Marie Cookpad

   I tried doing a pot roast in my Instant Pot/Electric Pressure Cooker at the weekend.  It was okay, but I had to cook it twice as long as the recipe suggested.  I think maybe it was because I used a rolled brisket.  Perhaps I will try it again another time, but with a different cut of beef  I might also cut it into smaller pieces instead of leaving it whole.  It was tender but not as tender as I wanted it to be.   I found myself with a fair quantity of leftover cooked roast that I needed to use up and we didn't really feel like hash or a pie, etc.  We I felt like making tacos! I adore Tex Mex food in every way shape or form.   This recipe is a combination of several recipes which I discovered online.  The Beef filling is an adaptation of one I found on Betty Crocker.    It was for a beef taco filling created in an Instant Pot using stewing beef.  I adapted it for cooking in a saucepan or large skillet. If you don'...

  All the pears are ripening on our tree now and I am in a rush to get as much done with them as I can before its too late.  I made the crumble the other day and then I made this delicious Spiced Pear Chutney!  I call it Autumn in a Jar!   We love chutneys in this house.  In fact chutney was one of the first things I learnt to make when I went to Culinary College. It is a very British thing. I think I could make a chutney out of just about anything.   A chutney is a spicy condiment/relish which contains the perfect balance of sweet, sour and spicy!  Mango chutney is a favourite, but there is no end to the types of chutney you can create if you stick to the rule of thumb that whereas relishes mostly contain vegetables, a chutney is largely based on a fruit.  And you want a perfect balance of the trinity of chutney which is as I said above, sweet, sour and spicy!   This one is largely composed of pears and onions with some dried cranberries. Yo...