In the Kitchen With Mattie

Posts Tagged ‘Pierogie’

It is summer and it is HOT down south. You would think I wouldn’t want to be cooking in this heat but I ALWAYS want to cook. When I don’t get a chance to go in my kitchen and cook my day doesn’t feel complete for some reason. I am however not a lunatic and don’t enjoy spending all day in a kitchen without air conditioning over a hot stove. Here comes one of my trusty pressure cookers to the rescue!  I had a small roast and some of the pierogies I made last week still in the freezer. I took the roast out of the freezer last night with the intention of making a roast beef, unfortunately it didn’t defrost in the fridge in time so instead I made it into a pot roast in the pressure cooker, cooking it from a frozen state added about 15 minutes onto the cooking time but it came out delicious. When you make a pot roast I think the most important part of it is to take your time and brown it really well, it adds so much flavor to the gravy. Be generous with the seasoning too, add it in several intervals during the cooking process and taste it to adjust right before you serve the meal.

                                             Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

3 pound roast, tonight I used an eye round, normally I use a chuck roast

2 large onions diced

2 sprigs thyme

2 cloves garlic smashed

2 tablespoons tomato paste, I used sun dried tomato paste tonight

1 cup dry red wine

2 cups unsalted beef broth

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup Wondra flour mixed in 1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons oil

Rub roast all over with salt and pepper, set aside. Heat pressure cooker until hot then add the oil and let it heat. When the oil is hot add the roast and turn until very browned all over, it usually takes me about 20 minutes for this step. When it is browned remove to a plate and add the onions and garlic to the pan, saute until they begin to color, make sure not to burn them. When they are nicely browned add the roast back to the pot and add the liquids, tomato paste and thyme, lock on the lid and bring the pressure cooker to high pressure, time it for 60 minutes, when time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then do a quick release of the remaining pressure. Uncover the pan and remove the roast to a platter, bring the remaining broth in the cooker up to a rapid boil and cook for 5 minutes, add the flour mixed with the water and whisk until no lumps remain, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Slice the meat and serve with the gravy.

If your roast is still frozen as mine was tonight add 15 minutes onto the cooking time while the pan is under pressure.

You will find the pierogie recipe on another post on this blog. I boil them until they rise to the top of the pot and then they are sauteed with lots of chopped onions in a little butter and oil until they are browned nicely.