Red Wine Pears - in the pressure cooker!

I hadn’t tried making a dessert in my pressure cooker.. until now. I was nervous… I know you can make all kinds of things in them-cake, rice pudding, etc but I was scared to try. Anyway – I had some extra pears, some leftover red wine and a sweet tooth. You’re welcome. Also – today is my 5^th wedding anniversary! What a quick and easy dessert that will both satisfy your sweet tooth and let you feel like you are having an extra special treat for a special day. A little mushy here – my husband is my best friend. We’ve been together over 9 years now and each year gets better! He’s my major support person – my rock! I hope God blesses us with many more years together!

4 pears (any kind), peeled but left whole

2 cups red wine
2 cups water
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice (or nutmeg/allspice)
¼ cup honey (or sugar or other sweetener)
Whipped topping, if desired

• In your pressure cooker, mix together water, honey, cinnamon and apple pie spice.
• On the “brown” setting, cook for about 3 minutes or until honey is dissolved into water.
• Once your honey and water are combined, place pears standing up in pressure cooker.
• Pressure cook for 8 minutes. Release pressure and add wine.
• Pressure cook for 8 more minutes and release pressure.
• Carefully remove pears as they will be very soft. Pour some remaining wine sauce over pears and top with whipped cream, if desired.
• The longer the pears set in the wine sauce, the softer they will get it so don’t let them set for too long or they will fall apart!

Seafood Jambalaya (in pressure cooker)

This recipe happened to be one of accident one evening. In addition to the low-fat, gluten free diet we follow, our meals are also usually pretty bland as my body is not a huge fan of spicy foods. However, this is very customizable to make as spicy as you’d like. Also you could make a traditional jambalaya this way with pork or sausage but this version is a lower fat option.

1 small onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced
1 cup zucchini, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Olive oil
3 slices of turkey bacon
1 3 oz tilapia filet (or similar type of fish)
1.5 cup large shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 tsp thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp black pepper
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 cup water, or broth of choice
1 can of diced tomatoes (or 1 cup of homemade canned tomatoes-see below)

• In a skillet or electric pressure cooker on “brown” mode, sauté the onion, celery, zucchini and garlic in 1 Tbsp olive oil.
• In a separate skillet, cook the turkey bacon. In the bacon drippings (you won’t have much so add in a little olive oil if needed), cook the tilapia and shrimp.
• Add in the thyme, cayenne and black pepper with the meat mixture.
• Once the veggies and meat are fully cooked, combine in the pressure cooker.
• Add in the rice, water and tomatoes.
• Follow your pressure cooker’s instructions and cook on the “pressure” setting for about 15 minutes.
• You may need more or less time depending on the cooker.
• Once one cycle is complete, see if you’re rice is cooked through and most of the water is absorbed. If not, cook for a couple more minutes. You want a little bit of juice leftover but not to the point of soup consistency.

Honey Mustard Pressure Cooker Chicken

I have a new found love for my pressure cooker. We eat chicken a lot and my electric pressure cooker can cook a frozen chicken breast in about 20 minutes. It’s fantastic. I’ve been struggling to get a sauce right in it though, but this turned out great!

3-4 frozen chicken breasts

½ cup honey
¼ cup mustard (or use ½ cup bottled honey mustard instead of honey & mustard)
¼ cup sweet & spicy mustard
¼ cup water
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp tapioca (or corn) starch

• Place frozen chicken breasts in the pressure cooker.
• In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients except starch. Pour sauce mixture over chicken.
• Cook on the “pressure” cook setting for 20 minutes. After the chicken is done, remove and make sure it has reached the right temperature. If it hasn’t, pressure cook for a few more minutes.
• Once chicken is cooked through, finish sauce on “brown” setting. Add the tapioca or corn starch and stir until blended.
• Cook for about 5 minutes stirring constantly or until it starts to thicken. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces and return to the sauce. Serve by itself or over rice.