Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Hey hey hey!

I had a cooking adventure. I decided to make both my entrée and my side dish in the pressure cooker... on the same night.This meant as soon as the first dish was done, I had to quickly clean the pot and prepare the second. I made sure to have all of the ingredients for both dishes prepped and ready to go before I started to save time.

I wanted chicken with mashed potatoes.... so here's what to do, if you want to be like me. Which you should. I'm fun.

The Whole Bird
Recipe from Great Food Fast by Bob Warden

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning*
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (3- to 4-pound) whole chicken, rinsed well
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1+1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine**
• Juice of 1 lemon

*Poultry seasoning is actually a real thing, like, on its own. This was news to me, so maybe it's news to you too.
**More is fine. Drink what you have leftover. :)

Directions
But first, pour yourself some wine.

You're making chicken, have a nice chilled white.

• In a small bowl/ramekin, combine paprika, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Rub the mixture into the entire surface of the chicken.

• Select "CHICKEN/MEAT" to heat pot. Heat oil until sizzling.
• Place chicken in cooker, breast side down, and cook until browned.
  (The book calls for ~7 minutes. I think this over-cooked the skin on this one section of the chicken. Also, it was crowded and awkward to maneuver. Consider doing this in a pan on the stove instead of in the pot.)

• Flip the chicken in the cooker and cover with remaining ingredients. Select "CANCEL."
• Securely lock the lid and ensure pressure valve is locked. Select "CHICKEN/MEAT" and "TIME ADJUSTMENT" to 25 minutes.
• When timer beeps, let the cookers pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
• Remove from cooker, and let rest 5 minutes before carving. Serve with juices from the cooker.

NOW WHAT! WHOA!
CLEAN THE POT QUICK! MAKE MASHED POTATOES!

Seriously though. I moved the chicken to a plate and covered it with tinfoil to keep it hot. I poured the juices into a glass bowl with a lid. Once the interior pot is out of the cooker, it cools down relatively quickly, but I recommend purchasing oven mitt gloves, for ease of handling while it's still quite hot. Like these! (Legit I use these all the time. Regular oven mitts are not even a thing in my house.)



Ohuhu Oven Gloves (bought on Amazon)

Okay NOW MAKE THE MASHED POTATOES!

Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Recipe from Great Food Fast by Bob Warden

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon*
• 6 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

*Full disclosure: I did not use bacon in my potatoes. I'm one of those weird people who just isn't all that caught up in Bacon-Mania.

Directions

• **The cookbook says to prepare the bacon in the pot until crisp, then finely chop and set aside. It's suggested to drain all but two teaspoons of the bacon grease. Since I did not make bacon, I just tossed a small amount of butter into the pot and heated it instead.***
• Add potatoes and water to the pot, securely lock the lid and ensure pressure valve is closed. Set timer for 6* minutes. (From previous recipes, I know that on the PPCXL the "BEAN/LENTILS" setting is for 5 minutes. Adjust up from there. *I found my potatoes a little undercooked at 6 minutes. I'd adjust up to 8 or 9.)
• When the timer beeps, release pressure. Drain the potatoes and return to pot.

• Use a hand mixer to mash the potatoes until smooth, adding the butter, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper as you go.
  (The book says to mash with a fork or potato masher; but a hand mixer worked so much easier and faster, and I prefer nice and smooth potatoes.)

• Top with finely chopped bacon, cheddar cheese, and scallions before serving warm.

Yummy!!

I don't regularly keep milk on hand at my house, but I wish I'd had some. The potatoes were a bit dry and could have used a splash of milk mixed in. Consider adding that to your recipe. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with how this all turned out.


Alright!! Well done, team. That's some delicious food for your face hole right there.