I embrace new cooking technology

I have been a big brave bunny and decided it is time that I used the Multi Function Pressure Cooker (aka Instant Pot) which Mum gave me ages ago.  Generally I rely on a trust old fashioned Tower pressure cooker of unknown vintage but probably 1960s and one of my two Tesco slow cookers but this will replace them and do a whole lot more - apparently!!!

I know that Nicky uses one all the time and so having unpacked it and got it on the side I called upon her expertise to get the general gist of what I was supposed to do in order to produce a palatable piece of Brisket for today's lunch rather than something that resembled shoe leather.

She was more than happy to come and show me the basics.  Her IP is infinitely more grown up than mine but the fundamentals are the same save for the opening and closing of the valve bit which on mine was a bit hit and miss, mainly because the operating instructions are poorly translated into English but eventually we sussed it but not before the kitchen had the look and feel of a sauna!!!  We were only trying to boil some water for a couple of minutes to prime the equipment!!!

Eventually I was good to go and set about searing the piece of meat - the only problem was that with the IP on the work surface it was all a bit high for little short arse me and so I had to stand on a stool to get the meat browned!!!  

So our meal today was slow cooked Brisket with carrots and green beans and (drumroll) home made Yorkshire Puddings which were really quite nice but not good enough to photograph - they tasted great though.

John got his pinnie on and made the pud - he is a bit of a whizz with red velvet cake and made small ones so that it isn't too much sugar for Mum - we made a bit of a compote with some fresh cherries and served the cake and compote with some cream.

All in all a very successful meal with enough left over for us all to have another meal out of it.  Great value for money especially as the Brisket was 25% off from Shuks.

I am not so scared of the IP either now having mastered one meal and got it right and worked out how to clean it afterwards.  We didn't do too much once Mum had returned home and told us she was safe and sound.  We were going to sit up on the roof but it had become very blustery so we had an hour in the Do-Jo and then called it a night and retired to the lounge and watched the tennis - poor Tsitsipas - he should have won.