Pressure Cooked Beef Stew Meat

I haven't blogged a recipe for a long time.  Facebook and the internet are so crowded with recipes.  If we made every one, we would weigh a ton or we would not have time to do anything else.  I think this easy pressure cooker recipe is worth it.

I have used an Instant Pot before they were called Instant Pots.  My mom had an electric pressure cooker at some point, and I have had a digital pressure cooker for many years.  My cooker has a high and low, plus steam, warm and brown.  I guess it has a slow cooker setting but I have never used it.  It doesn't have any preset settings, but I like it that way.  My cooker is a 6 quart.  I wrote about this on January 4, 2013, and I still love it.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/my-favorite-small-appliance.html.  I also have a gigantic 12 quart which I use for making bone broth.

The recipe I made up is so easy, but tastes very good.  I usually get a big package of beef stew meat from Costco which is four or five pounds of meat.  I make a big batch and freeze the cooked beef for future     meals.  I figure it is better to cook it all rather than freeze uncooked portions which then have to be thawed and cooked later.   I also do this for ground beef.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/07/freezing-browned-ground-beef-or.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/10/different-technique-for-browning-ground.html

I often cook in advance to save time in the long run.   The real reason is not because I am so busy but because it is so easy to go out to eat or buy prepared food.  Restaurant food is usually not as healthy and prepackaged foods have unwanted ingredients.  It is just as quick to heat up one of my meals as it is going out.

You can marinate the stew meat for a few hours if you can't cook the meat right away, but it isn't really necessary.  Pressure cooking infuses the food with flavors just by the way it's cooked.  Initially I used Dale's Seasoning.  I learned about Dale's Steak Seasoning while visiting friends last summer.  Dales has a great flavor but when I read the label, I discovered it had MSG and corn syrup.  I try to avoid both of those ingredients, although corn syrup isn't the same as high fructose corn syrup and is nearly the same as sugar.  I just like to control how much sugar I use.  As strange as it sounds, MSG gives me a headache and makes my legs ache.  If that isn't important to you, you don't react and intense flavor is most important, then use Dale's.  It is inexpensive and tastes great.

Meat cooked in Dale's has a beautiful dark rich look and flavor.

Fortunately for me,  I discovered a copy cat recipe  on geniuskitchen.com which is good too.

Copy Cat Dale's Seasoning

Yield: 4 cups

     3 cups    Soy sauce
1/3 cup  Worcestershire sauce
2 T.         Sugar
1  t.         Salt
1 t.          Liquid smoke (optional)
1 t.          Granulated garlic
1/2 t.       Ground ginger
1 dash     Paprika
1 dash     Ground pepper

In a quart container whisk all ingredients together until blended.
Seal well and refrigerate.  It should last 1-2 months

This is 2.5 pounds of stew meat.  I made half the recipe.

Pressure Cooked (Instant Pot) Beef Tips

4-5 pounds Beef Stew meat
3/4 cup Dale's seasoning (or copy cat recipe)
1 sliced onion
1 1/2 -2 cups water

Put all ingredients in the pressure cooker (Instant Pot)
Pressure on high for 30-40 minutes.
You can release pressure or use natural release

Pour off the juice and thicken for gravy if that is your preference.

These beef tips can be eaten plain, put over noodles or made into beef stew or beef chop suey.   You just have to use your imagination.

Cooked beef with copy cat recipe.

 

I served it over noodles one night and then made vegetable soup with the left over  meat and noodles.