"COOKING UNDER PRESSURE: Delicious Dutch Over Recipes Adapted for your Instant Pot," by Matt Pelton, Front Table Books, $21.99, 144 pages
"Cooking Under Pressure" by Matt Pelton is an Instant Pot cook's dream come true. Winner of two International Dutch Oven Society cook-offs, the author takes time-tested Dutch oven recipes and adapts them for the InstaPot. The InstaPot, a computerized pressure cooker, gets dinner on the table in less time and with less effort than outdoor Dutch oven cooking. No coals involved.
As a former chef at Deer Valley ski resort, Pelton has experience with many modes of cooking and offers his expertise to the reader with a chapter about which kind of potato works best in which dish and how-tos for many basic sauces. He takes the reader step-by-step through recipes with easy to understand instructions and offers tips like cooking a roux until it smells like popcorn.
The collection of recipes includes common Dutch oven dishes such as chili, peach cobbler, brisket and roasted pork shoulder. It also includes some surprises such as Beef Bourguignon, pho, Mulligatawny and Vindaloo Chicken. The cookbook is divided into nine different sections: American Classic Recipes, Mexican Recipes and Desserts, to name a few. The variety is enough to satisfy any InstaPot chef's desire for something new and different.
Even though the recipes are simple, a basic knowledge of how an InstaPot works is essential to the success of the dishes. For those cooks who are familiar with Dutch oven cooking, Pelton points out the subtle differences of each method and what the reader can expect. He mentions that cobbler toppings won't be as crispy when cooked in an InstaPot and that cakes may have a different texture.
Although this cookbook is geared toward the InstaPot user, it also doubles as a fantastic cookbook for the basic home cook. The recipes for tamales and crème brûlée look exceptional. With practice, the recipes could be adapted to other modes of cooking.
A resident of Provo, Pelton grew up in central Utah where he learned to cook in a Dutch oven at the age of 8. The husband and father of three enjoys doing anything outdoors.
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QUICK BRISKET
Brisket is always tasty, even if this is a nontraditional way to make it. You can slice this for sandwiches or pull it and just eat it.
¼ cup canola oil
5 pounds brisket, flat cut into large chunks
3 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
3 teaspoons sea salt
½ cup barbecue sauce
4 tablespoons real butter
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons liquid smoke mesquite
Place the canola oil in the bottom of the InstaPot, select sauté high. When the oil is hot, brown the brisket chunks, remove from the pan, coat with the salt and pepper evenly, and set aside.
Add the remaining ingredients to the InstaPot, and scrape the bottom with a wooden or plastic scraper. Return the meat and place the lid on the InstaPot.
Select meat, stew and set the time for 60 minutes. Bleed the pressure naturally and let it stand for 20 minutes. Slice thin against the grain, and drizzle with the sauce from the bottom or pull it and toss it in the sauce.
— "Cooking Under Pressure" by Matt Pelton
