Recently, my mother and my cousin each bought electric pressure cookers. I have actually been tinkering with the idea of getting one for a few months now and after seeing their success, decided to treat myself for my birthday a few weeks ago.
I’ve cooked a few things since then: shredded pork tacos, chili, and red beans. All turned out delicious and in a fraction of the time they would normally take had I cooked them on the stove. Since pressure cooking is a new thing for all of us, we decided to form a Facebook group so we can share recipes and tips that we’ve had success with. You can check us out here. Below you’ll find my first official contribution to the group. Hope you like it!!
Cajun 16 Bean Soup
Today was a crappy, rainy, nasty day. I decided it was a day for soup. Since this was a spur of the moment kinda thing and I was too lazy to go to the store, I substituted some of my husband’s homemade salsa for the Rotel.
1- 20oz bag of 16 bean soup beans, with seasoning pack
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 pound of smoked ham hocks
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 chopped garlic clove
1 can Rotel or 1/2 cup salsa
1 bay leaf
6 cups of water
(optional) If your beans didn’t come with a seasoning packet, you’ll need to season with Beazell’s, Tony’s or your favorite Cajun seasoning blend. My beans came with a Cajun seasoning packet so I just used that.
If your pressure cooker doesn’t have browning capabilities, you can do this part separately in a pan then add to your cooker. If you’re thinking about buying a pressure cooker, get one with the browning feature.
- Turn on the browning feature of your pressure cooker and toss in the bacon. Cook until it starts to brown and you have a layer of grease in the bottom of the pan. About 5 minutes
- Throw in your onions, celery and garlic and cook until onions are translucent and just starting to color. About 10 minutes
- Add the rest of your ingredients to your cooker. Place the lid on and lock it into place making sure the vent is in the closed position.
- Set your pressure cooker to cook for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes are up, release the pressure. Open the lid and give everything a quick stir.
- Close the lid, lock it back into place and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Remember to release the pressure before you take off the lid.
- Remove the ham hocks and using 2 forks, shred the meat from the hocks and add it back to the cooker.
You should note that all cookers are different and therefor could all have different cooking times. For mine, 35 minutes total seems to be the magic number for beans as long as I stir them half way through. I also started off with 5 cups of water and ended up adding another cup a the half way mark to make it more soup like. Adjust the water however thick or thin you like your soup.
Enjoy and let me know if you try it in the comments.
The Texas Cajun 