Tag: White Chocolate Creme du Pot

Instant Pot Festive Meal Ideas

Instant Pot Festive Meal Ideas

This succulent Cranberry Orange Chicken followed by a decadent white chocolate and raspberry “pot du creme”, officially signals that Holiday season has begun. No matter what you’re celebrating this year, you’ll probably end up cooking a large meal or two for your family during the holiday’s and lets face it, in Africa, with the heat of our December, the last place we want to be is sweating it out in a hot kitchen. We always had debates in my family growing up over the “traditional Christmas meals” versus something lighter due to the hot weather. We almost always ended up with a combination of both. Thankfully, with Instant Pot around, we don’t have to worry about spending hours in the kitchen anymore.

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a few Christmas periods over in the USA (and thanksgiving) and I’m proud to say I have mastered the art of succulent turkey, when people say they are dry and unflavourful I beg to disagree. My initial thought was a cranberry orange turkey, however, the Instant Pot however is a little too small to fit an entire turkey, and I certainly wasn’t going to cut off leg and wing portions (hint hint woolies, I see you have the mince now, please sell the pieces too). After some back and forth, I settled on chicken. I knew I wanted to incorporate Cranberries, and I adore the combination of cranberry and orange, it’s just so festive. Even my husband, who is not a fan of “fruit with food”, polished this off. Keep reading for the full recipe.

Mains – Orange Cranberry Chicken with a Balsamic Glaze

You’ll remember that I previously cooked a rotisserie style chicken in the Instant Pot and it is absolutely glorious. So incredibly moist that it falls off the bone, (you can see the recipe up on my Instagram highlights). The first secret to a really great chicken, my mother in law taught me this, is to use a good quality, organic free range chicken. Happy chickens are tasty chickens 🙂 I bathed this chicken in butter, balsamic glaze, freshly squeezed orange and salt and pepper. Stuff fresh rosemary under the skin and into the cavity of the chicken, along with a cup of cranberries and sliced orange. Brown the chicken on both sides by using the saute function of your Instant Pot.

Add your metal trivet stand and a cup of chicken stock into the bottom of the pot along with a big handful of baby carrots. This will not only steam your chicken but will create the most delicious gravy. Chuck in another handful of cranberries for good measure and place your chicken on top of the carrots.

Make sure the lid is closed securely and the steam vent is set to “sealed.” Select the “Poultry” button with high pressure, and a cook time of 38 minutes (dependent on the size of your bird). Finish with a natural release of about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the chicken. If you prefer a crisper skin, which clearly we do; brush the chicken again with the balsamic butter glaze and pop it under the grill for a few minutes. The Balsamic creates the most glorious brown, crispy edge to the skin. Meanwhile remove the carrots and saute the remaining liquid, with a little cornflour to thicken up.

Decorate a serving platter with some fresh cranberries, orange slices, and rosemary, to help showcase your gorgeous Instant Pot Whole Chicken. 

Dessert – White Chocolate “Pot du Creme” topped with Raspberry Coulis

Now lets move onto the good stuff…. the dessert. A recipe so easy I literally had to good it twice to make sure I wasn’t missing something !

While my grandparents were alive, Christmas pudding was an absolute must, Christmas cake always featured as well, but the Christmas pudding “Brandy pudding”, was always set alight by my grandfather, with all the grand-kids looking on in amazement. Everyone crossed fingers that they would get “the penny”. I, however, am absolutely not a fan. There’s something about “fruit mince” that I despise (so mince pies are off the menu too), I prefer lighter, cooler dishes and trio of berries pavlova almost always features on my Christmas Menu.

I haven’t quite figured out how to do a meringue dish in my instant pot (yet), but I did keep the white and red colours going with this glorious dessert, so keep reading until the end. This is honestly the easiest dessert I have EVER made, and one that I will repeat again and again.

This recipe uses the perfect blend of rich white chocolate and fresh, bright raspberries for a simply irresistible treat. Whether it’s a hot summer day or a winter evening in front of the fire, this fabulously easy dessert is a winner.

All you have to do is blend together some white chocolate with egg yolk, lemon zest and vanilla extract and blend in some warm heavy cream to gently melt the chocolate. Divide into some ramekin dishes and pour a cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot. Set to 0 minutes on manual and natural release for 5 minutes. It’s a make ahead dessert so you need to refrigerate it for about 4 hours. Blitz up some raspberries to make a simple coulis to top. Sit back and watch all your guests lick their bowls 🙂

Gone are the days of long, complicated Christmas Dinners. Thankfully, with Instant Pot in hand, families can spend a little more “together time” and less time fighting about whose turn it is to do what.

Orange Cranberry Chicken

Succulent orange chicken with a delicate cranberry balsamic glaze
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time58 mins
Keyword: chicken, christmas meal, holiday meal, instant pot, orange chicken, orange cranberry chicken, roast chicken
Servings: 5 people

Equipment

  • Instant Pot

Ingredients

  • 1 Whole Free Range Chicken
  • Fresh Rosemary
  • Oranges
  • 2 cups Cranberries
  • 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • 2 sticks Butter
  • 1 pkt Baby carrots

Instructions

  • Empty chicken cavity, rinse chicken and pat dry.
    Season skin with Salt and Pepper. Melt about 2 big knobs of butter and mix with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and the juice of one orange. Rub into the chicken skin (and under. Stuff the cavity with orange wedges, herbs and a cup of cranberries.
  • Turn on Instant Pot "Saute" function and allow to heat up. Brown chicken about 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
  • Turn Instant Pot off, remove chicken. Add a cup of chicken stock into the bottom of the pot. Add in the metal trivet and add in baby carrots. Place chicken on top of carrots. Chuck in a few more cranberries for good measure.
  • Close lid and make sure steam vent is closed.Set "Poultry" function on high pressure for 38 minutes. Once cooking time is complete, natural release for about 20 minutes.
  • If you prefer a crispier skin, pop under the grill for 10 minutes before serving.
  • Meanwhile, take the remaining sauce and switch on the saute function again to thicken up. Add a tsp of cornflour.
  • Serve chicken on a bed of carrots, rosemary and sliced oranges for a festive meal.

White Chocolate And Raspberry “Pot du Creme”

Lighter than a pudding, but thicker than a mousse these "pot du creme" are incredibly decadent and sinfully easy to make in your instant pot.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: Instant Pot Chocolate Mousse, Instant Pot Dessert, Quick Dessert, White chocolate and raspberry mousse, white chocolate mousse, white chocolate pot du creme

Equipment

  • Instant Pot
  • Blender
  • 4 Ramekin dishes

Ingredients

  • 170 grams White Chocolate chopped
  • 1 Zest of lemon
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 egg yolks
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 pkt Raspberries

Instructions

  • Add chopped up chocolate, egg yolks, vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest and a pinch of salt to blender and grind to break up chocolate.
  • Warm heavy cream gently in microwave (you don't want it hot, just warm) and pour into blender (ideally while still blending). Blend until smooth.
  • Divide mixture evenly into Ramekin dishes.
  • Pour one cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot and place metal trivet in.
  • Place dishes on top of trivet and close the Instant Pot and set to seal.
  • Select "Manual" function and select ZERO on timer. Yes, select ZERO minutes.
  • Naturally release for 5 minutes, then quick-release the remaining pressure.
  • Remove the ramekins and refrigerate for 4 hours.
  • Meanwhile, combine raspberries, 2 tbsp water and a little icing sugar in a blender to make a coulis. Blend until smooth, adding additional water as needed. Strain the sauce to remove seeds.
  • Top each ramekin with the raspberry sauce and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Notes

**TOP TIP** If you have clear glass ramekins (heat proof) use them, it makes for such a pretty serving if you can see the white and red layers.
** By selecting 0 minutes on the pressure cooker, it really just brings it up to pressure and then releases.

*White Chocolate Pot du Creme recipe originally found from Chop Secrets.

**Collaboration with Instant Pot**