Hey y’all! Happy 2018. In the interests of getting back into blogging on a regular basis, I’m going to start posting about some of the things I’m cooking without necessarily a lot of fancy photos or verbiage. I might come back and flesh out some of these posts later but for now, I’m going to be posting some things with simple cell phone photos and brief write-ups.
First up is something from the Instant Pot I got for Christmas. I had resisted getting one forever because I was bound and determined that I didn’t need another appliance that would ultimately go unused. But after listening to friends rave about them for almost a year now, and after seeing every blog I follow taken over by IP recipes, I decided to use a Christmas gift card to bite the bullet. I’m really glad I did.
This is the first thingI made with my Instant Pot, right after I ran the steam check on it. I had some friends on Facebook comment that it was an ambitious recipe for the first one out of the gate, but I’m not an inexperienced cook and I was willing to accept failure – both of which helped me just dive right in. I dug around in the freezer and found 2 vacuum sealed top round steaks, a total of about 2.2 lbs and we were off!
Here’s how the cooking went (scroll down to the bottom for a formatted recipe):
I put the pot on saute, let it come up to “HOT” on the screen, and then added a glug (probably about 2 T) of olive oil.
I threw in a diced yellow onion, a stalk of celery (diced), and 2 cloves of minced garlic and let it just soften up in the oil. While that was happening, I sliced up a 12 oz container of mushrooms from the fridge.
When the onions were nice and soft, I added 2 T of flour to the bottom of the pot and stirred it around and then poured in about 1 quart of beef stock to make a thin gravy.
I then added the 2.2 lbs of top round steak (still frozen), 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 heaping tsp onion powder, half a can of of tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste. I also added in a pinch of Kitchen Pepper (recipe by Michael Twitty) which I’ve started adding to almost everything I cook.
I set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 60 mins.
When it was done, I NPR’d (natural pressure release) for 30 mins and the QR’d (quick release) the rest of the pressure.
The meat was fork tender, but the gravy was just slightly thin. So I set the Instant Pot back to saute and added in a slurry of 2 tsp corn starch mixed with just enough water to make a thin paste.
15 mins later I shredded the beef and served it over egg noodles (cooked on the stovetop).
For a first Instant Pot meal, it was a rousing success, rated “You could make this again!” by both Z and K.
Top Round Beef Roast with Mushrooms | Instant Pot
From freezer to dinner in 15 mins and virtually hands-free.
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs top round roast
- 2 T olive oil (or oil of choice)
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 12 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 T flour
- 1 quart beef stock
- half a can of tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Set the Instant Pot to “saute” and let it come up to heat.
- Step 2 Add the oil and cook the onions, celery, and garlic until just soft.
- Step 3 Add the flour and let it cook slightly (5 mins or less).
- Step 4 Add the beef stock and whisk briskly to make a thin gravy.
- Step 5 Add the tomato paste, the spices, the roast and the mushrooms.
- Step 6 Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high. If the roast is still frozen, set it for 60 minutes, otherwise, set it for 45 minutes.
- Step 7 When the pressure cooking is finished, let the pressure release naturally (NPR) for 30 mins and then quick release (QR) the rest of the pressure.
- Step 8 If the gravy is too thin for your taste, return the Instant Pot to saute and thicken the sauce with a slurry of 2 tsp cornstarch and a little water.
- Step 9 Serve over potatoes or egg noodles or rice.