Corned Beef & Cabbage in the Instant Pot - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! This dish is great any time of the year, and really easy. (SODA BREAD RECIPE IS FEATURED BELOW!)

Buy a corned beef brisket at the grocery store. A 3-4 pound brisket will work well in your Instant Pot, or you can cut a bigger one in two so it will fit (or freeze half to cook later). Place the brisket fat side down on a trivet at the bottom of your Instant Pot liner pot. Throw in a chopped onion and five cloves diced garlic. Add a quart of beef broth, a bottle of beer and the pickling spice that came in a little packet with your brisket. If your brisket didn't come with a pickling spice packet, use 1 tablespoon of picking spice you can buy at the store. Put the lid on your pot with your sealing ring in place, set valve to SEALING, and set to IP to PRESSURE COOK HIGH (Or MANUAL if you don't have a PRESSURE COOK button). Set the timer for 1 hour 30 minutes. While meat is cooking, chop a large onion into four pieces, chop two carrots, cut four or five potatoes into 2-inch pieces and cut a head of cabbage in big chunks. When pressure cooking is done, do a quick release. Remove the brisket to a foil-lined sheet pan to rest. Remove the trivet from your pot. Add the chopped vegetables to the liquid in the pot, and set pot to PRESSURE COOK HIGH (or MANUAL) for seven minutes. When pressure cooking is done, use a quick release. Slice corned beef against the grain and place on a serving platter. Surround with the cooked vegetables and some of the sauce.

We like a little horseradish with our corned beef. You can use leftover corned beef for Reuben sandwiches on rye bread with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing or hot mustard. 

To make soda bread: Sift two cups flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon sale. With a pastry cutter, cut in 3 tablespoons butter. In a separate bowl, combine 1 egg with 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt. Stir in 1/2 raisins if you wish and a tablespoon of brown sugar if you like your soda bread sweet. Add egg/milk mixture to the flour and butter and stir until just mixed. On a floured piece of wax paper, knead dough gently about 10 times and form into a six-inch circle. Make two slashes at the top to make a cross. Brush loaf with a beaten egg. Place on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Chef Dave creates excellent chili verde in the Instant Pot

In this video, my wonderful husband and videographer Dave shows us how to cook delicious and super easy chili verde in your Instant Pot, while I watch over his shoulder and enjoy my glass of wine :-) Here's his recipe: Cut 4 to 6 boneless pork chops into 1-inch chunks. Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in your Instant Pot and then SAUTE the pork until brown, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pork to a plate. Add two diced sweet onions to the pot and cook until translucent (about three minutes). Remove husks from a pound of tomatillos (about eight tomatillos) and cut those into chunks. (If you don't have tomatillos, substitute medium-size tomatoes. Results will be different, but still good!) Add tomatillos to the pot with 2 teaspoons ground cumin and 6 cloves chopped garlic. Scrape any brown bits from the bottom of your pan. Drain and rinse two cans white beans (Navy beans or cannellini beans) and add beans to the pot with two 4-ounce cans diced chiles (mild or hot or one of each), 1/2 cup of chopped pickled jalapenos, and the pork. Add two teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir well. No need to add extra liquid to this one... Secure lid on your pot and set pressure valve to SEALING. Cook at high pressure (or manual) for eight minutes. Then allow for a 10-minute natural release. Release remaining pressure, remove lid and serve in soup bowls with chopped cilantro if you like and grated cheddar or pepper jack cheese. ENJOY!

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