Chicken has been the theme of this week. I really feel like I nailed a whole chicken in the Instant Pot Duo Crisp this week. I’d also made chicken thighs using the Shake & Bake recipe I posted yesterday. I’m still learning this unit, which is why I haven’t posted much with it yet. Next whole chicken is getting posted though, because that chicken was absolutely incredible. I’ll tell you this much – pressure cook for 20 min, roast with air fryer lid for about 5 min/lb. ERMAHGERD!
We’re winding down a week before another holiday. New years for me is usually a pretty calm affair. Sometimes I cook for my buddy and I. We usually end up just hanging out and I’ll partake in the adult beverages. This year, I think I’m going to experiment with wings and bacon wrapped cheese in the air fryer. I’ve done the bacon wrapped cheese using traditional frying methods (cast iron) in the past, with some success. The trick is to freeze the cheese and to use thin sliced bacon to wrap. With all the shortages, thin sliced bacon was a little hard to find. I’m finding the new Instant Pot to be exactly what I expected. By the way, all of this goes well with your favorite barbecue sauce or can be sprinkled with your favorite dry rub for additional flavor. I do this a lot with stuff I don’t cook on the grill, because I want that same flavor.
Speaking of the air fryer, I have so many ideas for this and feel like its a reasonable tool for cooking in the wintertime. I need to figure out how to get that smokey flavor in food with it. Believe me, I’m looking into it. Even if there’s no answer, I think we can stretch the definition of barbecue enough to accommodate the device. And if not, it’s still a must have. At least, it’ll get you by until you can fire up the grill again. For those of us that live in weather where it snows, its another tool in the arsenal to get us by until we can grill again. Nothing replaces what a really well seasoned grill will give you.
While I was creating this post, I had the Shake & Bake post up and I just happened to increase the servings, because clearly my night is exciting. I noticed that when I increased the number of servings, if the servings coincided with a multiplier, the multiplier highlighted. So for instance, 2 servings is 2x the recipe. 3 is 3x, etc. I went from 4 servings up to 8 and once I got to 8, the 8x highlighted. I’m used to things not working a lot of the time, so when things work as this is, I get a little excited.
Y’all have a Happy New Year and stay safe!