The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook

The term Kosher here only serves to alert our tribe that they can make absolutely any recipe from this book. But Kosher or not, this is the most thorough and most definitive book written on the subject of  Instant Pot Cooking. No we don’t need thousands of instant pot recipes. We just need well chosen clear and concise recipes to turn the instant pot into our best kitchen friend. And this is precisely what she offers: 100 Recipes to Nourish Body and Soul.

Talented Cookbook Author Paula Shoyer has done it again. We are originally familiar with her dessert books (if you don’t have them, you must order them: like going to a mini patisserie cooking school). But her work with cooking is every bit as prolific. Paula is not just a cook and a Cordon Bleu Pâtissière but a veritable coach. She takes all the daunting out of cooking!

Instant Pot: Meet the Brute!

The old fashioned crockpot and the even older fashioned pressure cooker have recently given birth to the Instant Pot. The improbable love child looks, hmmm, how can I put it, nowhere near like the quaint kitchen amenities we are accustomed to. It jolts us out of the romantic age  and into the industrial age. Closer to a lab experiment than to dinner. A hard to miss sign of the high tech times, even when it lands on your plate.

I think Paula has reconciled me with the Instant Pot!

I confess I have always eyed the advent of the Instant Pot with suspicion. Trying to displace my crockpot and pressure cooker dinosaurs, aren’t you? What Chutzpah! But Paula has just made me a convert! Darn, I have to go shopping now!

In The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook, Paula has exploited the full range of  options the incredibly versatile appliance affords the harried modern cook. She zips seamlessly out of steaming into frying and circles again to stewing, all steps back to back, in a jiffy. Dishes known to rip the kitchen apart and take half the day now call for just one pot and come together in a fraction of the time. Several essential utensils rolled into one. So no, the instant pot is not pretty, but boy is it efficient! All levels of slow live in good intelligence with all levels of quick, all under one roof! An express invitation to cook more often.

 

Beautiful photography by Bill Milne

Eclectic repertoire too!

None of your stodgy 50s stews and casseroles, thank you very much! From timeless to contemporary. From Tikka Masala to Schwarma to Lava Cake, all in the Instant Pot? Imagine that!

Sample Recipe from the Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook

 

 

FRENCH ONION SOUP PURÉE WITH SHREDDED SHORT RIBS

HANDS-ON TIME: 35 Minutes

TIME TO PRESSURE: 13 Minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 Minutes

BUTTONS TO USE: Sauté and Pressure Cook

RELEASE TYPE: Quick Release

ADVANCE PREP: May be made 3 days in advance or frozen

Serves 6–8

 

4 tablespoons oil, divided

2 strips short rib/flanken on the

bone, about 11/2 pounds (680g)

total, each strip cut in half

4 large onions, about 21/2 pounds (1kg) total, sliced, 12 cups (3 liters) sliced

5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3 cups (710ml) hot water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

5 sprigs fresh thyme

 

Press Sauté, making sure the time is set for 30 minutes, and when the displays reads “Hot,” add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the inner pot. Add the meat and sear for 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove to a plate and set aside. Add the remaining oil and the onions, and use long tongsto stir. Cook for 25 minutes total time, stirring about every

4 minutes.

 

After the onions have cooked for about 15 minutes, use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot to mix around the browned pieces into the other onions. If the machine goes off, turn it back on to Sauté. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the water and stir for a minute with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pot clean again. Press Cancel. Add the salt, pepper, and thyme. Return the meat to the pot. Secure the lid, ensuring that the steam release handle is in the

Sealing position. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the cooking time for 30 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, turn the steam release handle to the Venting position to quickly release the pressure. Press Cancel and remove the lid.

 

Remove the meat to a plate and discard the thyme stems (the leaves can remain). Use an immersion blender to purée until smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.

 

Let the meat sit until cool enough to handle. Use two forks or gloved hands to shred the beef, discarding the bones and extra fat. Be sure there are no small bones among the shredded meat. Store separately from the soup and reheat separately. Serve the soup garnished with the meat on top.

 

©Paula Shoyer, reprinted with permission from The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook (Sterling Epicure 2021)