Weekend Cooking: Milk Street Fast and Slow by Christopher Kimball

NOTE: if you are looking for the Weekend Cooking linkup, please visit its new host at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader (and Baker).

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Hope you all are staying safe and well out there in the world . . . or rather, I should say, in there in your house! I've been adapting to the new way of shopping and meal planning, and I think we'll do okay.

Some good news for my area is that at least two of the farmers markets are going to reopen with some restrictions for distancing and some ways of ordering ahead from multiple vendors so we can just pop into the market to pick up our produce. That should start this coming week.

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Today I want to talk about a new cookbook from Christopher Kimball and the Milk Street people that I received as part of the Voracious influencer program. You already know how much I love my pressure cooker, so Fast and Slow: Instant Pot Cooking at the Speed You Need (Voracious; April 7), is just up my alley. What makes this cookbook a little different is most recipes come with two cooking  options: under pressure (fast) and using the Instant Pot's slower cooker option (slow).

Before I even started reading the recipes, I had three clues that Fast and Slow was a winner: the Milk Street reputation, the detailed explanations and instructions, and the full-color photos throughout. After I started reading, I was impressed with the range of dishes, from vegan to meaty; from spicy to comforting.

The first recipe I made was perfect for these uncertain shopping times. I was in the mood for pulled pork but couldn't find a bone-in shoulder roast. I bought a boneless roast anyway, and decided I'd worry about adapting my "slow roast in the oven" recipe later. Thus I was really excited to find the Mojo Shredded Pork recipe in Fast and Slow. Yay me! I didn't have to do any adapting because it called for boneless pork! It was delicious with all its garlic and citrus and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. I couldn't get cilantro, but I had everything else in the house. I didn't serve it on tortillas, as shown in the book scan. Instead, we had pulled pork sandwiches. I'm thrilled to have a pressure cooker option for one of our favorite meals.

I also made a delicious vegan dinner: Potato and Green Pea Curry. We had some white potatoes that had to be eaten and peas in the freezer, so we went for this. This dish was beautifully spiced with garam masala, turmeric, cayenne, and sweet paprika. I served it with my homemade plum chutney. The recipe made a lot so we had it for two nights. Again, I was missing the cilantro, but I did have the chutney and also sour cream and yogurt in the house. The cookbook suggested serving this over rice, which I could have done, but we ate it just as it was.

Today or tomorrow I plan on making the Bulgur Pilaf with Chickpeas and Herbs; if I can't find dill at the store, I'll sub with whatever fresh herb I can find or just used dried. The recipe calls for garam masala, scallions, and parsley, all of which I have on hand. The nuts are pistachios, which I'll have to buy or just use something else.

Other recipes I have marked are Jamaican-Style Yellow Split Pea Soup, Indian-Spiced Kidney Bean Stew, Orecchiette with Sardinian Sausage Ragu, Chicken Soup with Bok Choy and Ginger, and Butter-Toasted Steel-Cut Oast with Dried Apples.

I should mention that I haven't tried the slow cooker setting on my electric pressure cooker, and I'm not likely to do so. I have a good slow cooker that I'm happy with. If you've used the slow cooker setting on your Instant Pot, let me know how that went.

Note on photos: all photos scanned from Milk Street Fast and Slow; used in the context of a review and all rights remain with the original copyright holder. Thank you to Voracious for the review copy.

Sharing with Weekend Cooking hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader.