If you have an Instant Pot, it can do things a
stove, hot plate, crockpot and oven can do. He
recommends the six-quart for most people. (I
have the three-quart, which he said is good for
sides. I can attest it’s been fine for just me and
fits in my small apartment.)
When he bought his first Instant Pot three
years ago, he thought, “Where do I start?”
He admits that it has its own lingo. Once he
got the hang of it, he decided to create a
recipe for the pressure cooker and put a
video online.
“From there, it blew up,” he said. Eisner
said newbies should start simple to get a
sense for how the Instant Pot works. He
compares it to riding a bike: The more
you practice, the better you’ll get.
Eisner said the appliance is not exactly “instant,”
because it has to pressurize, cook and
then let out the steam. Still, “it takes a quarter
of the time as a slow cooker,” he said.
Start with the right recipes
and get inspired
For those with an Instant Pot, Eisner recommends
following a verified recipe. He
said many recipes online won’t actually
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work. For vegetarians, he recommends
starting with his ratatouille or minestrone
soup. Carnivores can start with beef stroganoff.
Cooking can be creative, Eisner said.
With his marketing background, he puts
a new spin on classics. The first recipe he
put online was French onion chicken. He
also has a recipe for chicken marsala pasta
and Jewish wedding soup. He said he
gets ideas from living in Astoria, his home
since 2003.
“There’s no better neighborhood than
Astoria in New York City,” he said. “It has
everything. I’m inspired by all the different
cuisines within a three-block radius of my
apartment.”
Surrounded by Greek restaurants,
he has a Greek "fetaccine" recipe and
another Greek recipe in his upcoming
cookbook. Many of his recipes are
adaptable to tastes and restrictions. For
example, his recipe for Brussels sprouts
calls for bacon, but it’s optional. He
writes that his garlic parmesan marinade
recipe can be used on anything and has
pictures of both chicken and shrimp. In
the recipe for refried beans, he shows
how to make them thicker or thinner.
For those who like Indian food and ethnic
dishes, he recommends Twosleevers,
another Instant Pot recipe blog.
Meal prep to have buildable
dishes on hand during the week
Eisner said the Instant Pot is great for making
food in bulk like beans or grains that
you can eat throughout the week. For example,
make a batch of quinoa, then add feta
or meat for a quick meal. You could make
his very easy (I tried it myself!) shredded
chicken recipe, then add sauces to make
a variety of dishes. Add mayo for chicken
salad or buffalo sauce for a wrap.
That keeps it from getting boring, he said.
He also has many soup recipes, and said
those freeze well. Recipes with cream last
for a month and those without will keep for
about six months, he said.
Once you get really comfortable, you can
make a few dishes for the week. With his sixquart
Instant Pot, Eisner said he can make
four full meals in four to six hours and store
them in the fridge.
FOOD + DRINK