Instant Pot Chicken Pho

Instant Pot Chicken Pho 

About 5 years ago my husband went to Vietnam with a charity organization. After about 5 days into his month long trip, he was sick of the noodle soup they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We all know this as Pho (Fa). He quickly switched to French bread and Brie. And that became his morning routine. Now understand, he really isn’t a soup fan, which kills me, as soup is one of the best food groups. 

Having lived in Seattle for 20 years, it was only about 6 months ago, after I had moved back to Portland, that I became obsessed with Pho. And according to recommendations, I tried the best in Portland first. I just can’t get enough of this delicious soup. The smell. The taste. I am in love with Pho. 

So fast forward to last weekend, I was searching my blog-mosphere and found an Instant Pot Pho recipe. It was Paleo (which doesn’t matter to me either way), and I decided to try it for dinner. I knew Craig wasn’t going to go for it, so I wrote “Chicken Soup” on the menu calendar. 

Only after dinner, did I tell him that it was Pho, he was like it was “very good”. Now, He keeps those glowing reviews to a minimum, as I’ve put previously “raved reviewed” recipes on the regular rotation and spoiled a good thing. 

Here is the recipe I used: (inspired by Nom Nom Paleo)

Instant Pot Chicken Pho

Ingredients

For the broth

• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 inch fresh ginger peeled, thickly sliced, and bruised (I used a good squirt of squeeze ginger)
• 1 large yellow onion halved and thickly sliced
• 6-7 cups water
• 4 lb whole chicken
• 1 small red apple peeled, cored, and cut into thumbnail-size chunks
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• A few light splashes of Red Boat fish sauce
• 1/4 cup Sambal Oleck (garlic chili paste) 
• Cheese cloth

For the bowls

• Glass noodles, or thin Asian spaghetti. 
• ½ small yellow onion thinly sliced against the grain and soaked in water for 10 minutes
• 2 thinly sliced green onions
• Carrots, Julienned (1/4 cup per bowl)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, chopped
• Thai basil leaves
• Lime wedges

Instructions

1. Toss the coriander seeds and cloves in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Press the sauté button on your Instant Pot (or place a stovetop pressure cooker over medium heat) and toast the spices for several minutes, shaking or stirring, until fragrant. Throw in the ginger and onion and stir everything until aromatic, 45 to 60 seconds.
2. Pour in 4 cups of the water to stop the cooking process. Carefully place the chicken in the cooker, breast side up.
3. Add the apple, cilantro, salt, and remaining 3 cups water.
4. Press the Cancel/Keep Warm button, lock the lid in place, and make sure the valve on top is in the sealed position. Press the Manual button and set the Instant Pot to cook under high pressure for 14 minutes.
5. When done, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure decrease naturally for 20 minutes. Set a timer and if the pressure hasn’t completely released when it dings, turn the valve at the top to quickly vent the remaining. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam.
6. Wait another 5 minutes before using tongs to transfer the chicken to a large bowl; if parts fall off in transit, don’t stress. Add cold water to cover the chicken and soak for 10 minutes to cool and prevent drying. Reserve the water to fill the pot when reassembling the broth, partially cover, and set the chicken aside to cool.
7. Skim some fat from the broth, before straining it through a cheese cloth lined strainer positioned over a large bowl. Discard the solids. You should end up with about 7 cups broth. Replace broth back in IP pot. 
8. If using right away, season the broth with the fish sauce and Sambal Oleck. Turn the cooker on slow cooking for 4-6 hours, or pressure to bring back up to temp. Or, partially cover the unseasoned broth and let cool, then refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months; reheat and season before using.
9. Use a knife or your hands to separate the breast meat and legs from the chicken. Set aside half of the chicken for another use. Reserve the remaining chicken for pho bowl assembly. The chicken can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months; bring to room temperature to use.
10. Prep and assemble the bowls. Cut or shred the chicken into bite-size pieces. Discard the chicken skin. 
11. Divide the noodles among four soup bowls. Top the noodles with carrots and shredded chicken.
12. Check the broth flavor once more, adjust as needed. Ladle about 2 cups broth into each bowl.
13. Then garnish with onion, green onion, cilantro, basil, and sriracha if desired.  You can squeeze on fresh lime juice, too. Serve immediately!

Potato Leek Soup

Potato Leek Soup

Last night I was craving soup, and didn’t have a lot of time, so out came the Instant Pot (contrary to popular belief, I do put it away!). What felt like 30 minutes last the soup was ready to go!!  I served it with rolls and crackers. I do love a good “cracker soup”!

Potato Leek Soup

4-5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, quartered

1 head (larger) celery root

3-4 leeks, cleaned , and cut into 2 inch pieces

4 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2-1 cup cream

Place the fist 5 ingredients Into the instant pot. Set in soup, and adjust to 20 minutes. Allow to naturally pressure down. Remove the lid and insert an immersion blender, and blend until smooth. Add in cream and blend until combined. Serve with bread or crackers. 

Coconut Chicken Corn Chowder

Coco-Corn Chowder

Recently we were on vacation visiting our neighbors who moved to Maui. The first night we were there we went to PuPus (local for appetizers) at a restaurant in Waimea called Monkeypod. We had AMAZING Mai Tais, with a passion fruit foam on top and some really great food, although not necessarily "island" food it was exceptional. From Kauai Shrimp & Hamakua Mushroom Potstickers, to Pumpkin Patch Ravioli (kiawe-roasted squash, chèvre, spinach, toasted walnut sage pesto), and Kalua Pork & Pineapple pizza (caramelized onions, kula county farm rosemary, pine nuts, garlic white sauce and Roasted Butternut Squash pizza (onions, kula country farm rosemary, pine nuts, garlic with white sauce). 

 

But what really got me interested was the Coco Corn Chowder (local coconut milk, yukon gold potato, celery, fresh island herbs, organic kale, local tomato, local lemon grass). Our friends both order a bowl of it, saying how delicious it was and offered us tastes. While I'm not really one to try something off of another dish, I had to come up with a recipe for this soup. In fact it was all I could think about the rest of the trip, ok. Not all I could think about. But I was ready to make it when I got home. 

After rereading the ingredients from the menu, I must have blocked out the kale (hehehe), and I'm definitely adding in lemon grass next time I make it. 

 

Here's my version, for now!

Coconut Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 14 oz), diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small sweet potato (about 5 oz), peeled and diced
• 2 red potatoes, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup finely diced celery (about 4 stalks)
• 4 large ears corn, husked, and de-eared.
• 1 bunch green onions, light and dark green parts divided
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• salt & black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or shredded coconut), toasted (optional)

1. Place coconut oil in large pot.  Heat to medium high heat.  Place diced chicken in pot, and cook until mostly cooked.  Add garlic, and stir.
2. Add potatoes, celery and red peppers.  Stir to cook.
3. Cut kernels from corn, add to chicken potato mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add chicken broth and coconut milk.  Bring to a low boil.
5. Remove 1-2 cups of the soup mixture.  Blend into a smooth purée.  This will thicken the entire soup mixture.
6. Reduce and allow to simmer at low heat until potatoes are completely done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Garnish with green onion tops, basil and toasted coconut.

Recipe inspired by Monkeypod restaurant in Waimea, Maui Hawaii

 

    

 

Velvety Potato Leek Soup

I love soup. Can I just say, I LOVE soup. Yup that's right, soup, my favorite. That being said, I noticed one of my favorite soups has not ever been featured on this blog. Now my family might say, Bob, this is your favorite?  Ok well maybe it's my second favorite. My favorite has to be my potato soup. (That one was featured in Taste Of Home magazine). 

So here's my newest favorite soup, Velvety Potato Leek Soup. Now, those that know me, know I don't follow recipes, and in a lot of cases I just wing things. This recipe was a “wing it” recipe. So bear with me if things are off a bit. 

Potatoes and the leek cut in half, before cleaning,

Cleaned leek and butter,

Diced potatoes ready for the pot,

Leek and potatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, 

Add the chicken broth and deglaze the bottom of the pan,

Once everything is tender, blend until smooth, 

Half way there,

Coming together, just add the cream and we're ready to eat. 

Soup and a panini sandwich. A perfect dinner!  

Velvety Potato Leek Soup

1 cube butter

1 large leek, sliced and cleaned

5-6 small Yukon potatoes, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic

4 cups chicken broth

¼ cup cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

Melt better, and sauté the leeks. Add the potatoes and garlic, continue to sauté. Deglaze the pot with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes. Once everything is tender, use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Or blend in small batches, until smooth. 

Shiitake Chicken Soup

I find it funny when motivation strikes.  Sometimes it’s just a craving, sometimes it’s a audiobook of the Julia Child Biography, “Dearie”, sometimes it’s thumbing through a recent copy of a magazine.  This week, while at work, and part of my job is to keep my area clean, so I was cleaning out a cart, when I came across a free magazine left there.  In the magazine, there was recipe for a version of this soup.  I was motivated to make it, and during the making of it, I had to do a few adjustments, but for the first time, I WROTE DOWN THOSE ADJUSTMENTS!!!! Now rest assured you can make exactly what we had!

(Side Note: My taste tester, recipe trier, and partner in life, had 2 bowls and finished both before I finished my first!-so this recipe is a keeper.)

Shiitake Chicken Soup

2 Qt. Low Sodium Chicken Broth (or so)

2-3 T Olive Oil

1 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts, diced (raw) (I sautéed a few until crispy for garnish)

¾ Shiitake Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 T. Minced ginger

3 Garlic cloves, minced

1 T light soy sauce (or Low sodium)

Salt and Pepper to taste

½ Cup Cream

¾ Cup Green onion, chopped

Prep all items prior to starting recipe

Clean (remove all fat and non-meat parts) and dice chicken breasts.  (I marinated these in some left over PF Chang’s Lettuce Wrap sauce)

Clean and Slice mushrooms

Peel and mince Ginger

Mince garlic

Using a large pot, coat with olive oil, and bring to a high heat. Add in Chicken breast pieces, and sauté until cooked, deglaze bottom of the pan with small amounts of chicken broth.  Add in garlic and ginger.  Sauté until tender, deglazing as you go (deglazing is to remove the browned bits from the bottom of the pan).  When the broth has almost evaporated, add in the mushrooms, and sauté until tender.

Add in the remainder of the broth, and reduce, to intensify the flavor.  Add more broth, as needed.  Cover and allow to simmer 20-30 minutes, if time allows.

Using a hand blender, or small amount in a traditional blender, blend until smooth. 

Right before serving, add in cream, so that the heat doesn’t “break” (separate) the soup.

Serve in bowls with crusty bread, and top with crispy mushrooms, green onions and a few drops of hot chili oil.

Tom Kai Soup

Several years ago, a friend of ours, Virginia, invited us over for dinner.  She was serving a Vietnamese soup, she called Tom Kai.  It was such a different taste, I had to know what was in it.  She shared the ingredients and I was hooked, although Craig didn’t make a big deal out of it, so I thought he didn’t like it, and didn’t write the recipe down.  Well, that was just another cooking mistake I have made over the years….When we got home, all he could talk about was how great that soup was.  So using that new thing called the internet (I really don’t think it’ll last!), I looked up Tom Kai Soup…and WOW there were pages and pages of different versions of this soup.  So after spending a few hours looking on something close, I decided to contact Virgie and get her recipe.  So between a few of the recipes I found online, and Virgie’s I came up with the perfect, for me, Vietnamese soup.

Now I also mentioned that it has a different taste then items we are used to cooking.  That being said, typically we cook with garlic, basil, rosemary, and other Mediterranean spices, and flavors.  This soup is intense with lime, turmeric, ginger, lemongrass amongst other flavors.  Not your typical Chicken noodle soup!

[Please note I forgot to take pictures, so I will add pictures when I make it again.]

Tom Kai Soup

2 large Chicken Breast, thinly sliced (you can use thighs if you prefer)

4 Limes peel grated (or use 5-6 Kaffir Lime leaves, if you can find)

Juice of the 4 limes

Ginger, peeled 5-6 half dollar size slices

2 sticks Lemongrass

1 Large can, or box Chicken broth

6 small potatoes (I use Yukon gold), quartered

1 Tbsp Fish sauce

2 Tbsp Sesame oil (plus a little olive or other oil, to extend)

½ tsp Hot Chili oil, additional for serving

1 can Coconut milk

Dash Turmeric, for color

Dash Sugar

Red Chili, optional for spicier

Enoki mushrooms

Zest/grate green off lime into a larger bowl.

Slice Chicken into thin pieces.  The easiest way to do this is to place chicken into the freezer for at least an hour, but no more than 3 hours.  Take out and slice.  This will produce a thinner and more consistent slice of chicken.  You can use breasts, things or a combination of your preference. Place sliced chicken in bowl and toss to coat with the lime zest.  Juice the lime on top of the chicken, and allow to rest for about an hour.  (if you don’t have the time…..its ok, this step just tenderizes the chicken)

Peel and slice the ginger.

Peel off any brown or dry layers of lemongrass.  Slice into 1-2 inch sticks. Using the side of your knife, smash the lemongrass to release the flavor of the grass.  (For this step, I use a mesh basket, so I can remove the ginger and lemongrass.  I didn’t used to do this, until a guest got a slice of ginger, which wasn’t very appealing.)

Heat sesame oil in a large pot. Carefully slide chicken, zest and juice into pot and sauté, until chicken  in cooked, lime juice and natural juice are evaporated. About 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth, potatoes, ginger and lemongrass, and bring to a boil, reduce to low simmer.  Add in fish sauce, coconut milk, turmeric, sugar and hot chili oil.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add in the Noki mushrooms and allow to heat up.

Serve in bowl with crusty bread, and top with hot chili oil, depending on how hot you like.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

September marks the start of autumn.  With the cool sunny days and brisk evenings and LOTS of rain, the fall is my favorite time of year.  I haven’t started decorating for Halloween yet, but I am making plans to.  Besides the festive décor, and colorful falling leaves, the flavors of autumn, to me are some of the most important flavor of the year.  Squashes, pumpkins, apples, cinnamon and nutmeg to name just a few of the most delightful warm tastes of the fall.

Last night I was craving  something with fall flavor, so I decided on Spicy Pumpkin Soup.  Now the name is a little misleading, because it’s not really that spicy.  This is a velvety smooth soup with classic autumn flavors to satisfy your seasonal cravings

 

Spicy

Pumpkin 

Soup

Ingredients

    4 Tbsp unsalted butter

    2 medium yellow onions, chopped

    2 teaspoons minced garlic

    1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

    2 teaspoons curry powder

    1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

    Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

    3 (15 oz) cans 100 percent pumpkin or 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*

    5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)**

    2 cups of milk

    1/2 cup brown sugar

    1/2 cup heavy cream

Method

1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.

2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.

4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.

Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Yield: Serves 8.

Rosemary Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

When planning this week’s menu, I wanted a night that was an “easy cook” night.  Over the past few years Craig and I would take a loaf of French bread (or Baguette) slice it and then slice a wedge of brie, place the cheese on the bread and then broil it until it is bubbly.  Voilà, dinner.

So I totally planned on making just the Brie and French bread tonight…..but, when I was on the elliptical machine at the gym this morning, like a true fat person, I was thinking of what to make for dinner….and decided that since it was 40 degrees outside (Seattle), and looked like it was going to rain, that soup would be the answer to my dinnerdilemma.

The soup is an “easy” kitchen clean up recipe, you all will very much enjoy!

Rosemary Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 cooked chicken, meat and bones, (used leftover Rotisserie Chicken)

4 cups water (approximate)

1-2 pkg. Fresh Thyme

2 large sprigs of rosemary

Salt and Pepper

1 Onion, diced

3 Stalks of Celery, diced

1 small potato, diced

Place cooked chicken in a pot filled with water.  I usually never measure, it depends on the pot I am using.  

Add a little salt and pepper and the thyme in to the pot.  Boil for about 2 hours.   

Once the chicken is “falling off the bones”, remove it from the heat, and drain and save the broth, remove the herbs and discard.  Allow the chicken to cool, then pick off the meat from the bones, then chop.   

Lightly sauté the onion celery potato mixture.  Add the chicken and the broth.  

Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or so.   

Serve with cracker or French bread. 

Substitutions:  Switch out Chicken for left over Pot Roast, or ribs (pork or ribs)