I should have taken pictures, but I didn't. You will recall that the chilly and windy weather had HeWho telling me not to mow. He also placed a blanket across my legs with loving care as I watched Judge Judy yell at the litigants in her courtroom.
I had plenty I could have been doing inside. But, as I sat there with three warm dogs surrounding me, I fell asleep as Judge Judy was delivering her verdict. I awoke with Eddie's ear and Wall-E's paw in one hand while the other hand lay atop Cujo's head.
That raw chicken was still in the sink, not quite thawed and it was already 4:00!! How had I managed to catch a nap without any customers or ringing phones? But, the chicken would need to cook, and cook fast. Supposed to be a young fryer, this bird weighed 6.6 lbs!! To cook it whole I should have had it cooking slowly in the oven. The innards were still frozen!
Pinterest and Instapot to the rescue. I found a recipe for a 3 lb. chicken that was supposed to come out very tender and tasty. I followed the directions and put the water in first, then the spices and I was to gently lower the chicken into the water, making sure the water covered the chicken. I cut my fat bird down the middle. One side looked a bit smaller, so I used it. The water level was a little over the fill line in the pot liner, but the recipe said to cover the chicken.
I debated briefly with my common sense and won the argument. I locked down that lid and set the cook time to zero. The recipe said that the pressure build up time and the release time would cook that chicken.
Being Friday, I had some check-ins to do. I chatted with a few kampers and I heard the pot start to hiss louder than it had ever hissed as the pressure started in the pot. I returned to the kitchen to find water covering the counter and dripping to the floor.
The steam was so wet that water was collecting on the ceiling and dripping onto the floor! I felt like I was in an episode "I Love Lucy". I grabbed the dish towel and started sopping up chicken water as fast as I could. It seemed to be coming out faster than I could wring it out and mop it up. The pressure seemed to take forever to release so I could open the pot.
I expected to find just the chicken and very little water inside, but it looked just like it did when I locked the lid on! I felt like I had wiped and mopped for at least 30 minutes. I wish I had wrung it out into a measuring cup (well, not the water on the floor). How could it be that there was still all that water in the pot?
The chicken was good. I made the garlic/butter sauce in the recipe and served it with brown rice and fresh spinach. Beware of filling that Instapot over the fill line! That is the lesson for today!
5 comments:
Makes me glad I don't have one of those Instapot things. I have a slow cooker which I rarely use and everything else is cooked on the stovetop or in the oven. I like to smell the aromas wafting from the kitchen.
I am glad your chicken cooked in time for dinner though.
Your telling about it was really funny. I laughed a lot. Yes.
Could have been a Lucy episode. But actually living it
was not so much fun. At least the story had a happy ending!
I have a pressure cooker that cost more than an instapot, so
I use it. I cook chicken parts from frozen in 20 minutes.
Never had an issue like you describe.
I wonder if the chicken being still somewhat frozen may have released more water into the pot, hence the overflow? Just a thought.
I made the mistake of overfilling the Instapot ONE time. It will not happen again.
If you were in a Lucy episode, you'd have a giant long loaf of bread to sop up that chicken water!
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