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I made perfectly fine tomato sauce the other night with two cans of Muir's Glen fire roasted chopped tomatoes. My only complaint was lack of flavor and soupy texture. I drained some of the liquid. But next time I do tomato sauce I'll add 1 or 2 T of tomato paste. And I really need to salt the stuff more thoroughly. And, I find that you need a bit of sugar too. Both of these latter I tend to skimp on.
DH liked the sauce though. And I did too, actually. Some of it is now stashed in the freezer for rainy day.
Silibran -the applesauce sounds really good. Do you have a recipe?
I have made tomato sauce twice in the IP and it was phenomenal. I cooked the tomatoes down, but then I used a colander to press the "meat" of the tomato through leaving the seeds and skin behind. I then added a can of tomato paste and my seasonings and simmered awhile longer. The only problem is, I spent $8 on the campari tomatoes from Sam's. Now I know why a good jarred sauce like Rao's costs so much!
I had a major IP fail last night. I found a Jaques Pepin recipe for stuffed peppers and he cooked them in the oven for an hour. I thought I could beat that by cooking in the IP and the peppers would come out nice and soft and tender. The IP cookbook app said to cook them for 15 minutes. I set it for 12 and did a 10 minute natural release. I almost had stuffed pepper soup. I set the peppers on the trivet and they pretty much fell apart when I tried to take them out. The only thing holding any of it together was the stuffing which used fresh bread cubes. Maybe some things cook too well in the Instant Pot!
This gives the basics. It is hard for me to give you a recipe, because I don't measure anything. I do use apple juice instead of water though, and I skip the cinnamon.
Before putting apples in the IP, I leave some of the peel on and run the sections through the large grater blade of my food processor. This gives consistent texture; the peel often makes the sauce slightly pink and contributes fiber.
Instead of cinnamon, I tend to use ginger. I never, ever add sweeteners.
You can also do this in a slow cooker for about 4 hours.
I use whatever apples I find a good price at Whole Foods. If I want to leave peels on to make applesauce, I want the apples to be organic.
Just so you can compare, many 'testers' of food stuff (including America's Test Kitchen, I think) have rated Red Pack (aka Red Gold) canned tomatoes BETTER than any of the ones that included San Marzano.
Good to know - I have been trying to stay away from canned to tomatoes in general. The campari tomatoes I bought were fresh. I had never even attempted making my own sauce using fresh tomatoes before but I figured it would be a good job for the pressure cooker. It was a bit of work to strain out all the seeds, but so worth it for the taste - just not sure about the cost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silibran
I made perfectly fine tomato sauce the other night with two cans of Muir's Glen fire roasted chopped tomatoes. My only complaint was lack of flavor and soupy texture. I drained some of the liquid. But next time I do tomato sauce I'll add 1 or 2 T of tomato paste. And I really need to salt the stuff more thoroughly. And, I find that you need a bit of sugar too. Both of these latter I tend to skimp on.
DH liked the sauce though. And I did too, actually. Some of it is now stashed in the freezer for rainy day.
Do you use that tomato paste in a tube? I find that perfect for when you just need a TBSP or two instead of opening a can. Tuesday morning sells a large 7 oz. tube of an Italian brand - Oro di Parma I think - for $2.99. I love that stuff!
Good to know - I have been trying to stay away from canned to tomatoes in general. The campari tomatoes I bought were fresh. I had never even attempted making my own sauce using fresh tomatoes before but I figured it would be a good job for the pressure cooker. It was a bit of work to strain out all the seeds, but so worth it for the taste - just not sure about the cost.
Do you use that tomato paste in a tube? I find that perfect for when you just need a TBSP or two instead of opening a can. Tuesday morning sells a large 7 oz. tube of an Italian brand - Oro di Parma I think - for $2.99. I love that stuff!
Beth Hensberger recommends using that very thing, and I did buy a tube. But her recipe did not call for fomato paste, so I did not use it. But next time, I think I will!
Has anyone had any issue with food disintegrating in the IP? I made this recipe for Hungarian Beef Stew: https://recipes.instantpot.com/recip...ian-beef-stew/ and at the end, it resulted in a generally brown mush with chunks of potatoes and carrots. Smelled great, tasted fine, but it definitely did not look like the picture.
I followed the recipe, and I generally kept the meat and veggies in large chunks to keep them from breaking down too much, but to no avail. Should I be tweaking the cooking times? The IP is great because it's so hands-off, but not being able to check on the food as it's cooking leads to interesting results.
Has anyone had any issue with food disintegrating in the IP? I made this recipe for Hungarian Beef Stew: https://recipes.instantpot.com/recip...ian-beef-stew/ and at the end, it resulted in a generally brown mush with chunks of potatoes and carrots. Smelled great, tasted fine, but it definitely did not look like the picture.
I followed the recipe, and I generally kept the meat and veggies in large chunks to keep them from breaking down too much, but to no avail. Should I be tweaking the cooking times? The IP is great because it's so hands-off, but not being able to check on the food as it's cooking leads to interesting results.
Did you add the veggies for the last 5 minutes like the recipe said? The only times I've ended up with mush is when I put the veggies in as long as the beef.
Did you add the veggies for the last 5 minutes like the recipe said? The only times I've ended up with mush is when I put the veggies in as long as the beef.
I did, which is why I was wondering about cooking times--by the time it got up to pressure to cook for 5 minutes, the poor red peppers were done for. And by that time even the beef chucks were broken down.
Last edited by fleetiebelle; 03-20-2018 at 09:27 AM..
I did, which is why I was wondering about cooking times--by the time it got up to pressure to cook for 5 minutes, the poor red peppers were done for. And by that time even the beef chucks were broken down.
What I sometimes do is add half of the vegetables with the meat and the other half later. This way you can get the best of both. As for the vegetables that fall apart, that is added flavor for the broth. The veggies added later are for both taste and texture.
I looked up Hungarian Beef Stew on the Instant Pot facebook page. Several people had posted photos from when they cooked it and yeah, a lot of them were kind of mushy looking, with the beef looking more like pulled pork rather than chunks of stew meat. The ones with actual chunks seemed to be larger pieces of meat.
I would experiment with less cooking time and see what happens. I also like gguera's idea of reserving some of the vegetables for the end.
But I agree that while I love the hands off aspect, not being able to check on things can sometimes be frustrating. But since it tasted good, I'm sure you'll end up happy with the results once you figure out the right cooking time.
I looked up Hungarian Beef Stew on the Instant Pot facebook page. Several people had posted photos from when they cooked it and yeah, a lot of them were kind of mushy looking, with the beef looking more like pulled pork rather than chunks of stew meat. The ones with actual chunks seemed to be larger pieces of meat.
I would experiment with less cooking time and see what happens. I also like gguera's idea of reserving some of the vegetables for the end.
But I agree that while I love the hands off aspect, not being able to check on things can sometimes be frustrating. But since it tasted good, I'm sure you'll end up happy with the results once you figure out the right cooking time.
This is why I have never done a one pot meal. I use it for beans, stocks, rice and stuff. Not being able to check on my food, and a surprise ending is not appealing to me.
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And by that time even the beef chucks were broken down.
