Cold weather and the Sunbeam PE6100 Pressure cooker

May 12th, 2015

Appliance News Food Preparation Ovens & Cooking Recipes Small Appliances

When the weather is cold and miserable, and you’ve just walked through the door from a long day at work, the last thing you want to eat is a cold meat salad or tuna on toast.

At this time of year, we all tend to lean towards more filling, winter warmer dishes, such as stews, soups and curries.

The PE6100 pressure cooker can help you create delicious meals that will go down perfectly throughout the season. From scrumptious tomato braised calamari to a classic beef Bolognese, the PE6100 can do it all.

It even has a rice cooker setting, to help you create the perfect express paella.

Sunbeam have included a few delicious recipes in the back of the PE600 manual, and we took it upon ourselves to go through them, test them out and create an entire days meal plan (for a cold winters day).

Below are a few of our favourites.

Breakfast 

Chocolate Orange Rice Pudding

Serves: 8

Menu: Pressure Cooker

Ingredients:

• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 cups thickened cream
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 220g dark chocolate, melted

Method:

1.Place milk, rice and sugar in pan. Secure the lid.

2.Press MENU and select RICE. Press TIME and set to 10 minutes. Make sure the steam vent is set to the seal position. Press START.

3.Once cooking has completed, and the pressure is released, stir through cream and orange zest.

4.Allow to stand covered, until desired consistency. Plate up into 8 dessert bowls. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the pudding before serving.

Notes:

When going through the recipes, we found this one to be the closest to something people would normally eat for breakfast. We did however, hold off on drizzling melted chocolate over the pudding before serving it. Still, it was definitely nice to have warm rice pudding for breakfast. 6/10.

Lunch

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Serves: 4 – 6

Menu: Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

• 20g butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼ cup red curry paste
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
• 1kg pumpkin, peeled, chopped, seeds removed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh coriander, to serve

 Method:

1.Press MENU and select SAUTE. Add butter and preheat for 2 minutes.

2.Add onion and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add curry paste, cooking for one minute or until fragrant.

3.Add remaining ingredients to the pan. Press STOP. Secure the lid.

4.Press MENU and select SLOW COOK HIGH. Press TIME and set to 4 hours. Make sure the steam vent is set to the RELEASE position. Press START.

5.Once cooking has completed, and the pressure is released, allow to cool.

6.Puree cooled soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reheat before serving. Serve with fresh coriander.

Notes:

Lunch was definitely one of the highlights. The soup was creamy, and pairing it with your favourite bread made it even better. It warmed our insides, and that’s exactly what we were looking for. 8/10.

Dinner

Chili Con Carne

Serves: 8 – 10

Menu: Pressure Cooker

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2kg gravy beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 1 large red capsicum, seeds removed, chopped
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups beef stock
• ½ cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 x 400g cans kidney beans, drained, rinsed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1.Press MENU and select BROWN. Press START. Add oil and preheat for 2 minutes.

2.Add half of the beef and brown off in pan for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan.

Repeat with the remaining beef. Remove from pan. Press STOP.

3.Remove any excess beef juice from the pan and discard.

4.Press MENU and select SAUTE. Add olive oil, garlic, onions and capsicum. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Return beef to the pan and add remaining ingredients, except beans. Press STOP. Secure the lid.

5.Press MENU and select PRESSURE HIGH. Press TIME and set for 45 minutes. Make sure the steam vent is set to the seal position. Press START.

6.Once cooking is completed, and the pressure has released, set aside to cool.

7.Press MENU and select SIMMER. Add the kidney beans and bring the chili con carne to simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened.

8.Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.

Tip: This chilli is great served with sour cream and fresh coriander.

Notes:

Amazing! This chilli was a hit with everyone. It was filling, and heated us all up. 10/10.

Dessert

Steamed Chocolate Puddings

Serves: 6

Menu: Steamer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 egg
• 60g butter, melted
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips

Method:

1.Grease 6 by 1 cup capacity pudding (ramekin) dishes.

2.In a large bowl combine milk, molasses, egg and butter.

3.In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, brown sugar and salt. Add butter and milk mixture, stir to combine. Gently fold through chocolate chips and pour into prepared dishes.

4.Cover ramekin dishes with a piece of buttered baking paper.

5.Fill the cooking pan with 2 cups of hot water. Place steamer rack in pan. Sit 3 of the puddings onto the rack. Secure lid.

6.Press MENU and select STEAM. Press TIME and set to 30 minutes. Make sure the steam vent is set to the seal position. Press START.

7.Once cooking has completed and the pressure is released, allow puddings to cool for 5 minutes before removing from ramekins. Repeat process with remaining puddings. Serve hot or cold.

TIP: This pudding is great when served with ice-cream, chocolate sauce or raspberry coulis.

Notes:

To fit our winter meal plan, we served our puddings hot. It was definitely a great end to our day. 9/10.