Under Pressure

One of my favorite gifts that I got for Christmas is a pressure cooker. The only thing I don't like about it is that it is too small. I got one somewhere that was ancient and I fell in love with it. But I needed a new gasket and I couldn't find one. Then, a friend gave me one, but it didn't have directions with it. I couldn't figure out how to open the crazy thing and the pressure didn't seem to lower and I ended up breaking it trying to open it the first time I used it. So, Ski found a new one for me. I made up a chicken dish for it that is really simple....just chicken, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and some black olives. It is really good and it makes a nice juicey mixture that we pour over some noodles.

Yesterday, I was at HT and they had these little "steaks" marked down for a buck something. I snatched them up thinking I could grill them for lunch for Ski and I sometime. When I got home, I started googling for a good recipe. Turns out, these are not little fillets like I thought. They are some gnarly little tough things that they make sound pretty darn awesome on the label. The best way to cook them is to braise -- think stew or soup. So, after a loooooong time searching the net, I came up with this recipe.

Now, I must admit that pouring coke into my pressure cooker did not sound like a good idea. But I thought....what is there to loose? So, I cut up my fillets and browned them. I skipped the wine since I didn't have any I wanted to throw in there and I didn't put an entire can of coke in there -- maybe 3/4 cup. I think I would put less in next time. So then I went off cooking. In about 20 min, I had a really awesome stew with the most tender meat ever!! I made this just for Ski and I, but there was plenty for 4. The kids all had other things, but Hannah, who had gone out before dinner, had some when she got home.

Hmmmm....I will have to keep an eye out for more really cheap cuts of meat to cook in my pressure cooker.