Notes about Recipes in this book

• Classic chicken noodle soup

  • Foodiewife on August 18, 2019

    I have made this recipe so many times, I know it by heart. This is by far my favorite chicken noodle soup recipe. I started buying just chicken breasts and drumsticks, so I don't have as much hassle removing the meat from a whole carcass. I also cook my noodles separately, and simply add it them at the end. Love this recipe!

  • lorloff on January 19, 2020

    I agree with the previous reviewer. I did not think it would come out so well with such a short cooking time, but it really was delicious. I did not have egg noodles in the house so I tried handmade Japanese soba noodles which were buckwheat and it was delicious. I will consider cooking the noodles separately next time so that what gets added to the soup is only what you need to serve. But cooking them in the broth gave the dish a richer flavor. I have been making Mimi Sheraton’s “My Favorite Chicken Soup” from her “The whole world loves chicken soup” cookbook for years so I added one medium leek, ½ celeriac, and 1 parsnip along with the carrots. It really worked well. I too will make this again. It came together very easily. Could even make it on a weeknight.

• Tortilla soup

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 25, 2019

    Added some goya sazon. Omitted avocado. Quick & delicious.

• Chipotle pork and hominy stew

  • TrishaCP on April 21, 2019

    This is a chile-like dish that was satisfying to eat during a spell of unexpected cold weather that we had. I seeded the jalapeños per instruction but not sure I would bother the next time.

• Braised chicken thighs with white beans, pancetta, and rosemary

  • mamacrumbcake on August 31, 2019

    Very happy with this dish. The chicken cooks up fall-off-the-bone tender, but the highlight is the beans, which are accompanied by a delicious, deeply-flavored broth. This is the kind of recipe that the instant pot excels at, giving long-cooked flavor with the ease and convenience of a weeknight meal. As instructed by the recipe, I added a good glug of olive oil to each serving of beans. The flavor of the olive oil is prominent so use one that you like and that is fresh. There is enough chicken for a family of four, but it doesn’t seem like enough beans for more than three. I was bummed I didn’t have a loaf of crusty bread. It would have been perfect with this. This is a very easy dish—short ingredient list, minimal chopping, and doesn’t create a mountain of dirty dishes.

• Beef Stroganoff

  • mjes on September 23, 2021

    The recipe profits from 7 1/2 hours slow cooking, soy sauce, and dried porcini mushrooms giving it a depth of flavor missing in my usual, quick recipe. However, I prefer more sour cream ... I tripled the amount requested by the recipe. The is a very good stroganoff recipe.

• Mustard-beer braised steaks

  • jenmacgregor18 on March 18, 2020

    I used chuck roast, sliced into steaks. The meat was very tender. Even with the prepared mustard stirred in after cooking, I thought it needed something. Some chopped hot pickled cherry peppers worked for me. Pretty good. I can see us repeating this one.

  • Acarroll on November 12, 2023

    Inedible. I reduced the cooking time because 35 min sounded way too long. The steak turned into hockey pucks. It was so bad.

• Meatballs and marinara

  • Foodiewife on August 18, 2019

    I absolutely love this recipe. It's not complicated and the sauce is wonderful.

  • mamacrumbcake on August 30, 2019

    Got the dreaded “burn” message on my instant pot. Tried three times to pressure cook this recipe, but was thwarted by the burn error every time. I ended up letting it simmer for an hour on “sauté” mode. The meatballs were fine but the sauce was assertively tomatoey and acidic—somewhat two-dimensional, lacking the savory meatiness of sauces in which meatballs are cooked. Interestingly, my favorite spaghetti sauce is from another ATK/Cook’s Illustrated recipe: Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs for a crowd.

• Ragu alla Bolognese

  • Pizzacat13 on October 13, 2021

    Dizzying List of ingredients, so many different kinds of meat (beef, pork, veal, pancetta, mortadella) and I wasn't sure about adding in the chicken livers at the end, as we don't generally eat much offal (I won't even start on how pureed raw chicken livers look-lol) HOWEVER the taste was really good and I do think the chicken livers add some additional depth but you could easily leave this out. I went with the pressure cook option for 20 minutes. Whilst this doesn't taste exactly like a slow-simmered ragu sauce, it has a very complex taste for such a brief cooking time. There is a lot of time spent browning off the meat and veggies in the multi-cooker. Tastes like it might get better after sitting in the fridge for a day or two. Makes a BIG batch and freezes beautifully.

• Classic pot roast with mushroom gravy

  • Delys77 on May 08, 2023

    My Instant Pot gave the dreaded burn error so I had to add about 1 cup more liquid and reduce longer at the end. I also added a bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce a bit. Flavour was good but not stellar.

• Onion-braised beef brisket

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 24, 2019

    Not too much hands on time; but 90 minutes under pressure, 15 min quick release & then 1 hour rest time in cooker with lid on (to reabsorb cooking liquid). plus 20 minutes to reduce cooking juices after removing meat & onions.... still pretty quick for brisket. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the onion gravy. Ok; but probably won't repeat it.

• Drunken beans

  • Foodiewife on August 18, 2019

    Good recipe. Not the very best I've ever had, but my guests liked it.