The weather turned a bit cooler–almost fall-like–and we decided it was time to haul out the pressure cooker. I found a toothsome-sounding recipe online that called for rutabagas instead of the forbidden white potatoes. Here are the ingredients:
- Beef (more on this later)
- 1 large (all I could find) or 2 medium rutabagas
- 1 onion
- 1 shallot (optional)
- 1 Pink Lady apple
- 2-3 carrots
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 TBSP Italian seasoning (we used oregano, marjoram, parsley)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
The first mistake we made was using brisket instead of chuck roast. We winged it rather than reading the recipe before shopping for ingredients.
The second mistake was to leave decisions about what constituted ‘Italian seasoning’ to the last minute. I know marjoram was wrong, but it’s what I had on hand.
We cut the brisket into four pieces, rubbed it with the mixed seasonings, and cooked it in the pressure cooker for about 80 minutes: our brisket was slightly more than 3.5 pounds. Once we vented the pressure cooker, we rested the meat, then sliced it.
Added the veggies to the pressure cooker, then the meat, and cooked another ten minutes. The meat was chewy, but delicious. The rutabagas added an earthy, potato-like texture, so we didn’t miss the white potatoes we’ve always before added to stews.
The stew was better the next day, with the fat scraped off the broth and the veggies mashed.
What would I do differently? Skip the Pink Lady apple. They turned to mush. Or maybe use Granny Smith. And I’d look for a chuck roast.
Sounds tasty except for the apple! I’d sub it with a turnip? And definitely go with the chuck roast! I love brisket – low and slow (overnight) in the oven with lots of onion! And a little celery and carrots to flavor the juices! Tons of fat to congeal before eating so I go from oven to frig and then scrape off the fat and reheat on day 2!
Somehow, our oven uses a boatload of electricity, thus the pressure cooker. But low and slow overnight sounds good. Maybe a crockpot?
I bought an Instant Pot, the electronic pressure cooker that all my friends raved about. I used it a few times. Then I went back to my Crock-Pot.
Why would a chuck roast have been better than brisket?
Also, how does rutabaga taste differently from, say, parsnips? (It took me 50 years to realize that parsnips and turnips are completely different, which shows how much I know about cooking.)
We have an Instant Pot too, which is what we used. The advantage is we’re using electricity for an hour and a half instead of eight hours. Rutabagas are somewhat turnip like in texture but taste differently, not as sweet as parsnips, not as earthy as turnips, somewhere in between. Chuck roast would’ve been less chewy than brisket.