y idea of fun is standing at the
stove over my latest cooking proj-
ect, wooden spoon in hand, burn-
ers ablaze. So when every cook I
knew started evangelizing about the new
king of kitchen gizmos—their marvelous
Instant Pot—it was all I could do not to pull
my nose out of the air, smell the shallots car-
amelizing in my skillet and shout, “I don’t
need no stinkin’ Instant Pot!”
“I don’t care if it slices, dices or makes
julienne fries!” I’d insist as friends extolled
the glories of R;-D;’s culinary cousin: “Oh,
the cheesecake!” “Taste these quick-cooked
beans!” “Huh? You still don’t have one?”
My sturdy argument: I enjoy the tactile
pleasures of cooking, have time on my hands
and don’t mind washing an extra pot. In
short, I do not need a pressure-cooker-
slow-cooker-rice-cooker-steamer-basket-
sauté-pan-easy-bake-oven-and-yogurt-
maker-in-one.
Instant Pot lessons
Here are a few tips to make
the most of your Instant Pot.
• “Instant” is relative. Many
recipes don’t factor in the
time it takes to bring the unit
up to pressure.
• Some things are better
prepared on a stovetop (see:
steamed broccoli). Others
(artichokes!) rock the Instant
Pot (IP). To my thinking, the IP
wins out for recipes with
sturdier ingredients and
longer cooking times.
• Chicken carcasses make
excellent stock. Just add
water and heed your inner
pot’s fill line. Press “Soup/
Broth” and go about your
business. Cool. Strain. Freeze.
Feed the chicken bits to the
dog.
• Know your Instant Pot
needs: With many models
available, consider the size of
your family, cooking style,
storage space and budget.
—NL
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Besides, I already have a pressure cooker
(used twice), slow cooker (once) and rice
cooker (can’t live without it). And with umpteen brands of yogurt in supermarkets everywhere, do I really need to make my own?
So, what finally convinced me to
one-pot shop?
Blame it on “The ‘Butter-Chicken Lady’
Who Made Indian Cooks Love the Instant
Pot”—a New Yorker magazine profile of
Urvashi Pitre, whose remarkable recipe
for murgh makhani (aka butter chicken),
prepared in under an hour, was my gateway
drug. That one-pot wonder, a soothing
curry-in-a-hurry infused with a flavor bomb
of spices, instantly crowned me as a convert.
I was just getting started.
Next, I used my Instant Pot to hard-cook eggs that slip magically from their
shells, and to prepare perfectly fluffy quinoa
with the press of a button (OK, two). My
husband’s jaw dropped as he spooned up a
spectacular beef barley soup, pressure-cooked in an hour. Mine nearly hit the floor
M
A lot in
a pot
Instant Pot turns your
kitchen into a culinary
laboratory without
taking up space
by NANCY LESON
Nancy Leson
is an award-winning
food writer, radio
personality, cooking
instructor and public
speaker. Follow her
at nancyleson.com
and @nancyleson.
J
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P
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Y
COSTCO
CONNECTION
The Instant Pot
Nova Plus 6-Quart
9-in- 1 Multi-Use
Pressure Cooker,
Item #1226685, is
available in warehouses and on
Costco.com. Several
Instant Pot cookbooks
are also available
in the warehouse,
including one by
Urvashi Pitre, aka the
Butter-Chicken Lady.
