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Instant Pot Ranchero Beans
Ranchero Beans
After experimenting with several recipes, I have come up with this one on my own. Beans are so easy to make in the Instant Pot, you will never want to open another can of pinto beans for dinner again. You can adapt this recipe and leave out the bacon and you can either mash the beans or leave them whole.
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 strips of bacon diced
- 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 1/2 white onion diced finely
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon
- Kosher Salt or Lawry’s garlic salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 5 cups water
- 1 lb. bag of pinto beans
Instructions
- Rinse and sort the pinto beans to make sure you don’t have any pebbles or shriveled beans. Set the beans aside.
- Select Sauté High on your Instant Pot. Add 1tablespoon of oil. Add your diced bacon and render out the fat until the bacon is almost crispy. If the pot seems like it is getting too hot, lower the heat to medium.
- Add the 1/2 finely diced onion to the pot and cook until tender and starting to brown.
- Next add the cloves of garlic and cook until lightly browned.
- Add the dried oregano, beans, water, chicken bouillon and bay leaf.
- Stir the pot to combine all of the ingredients. Attach the lid and select Pressure Cook- High for 45 minutes. When cooking is complete, use the natural release to depressurize. Press Cancel.
- Remove the bay leaf. Stir the beans and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- ** Mash your beans if you want when the cooking is finished. If you have too much liquid, just simmer the beans with the lid open and the liquid will reduce.
Notes
Alternate Recipe:
If you want to make things even easier on yourself, you can skip sautéing completely, and add in all of the ingredients (excluding the bacon) at the same time. Instead of dicing the onion, put the half of onion in the pot without chopping. When the beans are finished cooking, you can then pull out the onion and bay leaf. Then you can also decide if you want whole beans or mashed.
If you want to make things even easier on yourself, you can skip sautéing completely, and add in all of the ingredients (excluding the bacon) at the same time. Instead of dicing the onion, put the half of onion in the pot without chopping. When the beans are finished cooking, you can then pull out the onion and bay leaf. Then you can also decide if you want whole beans or mashed.
Anka’s Cheese Presnac
Anka’s Cheese Soufflé
This is a recipe that was shared with by Baba Dot from a family friend. The woman's name was Anka, and she didn't share many of her recipes. This continues to be a family favorite, so that is why I have added it here. It is moist, gooey, cheesy and always a wonderful addition to a party menu.
Ingredients
- 6 whole eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 tsp. baking powder-sifted with the flour
- 1 lb. jack cheese-cubed
- 1 small carton large curd cottage cheese
- 1 small cream cheese cubed
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cube butter
Instructions
- Cube the cheese. Melt the butter in a pan.
- Beat eggs for 10 minutes. Add salt, sugar, milk and beat together.
- Blend in flour and baking powder. Fold in the cheese and butter
- Bake for 30 minutes at 375°.
Rice Pilaf – A Side Dish Staple
Rice Pilaf
When deciding what to make for dinner, I usually ask my family what they want to eat. If we are grilling, they love to have Rice Pilaf as a side dish. I always have the ingredients in my pantry, and my husband and boys have cravings for it. It's definitely a family comfort food. When the boys have been away from home for a couple weeks, I know that they need rice pilaf with dinner.This is the recipe for 4 people. I always double it for my family of 5.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cube butter
- 1 cup Uncle Ben’s Original Rice
- 1 handful instant onions
- 2 handfuls of browned vermicelli see note
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a sauté pan. Add the rice and cook for a minute making sure it is well coated in the butter. Add the onions, vermicelli, and chicken broth. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until done.
Notes
*Browned vermicelli pasta – break up the noodles on a sheet pan and brown under a broiler until they are golden. You can also sauté them in the butter before adding the rice, but this is a time saver.
Presnac – Val’s Cheese Soufflé
Another Presnac recipe…just a little different. This would be Valerie’s recipe, and my mom just loves this one. Simple, easy and delicious. I have a better chance of having all of these ingredients in my house, so this is definitely a go to. Ingredients: 6 …