additives to create a perfectly consistent loaf. Some of those additives make the crumb softer, some preserve the bread longer, some help the yeast along, and some help the gluten. Since we are dealing with an overproofing problem, we need to either reduce the power of the yeast or strengthen the gluten so the carbon dioxide bubbles don’t burst during baking (and collapse the top of the bread).
Here are some additives that can help correct overproofing by strengthening the dough’s gluten.
Vital Wheat Gluten (VWG). VWG is gluten in concentrated form. If you add this to bread flour, you increase the flour’s gluten content and strengthen the dough. I often start at 2 T per loaf and adjust accordingly.
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C). Vitamin C strengthens disulfide bonds in gluten, making gluten stronger and less likely to burst when baking. I use a tiny amount of vitamin C powder. My Vitamin C came with a little plastic scoop that is likely less than 1/16 of a teaspoon. That is the amount that I add. You can also use vitamin C in the form of lemon juice, about 1 tablespoon per typical loaf. As an aside, using Vitamin C in baking does not increase the bread’s Vitamin C content, as the vitamin is destroyed by heat.
Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum). Provides calcium ions that strengthen gluten’s bonds. If you are going to use Gypsum, you should only add the tiniest pinch, or 0.1% of flour by weight. If you want to go this route, I would suggest using Calcium Sulfate as part of a bread conditioner product. These products will contain other ingredients, such as VWG, which increase their volume, so it is easy to measure out the “diluted” calcium sulfate. For instance, the instructions may say to use 1 teaspoon of conditioner for every cup of flour. However, conditioners sometimes contain a variety of other enhancers, some that may be used to soften, not strengthen, the dough. Using them may complicate your discovery.
Potassium Bromate. This chemical is an oxidizer and works like super Ascorbic Acid, but don’t use it. Why? Because only a tiny amount is needed, and if you use more, it can be quite dangerous and possibly even contribute to causing cancer. The amount to add is ridiculously tiny at 1 teaspoon per 800 cups of flour. Therefore, it is likely that you will over-add this chemical, and that is bad. This chemical is permitted in the US because, when used in proper amounts, it is converted into a harmless compound during baking. However, the EU and other places have banned it in baking. Potassium Bromate is too dangerous for a home baker to experiment with.
The goal is to find the right balance by using the correct amount of yeast vs gluten. In this series of experiment I’m using the basic white bread recipe developed for this bread maker. I always follow level one protocols.
I did come up with a solution, but the process took me several weeks because I was eating most of the bread as I baked it. If a bread is mildly overproofed, it is still perfectly good bread; it just doesn’t look great. When conducting any experiment, it is best to change only one variable at a time. However, my goal was to correct overproofing, not to publish a scientific paper, so I sometimes changed two variables at a time. Not best practice, but it still worked. Let’s get into it!
Despite doing everything correctly, this initial test loaf rose spectacularly and then collapsed during baking. A case of classic overproofing.
Here is my first attempt at a fix, using vital wheat gluten and a commercial dough conditioner. This loaf is much improved, but I wonder if the gluten is too strong, as the bread didn’t dome.
Here is a slice from that loaf. Not terrible, but note the big air bubble, and there is some minor collapse on top.
The next experiment. I reduced the vital wheat gluten to 1 tablespoon, removed the dough conditioner, and added Ascorbic Acid. This loaf doesn’t look too bad. However, some collapse is likely due to overactive yeast.
The final experiment. This loaf looks good. A decent dome, and it is well risen. All I changed was to make a very small reduction in the yeast.
A decent crumb! I believe our experiment was a success!
I saw that some online creators were making their own lunch meat using a contraption called a “Ham Press.” This intrigued me. I initially tried it using the recipe from the ham press I purchased on Amazon (for around $24), and I deemed that experiment a failure. The product tasted OK, but the texture was weird, and the color was sort of yuck brown and grey.
I’m not one to give things up easily, so yesterday I tried again. This time I used ground chicken instead of the “tube” turkey that I had used before. I also changed the spices around, omitting those that likely gave my first attempt its gross color. Lastly, I did the experiment more simply using basic equipment. Why? Because it was easier.
I’m pleased to report that I did get a final product that was pretty good.
Here are the positives:
-The taste was much better than deli chicken.
-It is less expensive than deli chicken.
Here are the negatives:
-The texture was slightly different than deli chicken.
-Making deli meat involves some labor.
-One pound of chicken yielded slightly less than 15 oz of deli meat. This is likely due to all the water injected into the meat, which was lost during cooking.
Let’s take a closer look!
To one pound of ground chicken, I added 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, onion powder, and salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. I also added around 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of gelatin. I mixed it all up with my impeccably clean hands.
I packed the meat mixture into my ham press and sealed the press. I placed the press into a Dutch oven with simmering hot water (around 200°F/95 °C). I waited until the slurry’s internal temperature reached 170°F (75 °C), which is about 5 degrees higher than the safe cooking temperature for chicken. It took around 90 minutes to reach the correct temperature.
I rapidly cooled the ham press in an ice bath. Then it was placed in the fridge overnight.
Here it is removed from the ham press. I ran the press under warm water to help the deli meat release. The yield was not quite 15 oz.
I used a meat slicer to slice the block, but a knife or mandoline would also work.
Here is an individual slice. Honestly, it looked good, and it tasted great. Its flavor was much better than deli chicken. It was less salty and tasted like real chicken.
But here is the real problem: what a mess to clean up! Cleaning a slicer can be tricky as you are handling a very sharp blade. This is a consumer-level slicer. I also have a commercial-level slicer, and that thing is outright dangerous to clean, as it has a huge circular blade that has to be removed and is extremely sharp and slippery. When cleaning any slicer, I recommend extreme caution and cut-proof gloves. Also, watch your feet. If you drop the blade, you could cut off a toe!
The slicer is all cleaned up and ready for its next job.
So what is the bottom line? Yes, it is less expensive to make your own chicken deli meat, and it tastes better. However, it did require work, and cleaning the slicer was no fun.
I know we are all suffering from inflation and the Trump tariff taxes. For me, it would only make sense to use two ham presses at their full 2-pound capacity. That would yield 4 pounds of deli-meat. This would justify cleaning the slicer. I would freeze the excess meat for future lunches. With that said, I have another idea that should be an even easier way to get better/cheaper deli meat at a lower cost. More on that idea in a future post.
Yesterday was an interesting day as I was invited to a retirement party for my long-time friend, Steve. My history with Steve goes back to the early 1990s, when, along with my other friend, Ralph, we embarked on a 30-year adventure.
My connection with the two had been cursory. I had just started to date my wife, who was the clinical director of the eating disorder unit at the hospital where I was the medical director of the chemical dependency program. My wife was leaving her position to enter a PhD program when we started dating. Her boss, another doctor, had a big going-away party for her at her Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home in horsey country, and my future wife brought me along. Ralph had been working on the eating disorder unit, and rumor has it that he asked his wife, “What in the world is Dr. Kuna doing here?” Little did either of us know that would be the start of a 30-year friendship.
Steve and Ralph were working for the doctor who threw my wife’s party, and that doc was good friends with the doctor I was working for. Steve and Ralph were talking about moving on, and my boss saw an opportunity, but he didn’t want to jeopardize his relationship with their boss. “Mike, I want you to meet with these two doctors with the idea of having them join us.” He was my boss, and so I did what I was told. In the end, this turned out to be a fortunate request.
The three of us hit it off, and it was clear that we would work well together. That meeting eventually led us to form Genesis Clinical Services, which at one time was the largest psychiatric clinic in the suburban county where it was based.
To be honest, I don’t think any of us really knew what we were getting into. We were doctors who wanted to take care of patients. How hard could it be to manage over a dozen clerical staff and even more clinicians? OK, we were extremely naive.
The three of us automatically fell into our roles, most likely based on our personality types. Ralph loved the business aspects of Genesis and gravitated to all things numbers. Steve is an extremely likable person. I used to joke, “Everyone loves Steve.” However, that joke was more true than fiction. Steve was our marketing person. In our little family of three, I always felt like the crazy uncle who lived in the basement. What would my role be? What were my skills that went beyond being a good doctor? What could I bring to the table? I’m a creative guy who seems to grasp complicated technical subjects easily. Those traits would have to do. I taught myself desktop publishing and started to write the clinic newsletter. I taught myself how to use multi-track audio editing software, built a portable recording studio, and produced a psychiatric podcast for the clinic. I taught myself web design, then taught myself portrait photography so I could create the clinic’s first website. I coded the first interactive clinic note system for the clinic, and so on. My weekdays were spent seeing patients, and my weekends were spent learning and applying technology.
Since we all had different roles, we never stepped on each other’s feet. I can’t recall ever having a serious disagreement with Steve or Ralph during those years. We would meet weekly to discuss the clinic and to catch up with each other’s lives and families. I always looked forward to those meetings. However, these were also stressful times for me as I was chronically ill, constantly fatigued, and struggling to get through the day. I was working 60 hours a week, plus all of the technical projects. I don’t know how I did it, but it was necessary, so I did it. As you may recall, the problem that I was having was an unusual reaction from a common medication that I was taking. No doctor, including me, could figure out that this was the issue, so I carried a variety of diagnoses from MS to Myasthenia Gravis. I finally made the connection decades later. I was grateful to solve my problem, but I just wish I had done so earlier. That was then, but I like to stay in the present. Now, I’m feeling healthy and excited about life.
I thought I would just stop by the party to let Steve know I was there. I was certain that I would be one of many well-wishers and a minor one at that. After all, I have been retired and away from the clinic for over 8 years. I approached a circle of people with Steve in the middle. I entered and gave him a hug, and we talked. I told him that I would just be here for a minute, but I wanted to congratulate him on his retirement. “Mike, stay around. I’m giving a little speech, and I’m mentioning you in it.” I stayed, and Steve, in Steve fashion, said some very kind things about me. It made me tear up.
I asked him about his plans, and he told me about some upcoming travels and a book he was planning to write now that he had time. I smiled, as his comments seemed to echo my thoughts when I retired. You see, no one mentors you on how to retire, so most of us try to make it an extension of our work lives, minus the stress.
I wanted to give him more information. I wanted to tell him what I had learned in 8 years. I wanted to inform him about the art of retirement. However, I knew that he wouldn’t listen. Not because he is obstinate, but rather because that is the way it is. We can’t learn what we don’t know. No book, no class, and certainly no “wisdom” from an old retired doctor can teach someone how to move from a work life to a retired life. It is something that you have to experience. A natural process that, if done thoughtfully, can lead to a happy retirement life.
I woke up early this morning thinking about Steve’s retirement party and thinking about cartoons. Surprisingly, these two thoughts are more connected than you may think. You see, when I was a kid, my life revolved around TV shows, especially Saturday morning cartoons. Those shows gave me such pleasure that the thought of not having them in my life caused me distress. I remember thinking, “I know some day I will be too old to watch cartoons and that will be a terrible, terrible day.” But, do you know what? That day came and went, and I didn’t even notice it. One day, I had moved on, and cartoons were no longer important to me. Other things were now important; the transition was natural and painless. And so it is with retirement. If you constantly think about how your life is different, it will be a miserable experience, perhaps a slow death. However, if you just let it happen and navigate reasonably, it can be a wonderful, even glorious time. I was so happy to be a doctor. I am so happy to be retired. Two different experiences, same Mike.
When I retired, my sister told me, “Mike, from now on everyday is Saturday!” To my friend, Steve, I would like to say, “Happy Saturday!”
From right to left: me, Steve, and Ralph from Steve’s retirement party.
Steve in the early 2000s. I had just taught myself portrait photography, and I was very excited to use my new DSLR. I don’t think Steve looks that different now. Not fair!
Ralph, from that same photo shoot. My first attempt at “professional portraits.”
I’m proud of my kids. Oh, you have noticed that? Yep, it’s true. I have 4 kids, all different, but each amazing in my book.
One of the things I did with the three youngest was to teach them how to cook. We did it as a fun activity, as we all made dinner together for years. My kids are now adults, and they will ask me for the recipes that we made together. However, there is an additional twist to this story: I now ask them for their recipes too!
My one daughter loves the website budgetbytes.com, which offers simple, economical recipes. For the last year, she has made Italian Wedding Soup from a recipe there. It is part of her regular dinner rotation. She will make a pot of soup and then divide it into individual containers, giving her around 4 days of dinners. This allows for an easy meal when she comes home from work. “Dad, you have to try this soup. You can make it in under an hour, and it is delicious!” Well, I had to try it, and she was right.
My son is in graduate school and still lives with us. He was my co-captain on this recipe, which made its assembly even simpler. Has inflation and the Trump tariff taxes got you down? Try cooking at home to save money!
Let’s get into it.
Put all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl and mix them up. The best way to do this is with clean hands, but you do you.
Form the mixture into small meatballs, using about 1 tablespoon of mixture for each. I initially used a cookie scoop, but I found that it was easier to eyeball the amount. Here too, hands work the best. Set the meatballs aside.
Finely chop the vegetables. Here is an example of the size you should have.
Add some oil to a large pot and saute the onions using medium heat. After a minute or two, add the garlic. I’m using jar garlic, but regular cloves would be best. To be honest, I almost always use jar garlic as I have it on hand.
Add the chopped celery and carrots and mix them in. Cook the mixture for another couple of minutes. Stir now and then.
The vegetables will look more translucent as they soften.
Now add the Italian seasoning. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you could use oregano. I “cooked” the seasoning for around 30 seconds to allow it to bloom.
Now add 6 cups of chicken broth. I’m using the boxed stuff, but you could also use a chicken base. My daughter often uses bouillon cubes. Best would be homemade stock.
Bring the soup to a boil and drop in the meatballs. I’m using my hand, but you can use a spoon. Drop them close to the boiling soup to prevent spraying the hot soup on you. The meatballs need to cook for around 10 minutes before you go on to the next step.
Now add 1/2 cup of a “small pasta”. I’m using orzo. I’ll continue cooking the soup for 9 minutes, or until the orzo is soft. There is a lot of boiling going on, so you may be evaporating quite a bit of the liquid. This can make the soup too salty. If that is the case, just add some water back to the soup (around 1/2 to 1 cup) to rebalance the salt. Taste before you do this.
You can also reduce evaporation by covering the pot. You may have to turn down the heat to prevent a boil-over, as the cover will trap more heat.
When the soup is completely cooked, add around 4 cups of spinach. I just eyeballed it and added the spinach by the handful.
The spinach will wilt in a few seconds. Soup is served!
I topped my bowl with a little Parmesan Cheese and served it with a crescent roll. It was delicious! Three adults ate the soup, and at least two portions remain for lunch. This soup is very economical. Its taste is familiar, yet slightly exotic. A great soup to add some variety to any rotating meal plan. It was simple to make and uses very basic ingredients. The meatballs added something, and they were also simple to make. We will definitely make this soup again.
I thought it would be interesting to do a post on making a pot of stew, as such dishes are so incredibly flexible and forgiving. This will be a beef stew, and I made it quickly in a pressure cooker (Instant Pot), but it can also be made on the stovetop or in the oven. It would just take longer and use more energy. With inflation and the Trump tariff taxes, cooking at home has become a must.
There is no formal recipe; I’ll describe my method more in the step-by-step photos below.
Place your electric pressure cooker on “sear” and preheat for about 5 minutes. Add some oil, and when the oil is hot, add your seasoned stew meat. Don’t overcrowd the meat. If you have a lot of meat, brown it in two batches. I just sprinkled a little seasoned salt on the meat, but you could use whatever you like, or just salt and pepper. Browning the meat adds flavor and makes it juicier.
The brown meat was removed, and I deglazed the pot with a little red wine. Anything acidic works well for deglazing, but in a pinch, a little water will also do the trick. We had some leftover wine in the fridge, so this was a good way to use some of it up.
I added one coarsely chopped onion to soften it. I often use jar garlic as it is so convenient. However, my Costco-sized jar was almost empty, and I couldn’t even scrape out the last of its contents. I added a little water to the jar, shook it up, and poured that liquid into my stew pot. Stews are extremely forgiving.
Now for some spices. Spices add a bit of sophistication to a stew, but you can just use salt and pepper if that’s all you have. There are many spice options, but I added roughly a teaspoon of thyme and rosemary. I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. I’ll be using some beef base, and that is pretty salty. Additionally, I’ll adjust for salt at the end. You can always add salt, but you can’t remove it. I also added 2 bay leaves. Do bay leaves do anything? They seem to, but I can’t clearly put my finger on what.
I also added a few tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. This stuff gives the stew umami. Naturally, this is optional.
I added a couple of stalks of celery and some cut-up carrots. How much? As much as you want. I think I have 3 stalks of celery and around 4-5 carrots.
I then added 3-4 peeled and cut-up potatoes. The pressure cooking process will make the potatoes very soft. My mom would boil the potatoes separately and then add them when the stew was done. That is the best practice, but I’m lazy, and I don’t mind soft potatoes.
In goes the browned stew meat. I think I have around 2 pounds, but you can get away with 1 pound if that is what you have.
This is what the pot looks like at this point. You only want to fill a pressure cooker around 2/3rds full. I sometimes exceed that, but that’s not the best practice. Never go all the way to the top; the most I will go is about 3/4 of the way up, and that is definitely pushing the pot. Some foods that foam should only be filled 1/2 way up, such as oatmeal.
Adding beef stock will enhance the stew’s flavor, but it is not a requirement. You can use a homemade stock (best) or a boxed stock. I’m using this beef base, which contains salt. I just realized that my beef base had expired. Alas, I used it anyway, and it was fine.
Here I am adding around 3 cups of stock. If I were using only 1 pound of stew meat, I would add 2 cups of stock. However, you can be flexible here.
Oops, I forgot to add the peeled parsnips. That was the whole reason that I was making a stew. I had a bunch of carrots and some parsnips and wanted to use them up. No worries, I can add them now. When it comes to vegetables, I think carrots and celery are a must. However, you can add whatever else you like. Corn, green beans, peas, other root vegetables; you name it. I really like peas in stew, but my wife hates peas, so no peas for us.
I changed the pot’s control to “pressure cook” and set the timer for 40 minutes. When that is done, I’ll wait 10 minutes before I release the steam for a semi-natural release. Read your pressure cooker’s manual and safety information before operating. To open the pot, the pressure has to be completely down.
You may notice that this electric pressure cooker is not an actual Instant Pot. However, the brands are more similar than they are different. I have had this pot for a very long time, and I’m very happy with it.
If you were doing this on a stovetop, you would bring the mixture to a boil, then down to a gentle simmer (with the pot covered). In that case, you would stir the contents every once in a while. I think you would need to cook it for at least 4 hours under those conditions. Compare that to the total time for the pressure cooker, which was around one hour.
After the stew was done, I mixed a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch in a little cold water and stirred it into the boiling stew to thicken it. Flour could also be used, but cornstarch will give you a clearer final product. I also adjusted the salt and added a little garlic powder (I like garlic). Lastly, I added a few squirts of Frank’s hot sauce. Not enough to make the stew hot, but enough to liven it up a bit. Shhh, that is my secret, don’t tell anyone!
Here, the stew is plated up and served with some garlic toast. It was delicious! It served four of us, with several going back for seconds. There was enough left over for a couple of lunches, too!
Stew is a great way to use up vegetables and to stretch your meat. I hope my descriptions showed you how flexible it can be. There are no real rules, except that you need an onion, celery, carrots, and some stew meat. Build on that theme and make a hearty dish that can feed an army, but also freezes well for easy future dinners.
