IP Food: Boiled Peanuts

Happy Birthday to The Help!

The Ds and I got him his birthday gift a few weeks ago. . .a Yeti cooler for his ride.  We managed to find it in the ever-elusive gray color.

We will celebrate later today with a cake.  I am hoping Hilo will not be as crazy as it was this past week. 

Whenever it's Merrie Monarch Festival time, the town takes on a whole different persona.  We get inundated with visitors.  This is great for our economy but creates havoc with the normal flow of business and traffic.  Nakaz said it took him close to an hour to get from his place (just across the "Singing Bridge") to Target!  To put it in perspective, it took The Help, D2 and I about an hour to drive the entire length of the Saddle Road!

In an attempt to escape the craziness in Hilo, The Help, D2 and I ventured to the other side of the island.  Apparently, the rain had the same idea and met us in Kona!  Upon embarking on our journey, we passed a familiar sight...the pop-up tent on the side of the road selling boiled soybeans and peanuts, two of D2's favorite snacks.

Over the past few months, I've made multiple attempts to perfect boiled peanuts in the Instant Pot.  I have found that the ideal cooking time is somewhere between 8-15 minutes.  If you prefer your peanuts on the crunchier side, go for 8 minutes.  If you prefer them softer, then go for 15 minutes.  A 6-quart Instant Pot will hold a pound of raw (dried) peanuts. 

Many other recipes suggest using something inside the pot to keep the nuts submerged.  I have never done that.  I find that by allowing the pressure to come down naturally (about 45 minutes) and waiting an additional 15 minutes, the peanuts will all be submerged when the pot is opened.  This wait time allows the brine to penetrate and flavor the nuts.

If you prefer to make this the conventional way, I posted a recipe a few years ago.  You can find the post here.

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Instant Pot Boiled Peanuts

     1 pound raw peanuts (dried)

     1 1/2 quarts water

     3 tbsp rock salt

     2 star anise

Place all ingredients in Instant Pot.  Place a heat-proof plate on peanuts to keep submerged. Set cooking time for 8 minutes (crunchy nuts) to 15 minutes (softer nuts) on high pressure.  When cooking is done, leave for 60 minutes before removing from pot.  Drain and serve.

Under Pressure: Almost Cafe 100 Beef Stew

Last Friday, I got a frantic call from D1.  She wanted my salsa recipe.  I chuckled silently to myself.  She goes to college in the land of salsa, good, real salsa, and she wants to make the salsa I make.  But being the good mommy that I am, I pointed her in the direction where she could get the recipe any time.

I know I haven't been too good about blogging recently.  I just haven't been able to do it weekly like I used to (a few years ago, I had the gumption to do it twice per week).  Blame other hobbies and having a shitload of other things to do, as well as poor time management on my part.  But D1's call reminded me that being able to provide her with recipes of "home food" (or at least a place where she can go to get them without relying on her own organizational skills) is a good reason to try to post regularly.

Back in 2013, I posted a recipe for beef stew made in a crock pot.  I went on at length about my history with beef stew.  It's been about three years since that post, and a lot has changed.  I will never get to have my mother's "natural" stew again.  I'm not saying that I would want to eat it, but I would love to have her offer some to me.  That won't happen, and I have very little confidence that my father would actually know how to make it.  And if he offered me some, I'd refuse it anyway.

I still don't like beef stew very much, but I cook it more now than I used to.  But after D1's call, I thought I'd be remiss in not posting a beef stew recipe she could easily make.  According to The Help and UJames, this version tastes very much like the one served at Cafe 100, an iconic Hilo drive-in.  Many Hilo ex-pats make it a point to stop there when they come home for a visit.  And if, like D1, you don't own a pressure cooker, you can make this the traditional way. The pressure cooker advantage is being able to cook and serve a pot of beef stew for dinner in the short time between the end of the standard work day and dinner.

So after D1 had a chance to go to the website and check out the salsa recipe, I received another call from her.  This time, she asked, "Mom, do you really put in onions, bell peppers and olives, in the salsa?  Did you really put stewed tomatoes in the salsa I ate at home?  I don't think I eat any of those things."  I told her she did indeed eat all of those things.  Now I'm hoping she won't call and ask about the stewed tomatoes in this recipe!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

 Almost Cafe 100:  Beef Stew

     2 lbs boneless beef stew meat
     flour
     oil
     1 c water
     1 onion, cut in chunks
     1 stalk celery, sliced
     3 carrots, cut in chunks
     2 russet potatoes, cut in chunks
     1 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes (broken up with hand blender or kitchen shears)
     1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
     1 tsp salt
     1/4 tsp pepper
     1 tsp sugar

Pressure Cooker instructions:  Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil.  Drain excess fat.  Add water, bring to a boil and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (may go up to 30 minutes if meat chunks are large).  Use natural release method to lower pressure.  Add vegetables and other ingredients and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes.  Use cold water release method to lower pressure.  Thicken gravy by mixing 1 tbsp flour with some water and add to stew.  Return to a boil, then simmer until ready to serve.

Traditional instructions:  Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil.  Drain excess fat.  Add water, bring to a boil and simmer about 1 hour.  Add vegetables and other ingredients and continue cooking until vegetables are cooked.  Thicken gravy by mixing 1 tbsp flour with some water and add to stew.  Return to a boil, then simmer until ready to serve.

 

Instant Pot instructions:  Heat Instant Pot on Saute (high/more) setting.  Add oil.  Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil.  Drain excess fat.  Add water, bring to a boil and cook at manual pressure (high) for 12 minutes and 5 minutes NPR.  At this time, fat may be removed from liquid.  Add vegetables and other ingredients.  Cook at manual pressure (high) for 3 minutes and 5 minutes NPR.  Combine 1 tbsp flour with some water.  Place Instant Pot on saute setting (low is usually enough if stew is already hot) and add flour slurry to stew.  Simmer until ready to serve.

Under Pressure: Sweet Sour Spareribs

Under pressure to prepare meals in a hurry. . .a few weeks ago, NN, the mommy of D2's best friend, asked me if I own and use a pressure cooker.  She was interested in buying one to help expedite meal preparation.  As soccer season kicks into high gear for her, time in the kitchen takes a back seat to time at the soccer fields.  And with two kids in soccer, she is really pressed for time.

I did not grow up in a home which used a pressure cooker.  In fact, I don't think my parents ever owned a pressure cooker.  Kikukat Mom would rave about crazy & brave UJames, who would use a pressure cooker to cook sweet potato and laulau.  I remember my homeroom teacher in high school telling a story of how she cooked beef stew in the pressure cooker, and how the stew ended up on the ceiling of her kitchen.  It was probably stories like that which prevented my parents (from the same generation) from wanting to even attempt to use a pressure cooker.

Unlike my parents, Mr. Dependable's mom owned a pressure cooker.  It was never used (she said she bought it at a party), but she still had one.  She gave it to me to try.  I gave it a shot.  My food did not end up on the ceiling.  The pot did not explode.  The spareribs turned out tender and flavorful.  I was sold!  I eventually bought a large pressure cooker, which has come in handy for all sorts of things. . .AND has a safety mechanism which prevents the pressure cooker from being opened until the pressure dissipates to a non-explosive level.

A few months ago, I posted a recipe for pig feet soup, a traditional Okinawan recipe.  When Mr. Dependable broke his jaw, the first thing he requested after the wires came off was pig feet soup.  Thanks to the large Fagor (and the fat separator), I was able to make it in time for dinner that day.  In recent years, The Help successfully  lobbied for a pot of beef stew as a no-fuss meal at informal family gatherings.  I've obliged him and attained hero status with UJames, who always has second helpings (I've been told my beef stew tastes like the one served at Cafe 100).

I circled back last week, and NN informed me she loves her new pressure cooker!  She asked me for some recipes, and the first recipe at the top of my list was sweet sour spareribs!  Actually, it was pig feet soup, but I didn't think NN would eat pig feet soup, so I gave her my recipe for sweet sour spareribs.  I knew it was a good choice when she said, "yummmmm".

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Sweet Sour Spareribs

     2 lbs spareribs
     4 cloves garlic
     1/3 c shoyu
     6 tbsp sugar
     1/4 c rice vinegar
     1/2 tsp salt
     1 tbsp oil
     1 tbsp cornstarch
     1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Combine shoyu, sugar, vinegar and salt. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat spareribs and 1 c water. Boil then simmer for 20 minutes (longer if chunks are large). Drain spareribs. In a clean pan, heat oil. Add garlic and spareribs. Fry for a few minutes. Add shoyu mixture. Cook on low for 25 minutes. Combine cornstarch and a little water. Add to spareribs and stir until sauce thickens.  Garnish with pineapple chunks. 
Pressure cooker method: Combine spareribs and 1 c water. Heat til boiling. Cover and bring up to high pressure. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure decrease naturally. Drain spareribs, discarding broth. Clean and dry pressure cooker. Add oil to pressure cooker. Add garlic and spareribs. Fry for a few minutes. Add shoyu mixture. Heat til boiling. Cover and bring up to high pressure. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure decrease naturally. Combine cornstarch and a little water. Add to spareribs. Heat and stir until sauce thickens.  Garnish with pineapple chunks.
If you like lots of sauce, double the sauce ingredients.