Instant Pot Chicken Phở

This is one of the best recipes I've made in a long time! It is quick and easy enough for a weeknight, and makes fantastic leftovers. 

Usually when I make or order phở it is made with a rich, spicy beef broth, but Phở Gà or Chicken Pho is also very common. The gingery broth is an amazing complement to the chicken.

Using the Instant Pot makes this dish so quick and easy.  I also love the way the pressure cooker makes such a lovely, clear broth.  The most time-consuming part was gathering the spices. 

This recipe is adapted from Epicurious. It will serve 6 as a meal.  Leftovers are even better the next day and the broth freezes beautifully. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium onions, halved

2-inch piece of ginger, sliced, skin on

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

3 star anise

5 cloves

1 cinnamon stick 

3 cardamom pods, smashed

7 bone-in chicken thighs (about 2-3 pounds)

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

8 cups water

salt and pepper

rice stick noodles 

Toppings:

cilantro

red and/or green chilis, sliced

green onions, sliced

1 lime, sliced into wedges

Directions:

Push the "Saute" button on the Instant Pot. When the pot is hot, add the oil.  Place the onions, cut side down in the pot and add the ginger.  Cook without stirring for 4-5 minutes until charred. 

Add the corriander, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon and cloves.  Stir for 1 minute. Add the chicken, fish sauce, sugar and water.  Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock it. 

Press the "Manual" button and set the time for 17 minutes at high pressure.  It will take about 30 minutes in total for the soup to come to pressure and cook.  Once done, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then turn the vent to release remaining pressure.  While pressure is releasing, cook the rice noodles according to package directions. 

Once the pressure is released, remove the chicken to a large bowl. Strain the broth into a large bowl or measuring cup, discarding solids. Skim fat from the top of the broth. Season the broth with salt and pepper to taste. 

Carefully remove the chicken from the bones and discard the skin and bones.  Shred the chicken.  

Place noodles and chicken into individual bowls.  Top with hot broth.  Each person can add their own herbs, chilis, lime and green onions to their bowl to their own taste. 

This soup tastes amazing.  You will love it! 

Quick & Easy Pho

Pho is one of my favourite winter comfort foods.  It is widely available and pretty cheap to get a bowl of pho in most places these days.  My medium-sized city has dozens of pho restaurants that sell a huge, steaming bowl of beef, noodles and broth for $8 or less.

But sometimes - like this weekend - it is just too cold to go outside. We've had a huge snowfall in the past few days, so making pho at home is a warming treat.

Pho broth is usually made with beef bones cooked with charred onions, ginger and spices. Serious Eats' The Food Lab has a great tutorial for traditional pho.  I highly recommend checking it out, whether to make the recipe or read an interesting history of the dish.

But I've rarely got oxtail on hand, or the time to boil bones all day.  So this quicky shortcut using store-bought beef broth is a makes home made pho a weeknight meal.  It also adds in mushrooms and greens which, while not traditional, make an even heartier, healthier meal.  This recipe is inspired by Epicurious Detox Pho.

Here's what you need for this tasty soup.  You could double the broth and freeze it for a winter treat any time.

Swedish Meatballs

It's been a crazy month for us.  We just moved into a new house and haven't been cooking much lately.  But in the midst of unpacking I decided I needed to cook something. This recipe isn't complicated, but it's time consuming.  Better suited to a Sunday afternoon than a weeknight when your kitchen is filled with boxes.  But the final product is worth it, and it makes enough for at least two meals. 

I love the way the meatballs turned out and I'd definitely use this method again for any kind of meatball. The beef and pork together make a very tender meatball.  Swedish meatballs are spiced with allspice and sometimes ginger and/or nutmeg.  Well, the allspice hasn't yet made it out of my packing boxes, but I had a little tin of pumpkin spice and it worked great!  Pumpkin spice meatballs! 

The gravy contains lingonberry jam, and it's extra tasty to serve a little extra jam on the side.  

Here's what you need for 55 meatballs!

Fall Chicken & Apple Stew

This is a very simple fall stew quick enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for company, which is my favourite category of recipe!  

Also, this recipe makes a ton of stew and the leftovers are great!  The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.  Here's what you need for this quick fall stew:

Fresh Pasta

On a snowy Saturday I decided to make fresh pasta for the first time. I received a KitchenAid Pasta Attachment set for my KitchenAid mixer as a Christmas gift and decided to give it a try.

First I needed to find a recipe for egg pasta. This recipe from Serious Eats worked beautifully. It includes extra yolks and made a wonderful, tender noodle.

Here's what you need to make the pasta: 

Pork & Noodles in Mushroom Broth

I love noodle soups. In the wintertime, my favourite thing is some Japanese ramen or Vietnamese phở. Noodles and broth with some meat, veggies and spicy flavours make winter easier to bear.

The roasted pork and rice noodles are served in a bowl of mushroom broth with carrots for a warming meal.

Here's what you need for this quick and fabulous soup.

Meatball Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is so tasty.  I love the creamy, tangy sauce over rich beef and any excuse to eat egg noodles.  The Food Lab just posted a delicious-looking recipe for Stroganoff using beef tenderloin steak, cooked whole and sliced over the noodles and sauce.  It sounds delicious, but this version is a little less fancy.  It still tastes great though!

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Salad

I love Vietnamese food. Of course, there's phở, the amazingly rich beef and noodle soup that makes a perfect meal in cool weather. But I also love bún, a pork and noodle salad that combines cool, crisp vegetables, warm protein, chewy noodles and tangy vinegar and lime.  

This recipe is a refreshing take on the traditional Vietnamese dish.  It is very simple and tasty.  It makes a fantastic, fresh dinner and leftovers keep well for lunch the next day!

Here's what you need:

Angel Hair with Garlic & Chilis

This recipe is so easy it's barely a recipe at all!  It makes a delicious, quick lunch or dinner.

I love angel hair pasta. The super thin strands are great with this simple sauce.  Here's what you need.  

Easy Veal Marsala

Veal Marsala sounds super fancy but it couldn't be easier. Thin cutlets of veal cook so quickly in the pan and are topped with a rich wine and mushroom sauce.  See?  Easy!

Even the ingredients are simple.  Pick up a bottle of Marsala and keep it in the pantry for cooking.   Here's what you need for this tasty weeknight meal:

Pappardelle with Sausage Tomato Sauce

99% if the time when I make pasta, I use whole wheat noodles.  I've found a wonderful brand that really tastes great.  But whole wheat pappardelle isn't easy to find, and I have to admit I loved the white pasta in this.  But it us just as good with whole wheat! 

The recipe comes from Lidia Bastianich and it tastes fantastic.  It's a little more time-consuming than ideal for a weeknight, but if you make it once you can eat for a week (or refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for next week).  

Here's what you need:

Scallop Pappardelle

I think, perhaps, my favourite pasta is pappardelle.  These wide egg noodles are so thick and chewy, they feel so substantial.  Whenever I see pappardelle on a restaurant menu I order it.  It's my intention to someday make an authentic Bolognese sauce with pork, carrot, milk (!) and a little tomato paste to top the pappardelle but, until then, these seared scallops were a great match.  

I used this recipe from Martha Stewart and added in some asparagus.  I particularly loved the toasted breadcrumb topping and plan to use it often!

Here's what you need:

Shrimp and Mango Salad with Glass Noodles

This was so beautiful to look at, and tasted great too.  I was nice and light, perfect for a hot spring day.  The recipe comes from Epicurious and I only made a few changes.  It's super easy and comes together quickly with just a little chopping.  

Here's what you need:

4 ounces very thin bean thread noodles (also known as cellophane or glass noodles)
1 pound large shrimp
2 large mangoes
3 green onions
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil or cilantro or a combination
1 small red chili pepper
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Chicken Paprikash

How about some Clean Eating for the New Year?  I plan to make some healthier recipes this month after the excesses of the holidays, and this is a great one!  

Here's what you need:

2 tablespoons flour (whole wheat or white)
4 teaspoons paprika, divided 
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion
1 red bell pepper or hot red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped dill

Place flour, 1 teaspoon paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper on a plate.

And mix it together.

Dredge each chicken breast in the flour mixture.

Turn to coat and shake off any excess.  

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan.

And add the chicken breasts and cook 3-4 minutes until lightly browned.

Oops, one got a little more brown than the other. No matter. Flip the chicken and cook 2-3 minutes more.

Remove the chicken to a clean plate and set aside.

Thinly slice the onion and red pepper (if using) and add to the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes until onion is translucent.

Meanwhile, chop the garlic cloves.

And add them to the onions in the pan along with the remaining 3 teaspoons paprika and cayenne pepper, if using.  Cook, stirring for about a minute.  

Then add the chicken stock and stir.  

Return the chicken to the pan and cook, covered for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the pan again, this time to a clean cutting board.

Take your Greek yogurt...

And add a couple of tablespoons of the pan juices to temper it.

Stir them together.

Then add the yogurt mixture to the pan and mix together.  Bring back to a simmer.

Slice the chicken.

And return it to the pan to mix with the sauce.

You can serve this over rice or any grain but I like it with noodles.  These ones are whole wheat.

Top the noodles with the chicken and sauce.

Chop some fresh dill.  You can also use dried if you have to.

And sprinkle the dill over the chicken.  I served this with some steamed broccoli and it was extremely tasty.  It's very quick and easy and pretty healthy.  Give it a try!