Pressure Cooking Makes Holiday Entertaining a Breeze!

Does it feel like you spend all your time in the kitchen when getting ready for a holiday gathering? Do you spend days cooking to get ready for the event?

You don't have to! Pressure cooking can take the stress out of your holiday meals!

A pressure cooker works by capturing steam inside. As the steam builds up, pressure begins to increase inside the cooker. The pressure raises the boiling point of water and gets the temperature hotter than you ever could on a stove top. Because the cooking temperature is higher, the cook time is reduced substantially. What this means for you is a LOT less time slaving over a hot stove and more time entertaining your guests and enjoying all the yummy food you made!

You can make your holiday roast in a pressure cooker instead of the oven this year and you'll have dinner on the table in no time! You know what that means...more time to open gifts!

First you will need a large 15 quart pressure cooker like this All American.

You'll want to be sure your pressure cooker is large enough to hold a big roast. 

What you will need:

5 lb. chuck roast

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

Freshly chopped parsley and rosemary

2 1/2 cups of beef broth

Olive Oil 

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper

Here's what to do:

Make several slits in the roast with a sharp knife. Insert the peeled garlic cloves into the slits in the meat. 

Sprinkle the meat liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder and rub into the roast.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet until very hot. Sear the roast for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Now it is ready for the pressure cooker!

Transfer the meat into the pressure cooker. Place the rack at the bottom to keep the meat elevated above the liquids you will put in. 

 Be sure to scrape the pan bits left into the cast iron skillet into the pressure cooker. This will give the roast a rich flavor as it cooks. 

Sprinkle the chopped parsley and rosemary over the roast with a drizzle of olive oil. Pour the beef broth over the meat and cover with the lid. Set the temperature to medium high heat. 

Bring the cooker to pressure and then turn the temperature to low. Cook for 25-30 minutes. After cooked, turn the heat off and let the pressure come down. Then remove the roast and dinner is served!

This roast will be deliciously fall apart tender. You might even want to leave a plate out for Santa! 

Only 6 days until Christmas!

How to Make Fresh Apple Beer from apple peelings

A Mountain Recipe

It's apple season! We're excited. We took some photos of the season's first apples.

Need something to do with apple skins from your apple peeler? Try Apple Beer - a recipe passed down for generations in this part of the mountains -

Apple Beer - Peel your apples - we love this apple peeler - and dry peelings in the sun or by stove. Put them in a crock and add enough boiling water to cover them. Cover the crock with cloth or a wooden lid and let it sit for one or two days, until all the flavor comes out of peeling. You may add sugar.

Making Fresh Blueberry Jam

We picked fresh local blueberries. We made jam. We used this recipe and took some photos.

    

For every three pints of blueberries discard the stems and crush berries. This makes roughly 4 cups of crushed berries and you'll include 4 cups of sugar and a package suregel.

We did not filter out the parts of fruit, thus, making blueberry jam. 

Steps

1. Bring water-bath canner, half full with water, to simmer. 

2. Wash jars and bands in hot, soapy water. Rinse with warm water. Drain well before filling.

3. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan turn off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. 

4. Prepare fruit as described above. Measure exact amount into sauce pan - using less sugar with result in set failure. (don't add the sugar yet, however! only the fruit)

3. Sir in a box of pectin (suregel) into the sauce pot. Stir in water. 

4. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil.

5. Stir in sugar quickly (THIS IS WHEN YOU ADD SUGAR FROM ABOVE)

6. Ladle into jars, wipe jar rim, place lids from warm water onto jar, and screw on a jar ring to each jar.





7. If jam is hot there is no need to place them in canner. You can process jars in water bath canner for about seven minutes to ensure the jam inside is hot enough to create a seal for your preserved jam.

8. Once processed use a jar lifter to lift jars out of canner.

9. Let jars stand on counter for 24 hours while they seal.