MJ on food
Sharing Some Recipes
I often post pictures of homemade meals on social media. I'm sometimes asked about the recipe. I will keep adding my favorites below!
Bread Pudding
A Childhood Favorite
Growing up, my mom would make bread pudding in a stovetop pressure cooker. I've adapted the recipe for an Instant Pot, but included other baking options. This is an easy and tasty dessert, best served warm with milk drizzled on top.
Ingredients:
- 6 slices of white bread, torn into chunks. Gluten-free bread works great, too!
- 2 cups of milk. Non-dairy milk is fine.
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Cinnamon and raisins to taste
Prep:
- Mix all ingredients in a stainless steel mixing bowl
You can cook this three different ways:
Instant Pot:
- Place the rack at the bottom of the pot
- Add 3 cups of water
- Place the stainless steel bowl inside
- Cover the bowl with wax paper, completely covering the sides
- Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes
- Do not vent when done
- Leave for 45-60 minutes until the pot says it's safe to open
Oven:
- Pour into a casserole dish
- Place the dish in a larger roasting pan with about an inch of water on the bottom
- Bake 40-60 minutes at 350
- Test with a toothpick, like you would a cake, to confirm the inside is cooked
Stovetop Pressure Cooker:
- Place the rack at the bottom of the cooker
- Add enough water to cover the rack
- Place the stainless steel bowl inside
- Cover the bowl with wax paper, completely covering the sides
- Set at 15lbs pressure
- Heat on high until the valve jiggles
- Lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes
- Remove from heat and let sit for one hour with the valve still on
- After one hour, remove the valve and then the cover
manhattan (red) clam chowder
When You Don't Want Cream
If you have a Trader Joe’s close by, this recipe is even easier. If not, you just have some extra chopping to do. This recipe is super easy and makes about 8 servings. Other than opening some cans and bottles, all you need to do is cut up some bacon and potatoes. And it tastes AMAZING! The fat from the bacon gives it a very rich flavor. The fire-roasted tomatoes gives it a hint of heat, too. Of course, feel free to add Tabasco sauce to kick it up a notch. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 3 strips of thick-cut bacon
- Trader Joe’s pre-mix of chopped Celery, Carrots, Onion (If you don’t have this, then chop up 2/3 cup of each)
- 1 large yellow or russet potato
- 2 bottles of clam juice
- 1 can of chopped clams
- 1 can of whole clams
- 28oz can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
- Garlic in oil
- Bay Leaves
- Thyme
- Celery Salt
Prep / Prep Time (10 minutes):
- Peel and chop potatoes into bite sized pieces
- Slice bacon down the middle and then cut into square sized chunks
Cooking / Cook Time (50 minutes):
- Add bacon to large pot pre-heated to med-high
- Cook until most of fat melts and bacon starts to crisp
- Add onion, celery, and carrots
- Sauté for 5 minutes
- Add 1 tbl of garlic in oil
- Add 2 bay leaves
- Add ½ tsp thyme
- Add ½ tsp celery salt
- Add 2 bottles of clam juice
- Open canned clams and drain juice into pot
- Put canned clams into fridge to use later
- Add crushed tomatoes
- Add potatoes
- Cover and bring to a boil
- Simmer for 35 minutes until potatoes are soft
- Add all clams
- Cover and simmer another 5 minutes
- Add salt and pepper to taste
Extras/Alternatives:
- If you don’t want to use bacon, just use a few tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil to sauté the veggies. I’d recommend avocado or filtered coconut oil as a good fat.
- You can use regular crushed tomatoes instead of fire-roasted.
- You can add Tabasco sauce to add extra heat.
- You can get fresh whole clams instead of canned.