Inspired Recipes – Cook With Sami B

Cuban-Inspired Mojo Pork

Pork is a favorite in my family. Whether it’s bacon, chops, ham, sausage or chicharones, pork is delicious. You can have it on sandwiches or on its own, sweet or savory, hot or cold, or however you feel like. No matter how I eat it, I love it tender, juicy, and flavorful.

Pork is a popular meat in Latin American dishes. Every Latin American family has their tried-and-true recipe for pernil, a delicious pork dish. This is a slow cooker version where the pork cooks at a low temp for the long daytime hours. When you come home, the smell of the pork will invite you in. I promise that your mouth will water and you might just eat it straight from the slow cooker.

Jump to the Equipment List. Jump to the Ingredient List. Jump to the Recipe Instructions.

I judge Mexican restaurants by how well they cook their pork. Is it tasty or bland? Is it tender, juicy, and moist or tough and dry? My husband laughs at me because I never fail to eat carnitas as a way of sussing out how good the restaurant is. If they don’t make a good pork dish, I won’t eat there again.

I developed this recipe because it was time for me to have my own pork recipe to pass along to my kids. This recipe is of the dump-and-go variety, which – if you don’t want to work too hard to have a good dinner on the table at the end of the day – is the way to go. Although, I strongly recommend that you do marinate the meat overnight. It’s worth the ten extra minutes to do that.

This recipe makes good work out of a pork shoulder. The shoulder is a tough cut of meat with a good amount of fat marbled throughout. Between the acidic nature of the juice and the low and slow method of cooking, the meat finally gives way and becomes tender and flavorful.

Equipment List:

7-quart slow cooker
Slow cooker liner
Juicer (optional, but helpful)
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Measuring cup and spoons
Tongs to handle the meat
2 1-gallon freezer safe Ziploc bags

Ingredient List:

3 pound pork shoulder
1 medium sized white onion
Oranges (enough for about 1 cup of juice) (See Notes below)
Limes (enough for about 1/2 cup of juice)
1 tablespoon oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 head of garlic, cloves removed, peeled, and smashed with a knife
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 bay leaves

*Most of the ingredients for the recipe.*

Note: if you wanted to cheat, you could use bottled orange juice, but I found that the extra sugar throws the flavor off for me. It’s worth the work to squeeze the juice yourself. You could also use bottled lime juice, but the flavor profile is off in my opinion.

Recipe Instructions:

Night before: Mix the 1 cup of orange juice, 1/2 cup of lime juice, olive oil, oregano, and garlic in a two cup measuring cup.
Salt and pepper the pork shoulder. If the shoulder is folded over, make sure to salt and pepper inside the fold as well.
Place the pork shoulder in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.
Pour the juice mixture into the bag with the pork.
Remove as much air as possible and massage the bag to distribute the juices all over the meat.
I recommend that you add the marinade back into another Ziploc bag, just in case the first bag doesn’t hold.
Place the bag into the fridge for at least one hour. Preferably, you can do this for six to eight hours. If you can, flip the bag at least once.
Slice your onions. (Sometimes I add those to the marinade and sometimes I don’t. I don’t think it makes a ton of difference either way.)
The next day, set up your slow cooker. I usually line my slow cooker with a plastic liner made for this, which makes clean up super easy.
Add the sliced onions to the bottom of the slow cooker. If they are in the marinade with the meat, don’t worry about this step.
Add the shoulder and turn it so that the fat cap is on top. You want the fat to render through the meat if possible. If you have garlic or onions stuck to the top, try to move them to the sides of the shoulder.
Add two bay leaves.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve over Instant Pot Jasmine Rice. Make sure to pour the juices over the rice. You’re welcome.

I meant to try this as part of a Cuban Sandwich, but ate it all before I had the chance! This pork was fork-tender and so juicy. The flavors of the citrus and garlic make me hum while I eat it. And, my kids really enjoyed this as well. My littlest one likes this pork with white rice and sweet corn. How do you like your Cuban Mojo Pork?

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Buen provecho! – Sami B.

Instant Pot Filipino-Inspired Chicken Adobo

I love chicken adobo. I mean, LOVE. That delicious combo of vinegar and soy sauce with all the garlic you could stand, drizzled over some white rice and some tender, fall off the bone chicken makes my mouth water and the scale climb in number. However, my husband loves it more than I do. He will almost do a happy dance when he finds out that he’s going to have chicken adobo, he loves the dish so much. It’s almost comical how happy he gets, but I’ll take it as a compliment to my cooking.

Jump to the Equipment List. Jump to the Ingredient List. Jump to the Recipe Instructions.

Chicken adobo is a Filipino dish that is very simple to make, yet extremely satisfying. Growing up, adobo meant something else other than the dish I enjoy fairly frequently today. Check out this Chowhound article on the difference between Latin and Filipino adobo.

The word adobo may come from the Spanish word adovar which means to marinate. So, basically, this recipe is all about the marinade. Typically, the chicken is stepped in this delicious, vinegary, and tangy marinade and then braised in the same marinade. The yield is a tender, delicious meat, falling off the bone. Typically, this dish is done at a low temp and cooked over hours.

It’s easy to make this Filipino-inspired chicken adobo in the slow cooker, but it’s quicker and just as fantastic in the Instant Pot. In fact, as much as I love this dish, I don’t love how the house smells when I make it in the slow cooker. It’s still fragrant in the Instant Pot, but not quite as in-your-face. And besides, you can cook this and have dinner served within an hour or less. Have nothing planned for dinner tonight? Chicken adobo to the rescue. You have an excess amount of chicken? Put it together in a Ziploc bag and freeze it for dinner in a pinch. Read on for the recipe!

Equipment List:

6-quart instant pot
Tongs to flip the chicken
Measuring cup and measuring spoons
Serving ladle (I used the one that came with my pot)
Plate to hold the reserved chicken (optional)
Wooden spoon to saute the chicken (optional)

Ingredient List:

2 pounds chicken thighs – bone-in and skin-on
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup low sodium soy sauce (or aminos if going gluten free)
6-8 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil for browning (optional)

Ingredients for instant pot Filipino-inspired chicken adobo. Simple and delicious. — *The Cast of Characters for this recipe include: garlic, bay leaves, chicken thighs, soy sauce, and white vinegar, and peppercorns (not pictured). Six simple ingredients for a delicious dinner!*

Recipe Instructions:

Optional step: wash and pat dry the chicken pieces.
Optional step: set the Instant Pot to “Saute” and adjust to medium heat. When the display states “HOT,” pour in and swirl around the oil. When the display reads “HOT” again, saute the chicken, skin side down, in batches. Brown the chicken for about two minutes and flip. Saute for two minutes. Set aside the chicken on a plate.

*After browning. I personally found that the browning does not add too much additional depth of flavor to the finished dish, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.*

Pour one cup of white vinegar together with one cup of low sodium soy sauce in the inner liner of the Instant Pot.
Peel and smash the garlic cloves, as many as you would like to have. Add to the vinegar/soy sauce mix.
Add peppercorns. They don’t make the dish spicy, but the peppercorns add a nice kick in each bite. You can omit them altogether, if you prefer.
Add the chicken.
Stir everything together. If you’re able to submerge the chicken, this is a good time to do that.
Add the bay leaves on top.

Cook under high pressure for about 10 minutes. If cooking from frozen, cook for 13 minutes.
Allow the pot to rest for about 10 minutes after the cooking cycle is complete.
Release any of the remaining pressure.
Option step: Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside on a clean plate. Tent with aluminum foil to retain the heat. Press the saute button on the pot and boil the liquid for a couple of minutes to thicken slightly.
Serve chicken adobo over Instant Pot Jasmine Rice!
Enjoy!

*Plated with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice. It was so delicious the next day, too!*

What do you enjoy the most about this recipe? I think it’s the tanginess of the vinegar mixed in with the saltiness of the soy sauce. I also really like how tender this chicken becomes. It practically falls off the bone. Not to mention, the garlic takes on a smooth and slightly sweet taste, which is nice smeared over the chicken or on the rice. Delicious!

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Buen provecho! – Sami B.

Dominican-Style Chicken Fricassee

I was born in New York City, daughter to Dominican parents. Our dinners mainly consisted of white rice, pinto beans, and some kind of meat with a green salad. Very simple, but very flavorful. It’s a meal known as “La Bandera” (the flag).

The rice was perfectly fluffy and salty. The meat was juicy and tender. The beans were a delicious sauce that brought it all together. I didn’t eat salad much growing up. I probably should have. I’m sure the coolness of the tomato and the lettuce works really well with the rest of the meal.

Chicken fricassee, also known as pollo guisado is the perfect recipe that hits all of these highlights. It’s flavorful, forgiving for the average cook, and softens tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions just enough. Pollo guisado is generally done on the stove top and simmered until the chicken becomes fall off the bone tender. As soon as it was ready, you’d call your other half, kids, and the neighbor kids over for a nice meal and enjoy the deliciousness.

This recipe requires a little prep work, but you can skip searing the chicken to cut back on time when you need to get dinner on the table ASAP. Depending on how many batches of chicken you need to saute, you could save 6 minutes or more. When I made this recipe, I used nearly 4 pounds of chicken quarters which had to be seared one by one. Including the 25 minutes or so it took to do that, plus 10 minutes building pressure, 20 minutes at high pressure, and 15 minute natural pressure release, dinner was served in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Had I skipped searing, dinner would have been ready in 45 minutes.

Pollo guisado pairs nicely with my habichuelas guisadas, Jasmine rice, and a green salad. Read on for the recipe!

Equipment List:

6 Quart Instant Pot (I have a Duo 7-in-1)
Large mixing bowl
Medium mixing bowl
Cutting board
Plate to hold the browned chicken
Wooden spoon
Tongs (to transfer the chicken)
2-gallon zip top bags

Ingredient List:

2 pounds of skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces (I used chicken quarters)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 and 1/2 tablespoons Adobo seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small white onion sliced into strips
4 plum tomatoes cut into quarters
1 green bell pepper, sliced and seeded
1 red bell pepper, sliced and seeded
1/4 cup pitted olives cut into halves with its juice (optional)
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 lime
Cilantro leaves chopped for garnish

Cast of characters for tonight’s recipe. Not pictured: olive oil and lime.

Recipe Instructions:

Mix the seasonings and set aside. (Note: the Adobo seasoning has plenty of salt, so no need for any in this recipe!)
Add the onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, olives with their juice, and garlic to a 2-gallon zip top bag. Set aside.
Prepare the chicken. I wash my chicken, but you don’t have to. Just be sure to pat it dry.
Add the chicken to the vegetable mix, include the seasoning and two tablespoons of olive oil and close the bag.
Thoroughly massage the bag to incorporate the chicken, vegetables, olive oil, and seasonings. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Decon all areas within ten feet of the raw chicken. Salmonella is no joke.
Set your Instant Pot to the sauté mode and press the adjust button to medium heat. When the screen reads “HOT,” add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. (You may have to take the pot out and swirl the oil around due to the slightly curved bottom of the pot.) Add the sugar and cook until caramelized – about two minutes. Watch to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn!
After a minute, brown the chicken on each side for about three minutes. (Reserve the marinade.) After browning, place the chicken on another plate.

This is the color you’re looking for when searing the chicken.

Pour two tablespoons of water plus some of the marinade juice. Using a wooden spoon, deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits to incorporate into the liquid.
Pour the remainder of the marinade into inner lining of the Instant Pot. Add the chicken on top, ensuring it’s in an even layer.
Juice the like and pour it all over.

Look at that bed of delicious veggies and marinade!

The chicken, nestled on top of the veggie layer.

Lock the lid in place. Set the knob to sealing. Press the poultry button and set to 13 minutes at high pressure, if one layer, 20 minutes if you had to overlap meaty pieces.
After the Instant Pot completes the cooking cycle, let the pressure come down naturally for about 15 minutes then release any remaining pressure after that.
Carefully remove the lid (make sure you keep away from the steam escaping!) and set aside.
If you want, carefully remove the chicken and switch to saute mode to thicken the sauce.
Serve chicken over rice with a small bowl of stewed beans on the side. I personally like the beans on the same plate, so I can get that perfect bite easily and every time!
Enjoy the savory flavors!

The finished plate. I smothered the chicken in the veggies, which added a nice pop of flavor.

What do you think of this recipe? I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Give it a like, so I know to make more recipes like this.

Buen provecho! – Sami B.

New Orleans-Inspired Red Beans and Rice

Disclaimer: This post uses Amazon affiliate links. If you use my link and purchase the item, I get a small commission (and it doesn’t cost you anything).

I love my Instant Pot. Mine is a 6 quart 7-in-1 multicooker that can saute, pressure cook, make yogurt, steam, cook eggs, among other things. I’ve had since 2016 when we bought our house and since then we bought a 3 quart and adopted another 6 quart. I love having multiple pots since I can cook so many things at once for meal prep or potlucks. If you haven’t purchased one, you should consider it!

New Orleans has a special place in my heart. I’ve been there twice with my husband: once around Saint Patrick’s Day (when he proposed) and then the following year during the summer. NOLA is a place full of soul, cobblestone-lined streets, parties, raucous visitors, and the sound of music spilling out of every bar.

NOLA is a place full of magic. There were so many wonderful shops to walk through. There was a store solely dedicated to Christmas decorations and several others that sold only masks.

Exhibit A: There is legitimately a store called “Santa’s Quarters” on Decatur Street that sells Christmas stuff. All. Year. Round.

Exhibit B: Mask Factory, one of many shops in town dedicated to masks.

Exhibit C: I became a snow leopard that day…

A favorite memory – aside from getting engaged after the Saint Patrick’s Day parade – is of us wandering Bourbon Street late into the evening after a nap and dinner. I don’t remember where we were going or why, but I recall the NOPD mounted police trotting along. Once we got to one end of Bourbon Street at the corner of Canal behind Walgreens and across from Krystal, a band took up their instruments and started to play. They were jamming out beautiful jazz music and a crowd formed to watch. NOPD mounted police took up a stance at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal to detour traffic. It was amazing. I remember dancing along and laughing, wishing that we never had to leave.

I also love NOLA for its food. The food has African, Latino, French, Spanish, and Haitian (among other) influences. You can see these influences in delicious dishes like etoufee, jambalaya, dirty rice, and gumbo.

One of my favorite New Orleans dishes is red beans and rice. Growing up, I ate my parents’ pinto beans and rice with meat, chicken, or fish, which was delicious. This is a New Orleans-inspired version which is spicier and includes meat cooked at the same time as the beans. I’ll post a Dominican beans recipe for those who still want savory beans but not the spicy. (Of course, you could always adjust the spice level in this recipe to suit your tastes.) For the New Orleans-inspired version, read below!

Today’s cast of characters photo only features the spices I used for this recipe. I find that these are the non-negotiables for my take on red beans.

Please note that my recipe ISN’T exactly dump and go. It can be if you put dried beans straight in to pressure cook with the rest of the ingredients, but I find the texture and overall flavor to be much better with pre-soaked beans. There are plenty of articles of you Google “should I soak my beans” that give you opinions either way. What’s more important is the receiving audience of your food creation. So, ultimately, you do you.

Soaking is easy. I pour a pound of dried beans into a medium bowl and add water until the beans are covered by at least a 1/2 inch. Then, I walk away for 8-10 hours. Afterwards, I drain the beans in a mesh sieve and set aside for the cooking process.

Equipment List

Instant pot. I used my 6 quart Duo 7-in-1.
Medium sized bowl.
Wooden spoon.
Chefs knife.
Vegetable chopper.
Cutting board.
Slotted spoon.
Measuring spoons and cups.
Ladle for serving.

Ingredient List

1 pound of dried (or soaked and drained) kidney or small red beans.
1/2 to 1 pound of andouille sausage.* (See tips below)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.
2 cups of water.
3 stalks celery.
1 green bell pepper.
3 cloves (or more) of garlic.
1 medium white or yellow onion.
Black pepper to taste.*
Creole seasoning blend (I used Tony Chachere’s) to taste.*
Cayenne pepper to taste.*
2 teaspoons dried oregano.
1 tablespoon smoked paprika.

Tip #1: You can use any sausage you like. Traditionally, this is made with the bone and bits of a ham hock from the previous evening’s meal. That imparts smokiness to the dish. You can also omit the meat entirely for a vegetarian-friendly version. If that’s what you are looking for, then swap the chicken stock for veggie stock.

Tip #2: The black pepper, Tony Chachere’s, and cayenne pepper amounts are all up to you. Want a mild heat? Go for 1/2 teaspoon each. Want to kick it up a notch Emeril-style, then “Bam!” your way to go spice heaven with a 1/2 a tablespoon or adjust as you go. Remember that you can always add more but not take away.

Tip #3: I did not add salt to this recipe because Tony Chachere’s contains salt.

Recipe Instructions

Chop celery, onion, and garlic.
Slice, remove the seeds, and chop the green bell pepper. (Note: I recommend you chop the veggies into uniform-sized pieces.)
Cut your sausage into even sized medallions.
Turn on your pot to sauté and “more” to increase the cooking temp quickly.
When the displays “HOT” put in 2 tablespoons of oil.
Sauté sausage for a few minutes until browned on both sides.
Remove the sausage.
Sweat the vegetables in the pot until they are translucent. Use the wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits and deglaze the bottom of the pot. The veggies will release their liquid and make it easier to do this.
Add back the cooked sausage and their juices.
Add the beans.
Add the chicken stock and water to cover the mixture by about 1/2 to 1 inch.
Season the mixture with the spices and mix. Taste the broth and adjust the seasonings close to your preference.
Close the lid and lock it in. Set the valve to sealing.
Select the manual or pressure cook button and use the +/- buttons to set the cook time to 40 minutes.
When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pot naturally release pressure for about 20 minutes. (The display will read “L 00:20.”)
Quick release the remaining pressure and carefully open the pot.
Stir the red beans, taste, and adjust seasoning (if needed).
Remove about a 1/4 cup of beans and liquid and place into a bowl. Using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a ladle, mash the beans. Add the mashed beans back to the pot and mix to incorporate.
If you want the red beans thicker, mash more beans and add them back in. Keep in mind that this will thicken up slightly anyway.
Serve with hot rice and a scatter of green onion.
You can dot it with hot sauce (Krystal) if you want some additional heat.

The result after mixing in some mashed red beans to naturally thicken this up.

Plated with some Instant Pot Jasmine rice and a scattering of green onion from my backyard garden. Yum!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please give it a like and let me know in the comments below how you like your oatmeal. Share this with your friends and subscribe to this blog!

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Buen provecho! – Sami B.

Instant Pot Swedish-Inspired Meatballs

Disclaimer: This post uses Amazon affiliate links. If you use my link and purchase the item, I get a small commission (and it doesn’t cost you anything).

There’s an Ikea just up the freeway from us. We don’t go often because it’s really an all-day thing. I once went on a lunch break to return an item and ended up staying there for almost 2 hours! On the days that we go, it’s just so hard look at some of the things. We have to look at all of the things!

There’s also the cafe. The wonderful delicious food at the cafe. If you’re an Ikea Family Member, you can get a mug of coffee for free and you can enjoy some lunch at the cafeteria which is conveniently placed on the second floor of the store where we live. I suppose they worked out that shoppers need energy to keep shopping, hence the cafeteria. Those sneaky Swedes!

One of my favorite things to eat as the Ikea cafeteria is Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce. So delicious! I can almost taste the flavorful sauce with the tender meatballs and the light sweetness of the lingonberry. You ever have that one thing that you just enjoy eating so much? That’s the Swedish meatballs at Ikea for me!

Also, I recently had some Swedish meatballs at a congregational meeting last month. I enjoy congregational meetings because we all get together to share some good food and talk church business. One of the ladies prepared Swedish meatballs and they were so delicious! The boys actually enjoyed a few pieces themselves, the picky eaters they are. Ever since that Sunday, I couldn’t get that meal out of my head. I needed to make some for myself!

This instant pot recipe for Swedish-Inspired meatballs is my take on the iconic dish. Lingonberry sauce is hard to find where I live, so I substitute cranberry sauce in its place. You’ll find that this recipe does meet the mark if you’re in the mood for some Swedish food, but not wanting to go to Ikea and not living in Sweden already. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Ingredients photo that includes: all purpose flour, garlic powder, salted butter, Dijon mustard, heavy whipping cream, frozen meatballs, chicken stock, and soy sauce. — Today’s cast of characters. Not pictured: salt and pepper and cranberry sauce.

The Dijon mustard was being a bit saucy for the group photo, LOL!

Equipment list:

6 quart Instant Pot
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Wooden spoon
Whisk
Small bowl
Soup ladle (the one that came with your Instant Pot works perfectly for serving)

Ingredients list:

2 cups chicken broth
1 package of your favorite meatballs* (check out the tip below)
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce (I only had the fully leaded version)
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream*
1/4 cup all-purpose flour*

*Tip: If you want or need to make this recipe gluten free, replace the all-purpose flour with arrowroot flour and read the packaging on your meatballs! We don’t have an issue with gluten, except for the fact that we love it so much (bread, cookies, pizza…), so I don’t mind that the Safeway Kitchens brand that I used has gluten. I also have no issue with using flour as the thickener.

*Tip #2: Always add major dairy products (milk, cheese, heavy cream, sour cream, etc.) in after the cooking cycle is done. Pressure cooking dairy makes it curdle and not as appealing at all. You’re better served mixing it in at the end.

Recipe instructions:

Turn on the pot to saute and adjust to less by pressing “saute” and pressing the “adjust” button.
Pour the chicken broth into the inner liner of your Instant Pot.
Mix in Dijon, soy sauce, and garlic/salt/pepper to taste.
Add desired amount of meatballs (I did about 20 ounces which was 20 meatballs).
Close and lock the lid and set the valve to sealing.
Select the “manual” or “pressure cook” button and using the +/- buttons, set the cook time to 5 minutes.
Once the cooking cycle is over, let the pot naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure but moving the sealing knob to venting.
Press the “keep warm/cancel” button and go back to saute mode. It should stay on the “less” setting.
Carefully pour in the heavy cream and stir with the wooden spoon.
Scoop out about one cup of the broth into a snack bowl and quickly whisk in the flour.
Add the flour slurry to the pot, quickly stirring with the wooden spoon. Saute until thickened to your preference.
Serve!

I had mine over rice with some canned cranberry sauce. Pretty tasty.

Swedish meatballs on Jasmine rice with a little cranberry sauce. — Should’ve added some parsley, but I’m a home chef, so… 💁🏾‍♀️

Nutrition Information:

675 calories, 16 grams protein, 63 grams carbohydrates, 40 grams of fat. 1 serving is five meatballs with about a half cup of sauce. Tasty, but not for every dinner!

Let me know what you like to eat Swedish meatballs with or if you have any variations I should consider. If you have any suggestions for other meatball recipes you want me to try on the Instant Pot, let me know in the comments below. And if you like this recipe, hit the like and subscribe so you keep up to date with what I post. Share with your friends, too!

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Buen provecho! – Sami B.