Do you question if Melissa Clark ever sleeps? I do. She's a wife, mother, author of many books and columnist at the New York Times. There has to be two of her. The dynamo two cookbooks coming out in 2018: Favorite Recipes from Melissa Clark's Kitchen: Family Meals, Festive Gatherings, and Everything In-between and Comfort in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Classic Favorites for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot® that can be preordered now. Her previous titles and her two newspaper columns, A Good Appetite and What's for Dinner are indexed for our members. Two clicks and all the recipes from both columns can be added to your bookshelf.

But back to the reason we are here today, Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, and Instant Pot is the second book this year from Clark. This title tackles those appliances that can make our busy schedules a little less hectic - the pressure cooker, Instant Pot (have you entered our contest to win an Instant Pot?) and slow cooker. What I love about Dinner in an Instant is that the recipes are complex in flavor with plenty of international flair. The "in an Instant" portion of the title is somewhat misleading as many of the recipes do take an investment of time with prep, marinating and searing to add flavor but the reward is well worth the effort. 

Japanese beef curry, Wild mushroom, pancetta and pea risotto, and Garlicky Cuban pork are a few examples of recipes you will find. As with Melissa's Dinner Changing the Game, this book will always be handy and both titles have made my best books of 2017 list. 

Special thanks to Clarkson Potter for sharing a recipe with us today - the Korean chile-braised brisket and Kimchi coleslaw. The publisher is also providing three copies of Dinner in an Instant in our contest open to members in the US. Be sure to scroll down to enter. 


Korean Chile-braised brisket + Kimchi coleslaw
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Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes, plus at least 1 hour for marinating
Yield: 8 servings

Gochujang, a very slightly sweet and powerfully spicy Korean chile paste made from gochugaru (Korean red chile), has become a staple in my kitchen, where it adds a more intense, complex bite than other hot sauces. Here I use it to flavor tender beef brisket, along with the gochugaru chile flakes for added heat, sesame oil, garlic, and lots of fresh ginger. If you can't find gochujang, Sriracha makes a good though slightly less spicy substitute.

And if you're not a coleslaw fan, you can certainly skip it and simply serve some kimchi or a salad on the side.

  • 4 to 5 pounds beef brisket, cut into 3 or 4 pieces
  • 1 tablespoon dried red chile flakes, preferably Korean gochugaru
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 2½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil, as needed
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 cup lager-style beer
  • ¼ cup gochujang (Korean chile paste) or Sriracha
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • FOR THE KIMCHI COLESLAW
  • 5 cups shredded cabbage (from 1 small cabbage)
  • ¼ cup chopped kimchi, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons peanut, grapeseed, or olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • Juice of ½ lime, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

COOK IT SLOW

Cut the beef into 6 to 8 pieces instead of 3 or 4 pieces. Marinate and brown as in steps 1 and 2. Place the meat in the pot and cover with the sautéed onion mixture from step 3. Cook on high for 7 to 9 hours or low for 10 to 12 hours.

1. Rub the beef with the chile flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

2. Set the electric pressure cooker to sauté (or use a large skillet). Add a tablespoon of the oil, let it heat up for a few seconds, and then add a batch of the beef and sear until it's browned all over, about 2 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed. Transfer the beef to a plate and repeat with the remaining batches.

3. If the pot looks dry, add a bit more oil. Add the onion and sauté until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute longer. Add the beer, gochujang, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, and sesame oil. Scrape the mixture into the pressure cooker if you have used a skillet.

4. Cover and cook on high pressure for 90 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, and then release the remaining pressure manually.

5. To make the kimchi coleslaw, combine the cabbage, kimchi, both oils, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl and toss well. Taste, and add more salt or lime juice if needed.

6. Transfer the beef to a plate or a rimmed cutting board and tent with foil to keep warm. Set the pressure cooker to sauté and simmer the sauce for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is reduced by half or two-thirds (remember that it thickens as it cools). Use a fat separator to skim off the fat, or let the sauce settle and spoon the fat off the top. Serve the sauce alongside the beef, with the kimchi coleslaw.

The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won't be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on January 21st, 2017.

 

Reprinted from Dinner in an Instant. Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Clark. Photographs copyright © 2017 by Christopher Testani. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.