What Did You Make? (Portuguese Stew in an Instant Pot)

Okay, many that know me in this community, know that I am here for fun, and not always about the game Dice Masters.    You know exactly what Im talking about if you have been in a chatroom with me to play, and 3 hours later we have played just one game…

I wanted to take a break from card creations or team building, and present to you something completely different.  While normally it is all about rolling dice, and reading cards, there is something serious going on in the world these days and that is the COVID-19 Virus.  I know many friends that have been infected with COVID-19, and I know people who have lost loved ones from the virus.

I recently was tested for COVID-19 after a small outbreak at work.  While I have not lost anyone within my immeditate family due to the pandemic, My Grandmother Angelina passed away a few years ago, and I miss her very much.  Seeing all the families losing loved ones inspired this article.  I can remember when I was much younger always going to my grandparents house and smelling the wonderful Portuguese scents always.   I never starved at Grandma’s house, and I thought I would honour her in this article by posting a recipe that if you try it, it will become as much a favorite in your house as it is in mine.
While Grandma took hours to make this meal, I have repeatedly tried to recreate it in a shorter cooking period in an Instant Pot.

What Did You Make?

The Team:  Off to Grandma’s House For Portuguese Stew.

Trust me when I say this, when you release the pressure on the Instant Pot, your mouth will be watering…

Recipe – AZORES BEEF STEW WITH POTATOES (MOLHA DE CARNE)  (Full Recipe at end of article)
PREP TIME – 20 mins
COOK TIME – 45 mins
INGREDIENTS:
Trying to incorporate cards into this article, I actually built a team, so to begin our adventure, we must start off by obtaining the ingredients.  Following the Yellow Brick Road, our first stop is Becky Lynch – (Maiden Ireland’s) house.  She is off the WWE Roster while on Maternity leave, and we find her currently fast asleep with her feet up waiting for Becky Jr. to come along.  Sneaking in her back door, we are able to obtain some Red or White Wine (1 Cup that she will not be drinking anyways).

On our way to the next stop, we must first check our Poison Dart Trap(Lesser Trap), and
we are very happy to see we have

caught ourselves the Meat we need in a Beast(Kreature).  2 to 5 lbs is all we need, and an Outside Round Roast would be my choice but really any cut you take will work.  Also, any Pork Cut will work as well in this case, this will depend what you catch or want to use. (I even do a mixture of Beef and Pork cuts sometimes as they all are good)

 

After picking up the meat, we decide to take a break and visit The Bifrost(Bridge between Realms). Here, we will have a beer or six with Thor.  Please make sure you collect a cup of Beer during this travel, and again any beer can flavour will work here (Coors Banquet is my choice)…
Now stumbling along, we visit next to Poison Ivy’s (Home and Garden).  Pamela, has always allowed us to pick whatever we wanted from her garden so it is here we grab ourselves 1 Large Onion (Halved), 2-3 Large Carrots (Chopped into 1 inch sections), and about 6 White Potatoes (Quartered – 1 for each serving portion).

 

After stopping along the way to help restuff a Scarecrow, and Oiling a Rusty Robotman (who both wanted no part of this build), we remembered Spiderman is away on business this week showing off his portrait on his new Super Rare.
Anyways… we make sure to stop by Aunt May’s house for some (Fresh Cookies) that will be a perfect dessert. (Recipe not included, just google for that one…) When Aunt May heard we were making a stew, she handed us some Chorizo Sausage that would be perfect to go with the other meat we have trapped.

 

The next ingredients on our list, we cannot just pull them from a garden, so we will have to borrow them from places…

While many people store their supplies in a pantry, we chose to just take from our neighbour in the Batcave(Home Sweet Cave).  We knock on the door, and can grab the following from Alfred:

1 Teaspooon of Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons of Salt
2 Teaspoons of Paprika

 

We almost have everything but we need to pick up a couple of processed goods.  We make a quick stop at Xaviers School(Home for Gifted Youngsters) as Professor Xavier has a few of the Underage mutants working at the Packing plant.  We are able to obtain a can of Tomato Paste, and a Jar of Sweet/Hot Pimentel Sauce.  (If you want the Red potatoes, and Portuguese flavouring, these are important for the recipe so dont forget them).
We start up the Instant Pot, and set to Sautee.  (Basic Action CardCreate Bonfire)

 

MARINADE:
Combine Beef/Pork with Liquids (Don’t add the Water yet) and Dry Ingredients with Beer/Wine and Paste.
Marinate for 2 hours (Longer it Marinates the better)
Saute in Instant Pot
Saute Marinated Beef in 1/2 tsp of Oil on Both Sides to brown (2 minutes each side)
Remove Beef, add onions and add half potatoes on bottom layer of instant pot.
Return Beef, and add remaining Potatoes and Carrots.
Add 1.5 cups of (Basic Action Card – Create Food and Water) Water to the marinate and add to the Instant Pot. (The amount of water added can vary each time)
Beef should be submerged in the Instant Pot.  (Can always add some more wine, or Water)

Set Pressure Cook for 35 Minutes.

The Cook time will actually not be 35 minutes as the Instant Pot gets prepared for about 10 minutes when to set it to Pressure Cook.
Let rest for 10 minutes before releasing Pressure.
Please try this out, and Feedback or your own Recipes are totally welcome…
(Please leave a comment what you thought of this….)
—-
AZORES BEEF STEW WITH POTATOES (MOLHA DE CARNE)
PREP TIME
20 mins
TOTAL COOK TIME
45 Minutes (35 Pressure Cook, and 10 Minutes to Release Pressure)
INGREDIENTS
2-5 lbs Roast cut into large pieces – I used Outside Round Roast
(About double or triple the size of regular stewing meat)
1 or 2 Chorizo Sausages (Cut into 1/2 inch Rounds)
1 cup white or Red Wine
1 cup beer
1 small can of tomato paste (5.5 fl oz)
1/2 cup Sweet/Hot Pimento Paste

1 Teaspooon of Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons of Salt
2 Teaspoons of Paprika

1 Large Onion (Halved)
2-3 Carrots (Diced – 1 Inch or 1 bag small carrots)
6 white potatoes chopped into large pieces (1 Potato per serving)
1/2 tsp Oil (To Saute Beef)
MARINATE
Marinate Beef with Liquid and Dry Ingredients with Beer/Wine and Paste.
Marinate for 2 hours (Overnight even better)
Saute in Instant Pot
Saute Beef in 1/2 tsp of Oil on Both Sides to brown (2 minutes each side)
Remove Beef, add onions, Sausage pieces, and add half potatoes on bottom layer of instant pot.
Add 1.5 cups of water to the marinate and add to the Instant Pot.
Return Beef, and add remaining Potatoes and Carrots.
Beef should be submerged in the Instant Pot.  (Can always add some more wine, or Water)
Pressure Cook for 35 Minutes.
Let rest for 10 minutes before releasing Pressure.

Post-Mortem:

This dish is delicious right out of the pot, and even better the next day.  A little side dish I have made recently is to make some Rice, or a box of Mac N Cheese (Do not add the Cheese Package…) and add some of the liquid after the Stew is made for a side dish…

Thanks for reading…
Reg

5 Replies to “What Did You Make? (Portuguese Stew in an Instant Pot)

  1. Hey I just wanted to confirm proportions here…
    So if this is for 6 people and you are including 1/2 cup of pimento paste… the Ferma paste I found at my grocery store has 470 mg sodium per tbsp so that’s 3700 mg sodium. 2 tsp of salt is 4600 mg sodium. Sausage would add another 1000 mg or so. One person’s portion ends up at 1550 mg which is quite high for a meal.

    Do you think I can drop the 2tsp salt from the marinade and still get a good result?

    1. You certainly can remove salt if you like. Substitute sausage for something else if you want as it’s just my grandma’s recipe. Never said it was the best for sodium content but this isn’t a meal you would be having every day.
      It will turn out just as delicious without the salt but remember most of the salt will go into the broth in the instant so just don’t drink the broth…. (however if you find it delicious don’t forget the broth tastes amazing… I found making a side dish of rice and the broth can be absorbed Into it)

      1. Thanks for the tips! I decided to reduce the salt significantly and give it a first try. Can always add more later. Meat is now marinating 😋

        1. If you are marinating it will be delicious…. hope I can help you build a dice masters team as good as the meal turns out.. definitely let us know the results!!!

  2. It turned out delicious! Marinated it overnight in the fridge about 20h. Used the hot pimento paste and it’s a nice tangy level of spice.

    I made a half-recipe using a 1.7lb piece of outside round roast. Used 25% of suggested salt in addition to the halving, and the result is still quite nice. I think I chopped up too much carrots and potatoes because even with the halving I could not fit it all in an Instant Pot Mini. So I reserved the part of potatoes/carrots I couldn’t fit, and steamed them separately, and will mix them back into the leftovers.

    Funny thing, I have actually never heard of Dice Masters before… the recipe came up when I went searching for Instant Pot recipes that would use Outside Round as stew meat! The cut was on sale and I wanted to pick something flavourful to do with it.

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