Home cooking

Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.

Posted by Gary

Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

My week has been okay. Lockdown continues in Canberra while the situation in New South Wales improves as the infection burns out and the situation in Victoria worsens as peak infection numbers are yet to be realised.

We should be ending lockdown in Canberra at the end of this week. I hope the restrictions remain flexible to ensure maximum safety. I know workmates who desperately want their children back in school because homeschooling is doing their heads in. Other friends are more concerned for the health and welfare of their children and their community and don’t mind the burden of homeschooling.

My preference is for community safety and health, not just physical health but also mental health.

I know my mental health is improved by cooking because I find it relaxing.

One thing which is playing on my mind though is the high likelihood the premier of Queensland will close the border to Canberrans at Christmas. I would like to see my daughters and parents. I haven’t seen them since early December last year.

Sorry vegans and vegetarians, tonight is very meaty. Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.

Ingredients

  • Rolled roast
  • Iodised salt
  • Master stock
  • Red wine
  • Leek
  • Brown onion
  • Celery
  • Red royale potato
  • Fennel
  • Kent pumpkin
  • Baby green peas
  • Instant gravy

Instructions

  1. Remove the rolled roast from the plastic wrapping.
  2. Dry the surface of the beef with an absorbent paper towel.
  3. Season the meat with a liberal amount of iodised salt.
  4. Slice the leek, onion, celery, potato, and fennel.
  5. Place the sliced vegetables into the bottom of the cooking vessel.
  6. Add the master stock and wine.
  7. Place the meat on top and close the pressure cooker by sealing the lid.
  8. Cook under pressure for one hour.
  9. Roast the pumpkin in the oven.
  10. Use microwave radiation for cooking the peas.
  11. Make the instant gravy according to the instructions for use.
  12. When everything is ready, plate it up.
  13. Give thanks to our Heavenly Father for this food.

Final thoughts

  • How are you coping with the pandemic where you live?
  • Do you like cooking roast beef in your pressure cooker?
  • What are your plans for Christmas?
  • Rolled roast
  • Rolled roast Salted
  • Sliced celery, fennel, brown onion, red royale potato, and leek
  • Rolled roast cooked
  • Sorry vegans and vegetarians, tonight is very meaty. Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.
  • Sorry vegans and vegetarians, tonight is very meaty. Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.
  • Sorry vegans and vegetarians, tonight is very meaty. Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.
  • Sorry vegans and vegetarians, tonight is very meaty. Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker rolled roast with gravy, roast pumpkin, and baby green peas.

Pressure cooker beef brisket

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

You nearly received a post about corned silverside tonight, but it’s not to be. 

I wanted to make corned beef this weekend and went to find a nice piece of silverside. I couldn’t find one with a decent layer of fat on it.

I came across this lovely piece of brisket, and I thought I might cook it in the pressure cooker.

I’ve usually cooked brisket in the slow cooker; however, I’m in a bit of a pressure cooker frenzy at the moment. I figure it’s worth having a go. 

Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker beef brisket, pumpkin mash, purple broccolini, baby asparagus, and instant gravy.

Ingredients

  • Beef brisket
  • Black whole peppercorns
  • Barbecue sauce
  • Red wine
  • Beef stock
  • Brown onion
  • Royale red potato
  • Hot chilli flakes
  • Kent pumpkin
  • Purple broccolini
  • baby asparagus

Instructions

  1. Lovingly sharpen your cook’s knife as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17 NLT.
  2. Quarter the onion and potato
  3. Place the beef into the pressure cooker.
  4. Add the peppercorns, barbecue sauce, chilli flakes, and some red wine in a large measuring cup with the beef stock.
  5. Mix everything in the cup.
  6. Pour the contents of the cup into the pressure cooker.
  7. Add in the onion and potato pieces.
  8. Check the seals of the lid of the pressure cooker, place it on the body of the pressure cooker, and set the seal.
  9. Cook the brisket for 1 hour.
  10. While the brisket is cooking, turn on an oven to 180 °C.
  11. Prepare the pumpkin by gently rub a little oil over the pumpkin’s surface, including its skin.
  12. Cook the pumpkin in the oven for about an hour.
  13. Place the broccolini and asparagus into a bowl and douse with olive oil, and season with iodised salt.
  14. When there are ten minutes left for the pumpkin to cook, add the broccolini and asparagus to the oven.
  15. If you want some gravy, go ahead and use the instant kind, no one will judge you. I certainly won’t think less of you. Instant beef gravy is delicious, and it is easy to make, and there is less of a hassle to wash up.
  16. Once the pressure cooker has finished doing its thing, remove the lid and allow the meat to rest in the cooking liquor for 15 minutes.
  17. Remove the potato, onion, and brisket.
  18. Allow the meat to drain a little.
  19. Carve the beef with your sharp cook’s knife. If you’re feeling decadent, cut lusciously thick slices.
  20. Serve everything on a warmed dinner plate and pour a liberal volume of gravy on the meat and vegetables.
  21. Give thanks to God for all things and your daily bread.

Final thoughts

  1. Have you ever cooked a brisket in a pressure cooker?
  2. Do you prefer instant gravy or gravy made from scratch?
  3. What are your favourite vegetables to enjoy with beef?
  4. How has your week been?

My week

My week has been good. It was busy, and I enjoyed some engagements with international colleagues. On the Wednesday and Thursday mornings, I had 6 am meetings, and on Tuesday night, I had an 8 pm meeting. Long days, but rewarding and edifying. I was in discussions with people from India, Japan, the USA, Canada, Switzerland, and the UK.

There was also good news about a friend who had an investigation. Praise God the result was good.

  • Coles Beef Brisket
  • Kent pumpkin, brown onion, and red royale potato.
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker beef brisket, pumpkin mash, purple broccolini, baby asparagus, and instant gravy.
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker beef brisket, pumpkin mash, purple broccolini, baby asparagus, and instant gravy.
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker beef brisket, pumpkin mash, purple broccolini, baby asparagus, and instant gravy.
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker beef brisket, pumpkin mash, purple broccolini, baby asparagus, and instant gravy.

Custard addiction

I’ve been enjoying some custard too 😉

  • Friday lockdown second breakfast. Happy Friday! 😊 Dobinsons Cherry Danish with custard! Atlas coffee to keep alive 😉 Praise God! It’s Friday!!!
  • Dobinsons Cherry Danish cut to expose the custard and cherry filling.
  • Saturday lockdown second breakfast. I love the lushness in my mouth of slightly sweet soft vanilla custard. Lick-able with the tip of my tongue but not dripping, encased in delicate and slightly chewy buttery croissant. Dobinsons custard filled almond croissant and Atlas coffee make for a magnificent marriage in my mouth.
  • Dobinsons Almond Custard Croissant
  • Dobinsons Almond Custard Croissant

Saturday lockdown dinner. Laksa flavoured roast pumpkin soup.

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

Last week I was chatting with a friend at work. She’s a “grad”. “Grads” are part of a workplace graduate program common across government departments in states, territories, and the Australian Government.

We were talking about cooking meat dishes, and she mentioned the cost of meat. It’s true; meat is expensive, and I know not everyone can afford to buy it often. 

We got to chatting about meat-free options and shared how we both like pumpkin soup made with roast pumpkin.

Saturday lockdown dinner. Laksa flavoured roast pumpkin soup.

Ingredients

  • Kent pumpkin (¼)
  • Red Royale potato (1)
  • White onion (1)
  • Coconut cream (270 mL)
  • Vegetable stock (1 cup)
  • Laksa paste (2 tablespoons)
  • Sourdough bread (1 slice)
  • Lurpak butter (1 nudge)

Instructions

  1. Take your cook’s knife and honing steel and hone the blade as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend (Proverbs 27:17 [NLT]).
  2. Turn the oven on and set the temperature to 180 °C.
  3. Cut the pumpkin and potato into large chunks. I leave the skins on.
  4. Cut the onion in half.
  5. Spread the pumpkin, potato, and onion on a baking sheet and season with salt. I always used iodised salt because so-called exotic salts like Himalayan pink salt probably contain toxic heavy metals. Iodine is also healthful. Pregnant people and children must have sufficient iodine in their diets to avoid cretinism and intelligence deficits. I also drizzle a little golden syrup over the vegetables to assist with the caramelisation process.
  6. Put the vegetables into the oven for about an hour. Monitor the vegetables to avoid burning them.
  7. When the vegetables are soft, put them into a large saucepan with a cup of vegetable stock, the laksa paste, and bring them to a boil.
  8. With a stick blender and process the vegetables until the soup is smooth.
  9. Add the coconut cream and gently heat it through.
  10. Toast the sourdough bread and apply lashings of Lurpak butter with a trowel of some sort.
  11. Serve the soup in a bowl with the toast. If you wanted to, you could add some cheese to the toast for a cheese toastie which would be a lovely accompaniment.
  12. Give thanks to the Lord for wages to buy food and skills to cook food.

Final thoughts

Feel free to leave a comment in the comments box at the end of this post. I’d welcome your comments.

  1. Is meat too expensive?
  2. How often do you eat meat?
  3. Do you enjoy meat-free meals?
  4. Do you talk about food much with your workmates?
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Laksa flavoured roast pumpkin soup.
  • Kent pumpkin and coconut cream
  • Cut Kent pumpkin, Royale Red potato, and a white onion.
  • Saturday lockdown dinner. Laksa flavoured roast pumpkin soup.

If you’re interested in a Facebook group I administer feel free to take a look.

The great Spam challenge of 2021!

Posted by Gary

Last week, after Zoom church, there was a chat session after the service and during the conversation, a friend mentioned she was going to have Spam with week. That was enough for me to embark on a Spam challenge.

Feel free to check out the Facebook posts and leave a comment if you like.

Final thoughts

  • Do you like Spam?
  • What Spam recipes would you recommend?
  • Out of the facebook posts above, which would you choose to make and eat?

Lamb forequarter chops and rice

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

It’s Sunday, and I’m doing two posts this weekend.

After last night’s pork belly and noodles, I thought I’d use the same template and replace the pork with lamb and the noodles with rice.

Today was pretty good. After sleeping in (about 5 am), I jumped out of bed and got dressed for a walk. Then I discovered it was raining steadily, so instead, I did some bible reading and praying.

Zoom church was pretty good. Because it’s the fifth Sunday of the month, we had a guest preacher. She’s a chaplain in the Australian Defence Force Academy. We are currently dissecting the Apostles Creed, and Merryn spoke about our belief in the Holy Spirit.

After a couple of work Webex meetings, I watched Battlebots on Netflix. A friend I used to work with knows my favourite animal is the Orca and hers is the Eagle. Via text messaging, we speculated on an Orca bot and an Eagle bot. Can you imagine mighty jaws to crush an opponent and a powerful tail to slap down opponent bots and to flip up on the upswing? A flying drone Eagle bot would be awesome with strong, sharp talons and a powerful beak to pierce armour.

I used a pressure cooker to cook the lamb. You could also use a slow cooker.

Sunday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker lamb forequarter chops, potato, and mushrooms with fried rice and capsicum.

Ingredients

  • Lamb forequarter pieces (2)
  • Star anise (1 star)
  • Black whole peppercorns (1 tablespoon)
  • White Onion (1)
  • Vegetable stock (1 cup)
  • Sweet sherry (1 cup)
  • Barbecue sauce (1 vigorous squirt)
  • Chinese five-spice (1 tablespoon)
  • Bay leaves (2 or 3 leaves)
  • Potato (1 cut in half)
  • Capsicum (I used yellow, green, and red capsicum for colour)
  • 90-second microwave rice
  • Neutral oil (I used rice bran oil)
  • Flour

Instructions

  1. Flour the meat and brown it in a hot skillet.
  2. Place the meat into the pressure cooker vessel.
  3. Peel the onion, cut it along a sagittal plane, and cut each half again along a sagittal plane. Separate the layers and put them into the pressure cooker vessel.
  4. Add the star anise, peppercorns, sherry, stock, barbecue sauce, Chinese five-spice, bay leaves, and potato to the meat and onion.
  5. Inspect the lid of your pressure cooker to make sure the gasket is in place. If you don’t clean as you cook, look for foreign debris and remove it. The point of this step is to avoid a pressure leak. The other reason is to prevent a potentially fatal outcome if the escape valve is blocked and the pressure cooker becomes a bomb. Check out what happened at the Boston Marathon a few years ago when a pressure cooker bomb exploded. The carnage was extensive. Don’t be put off by this advice. Pressure cookers are safe if you maintain them correctly.
  6. Put the lid on and seal it closed.
  7. Turn on the heat, achieve cooking pressure, and cook for between 40 and 45 minutes.
  8. Allow the pressure to equilibrium to atmospheric pressure.
  9. Remove the lid.
  10. Pick out the lamb and potato with tongs. You could use your fingers, but I reckon you’ll burn the skin, and the pain will be most unpleasant.
  11. Strain the liquor to remove the solid material. Yes, liquor is the correct word. If you doubt me, look up a good English language dictionary.
  12. Pour the liquor into a small container and keep it in the refrigerator to reuse or grow fungus, whatever happens first.
  13. Cook the rice using microwave radiation according to the instructions for use on the packet.
  14. Heat a wok or a skillet and add some neutral oil. Heat the oil until it’s near its smoking point, and then add in the rice and the slices of capsicum.
  15. Stir fry the rice and capsicum until the rice starts to take on some colour.
  16. The rice should have changed from limp to firm, and the capsicum should have changed from firm to a little soft but not limp. You don’t want limp capsicum, and you certainly do not desire capsicum, which has lost its vibrancy.
  17. Move the fried rice and capsicum to a shallow bowl, and with cooking forceps (or fingers), take the capsicum and bring it to the top of the rice to show it off better.
  18. Add the lamb to finish the presentation.
  19. Thank God for wages to buy food, and thank Him for the skills to prepare and cook food.

Final thoughts

  • Do you like Battlebots?
  • What sort of Battlebot would you build and why?
  • Lamb forequarter chops, potato, white onion, star anise, and bay leaf.
  • Lamb forequarter chops
  • Sunday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker lamb forequarter chops, potato, and mushrooms with fried rice and capsicum.
  • Sunday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker lamb forequarter chops, potato, and mushrooms with fried rice and capsicum.
  • Sunday lockdown dinner. Pressure cooker lamb forequarter chops, potato, and mushrooms with fried rice and capsicum.