Instant Pot Love?

We bought an Instant Pot a year or so ago.

Can we agree it's just a fancy pressure cooker? You can saute and do all kinds of handy things to create a one-pot meal with pressure involved at some point, but mainly it's a pressure cooker. And therein lies the problem for me.

Pressure cookers and I do not have a happy history.

I remember my mother using a pressure cooker in the 1950s and 60s, one of those old timey ones with the wiggly thing on top and steamy pressure escaping, complete with scary whistling sound effects, but I'd never used one myself until one day in the mid 1980's when I borrowed my friend Susan's pressure cooker to cook some beets. Why a pressure cooker? Why beets? I wish I remembered.

What is memorable is that partway through the process the wiggly thing came undone and the whole thing exploded, turning my white kitchen into something worthy of yellow crime scene tape.

That, my friends, was my last foray into the world of pressure cooking--until we bought the Instant Pot. Since purchasing it, I've made a couple of decent pot roast dinners without unleashing the steaming hot furies. They turned out OK, but mostly the pot sits on a closet shelf, daring me to take it on, so I recently looked through my two Instant Pot cookbooks, selected a recipe for Thai Cashew Chicken from "Instant Pot Obsession," and set about producing something other than pot roast.

Here's the result.

It was good, but I'm not sure I couldn't produce something as good using my wok.

So, Instant Pots? For me, the jury's still out. Do you have one? Do you love it? How do you use it?

Thai Cashew Chicken

1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 T. vegetable oil
1/2 c. chicken stock
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
1 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more!)
1/2 small onion, sliced thin
1 small red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium jalapeno, seeded, cut into thin half-moons
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 T. water
1 c. roasted unsalted cashews (I used salted because it's what I had)

Mix flour and salt in shallow dish. Dredge thighs in flour, lightly coating both sides. Shake off excess. Preheat Instant Pot by selecting Saute and adjust to More for high heat. Heat the oil until it shimmers. Add chicken in single layer. Cook in batches if needed. Let cook undisturbed until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Flip thighs and cook until browned on the other side, 3-4 minutes. Transfer thighs to plate to cool and then cut into bite-size pieces.
While the chicken cools, pour any accumulated fat out of the pot. While the pot is still hot, pour in the chicken stock and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Simmer the stock until it reduces by half. Add soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and red pepper flakes to the pot and stir to continue.
Add the cut-up chicken, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno to the pot. Lock the lid into place. Select Manual. Adjust the pressure to High and the time to 5 minutes. After cooking, naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure. Unlock and remove the lid.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water until mixture is smooth. Stir this into the sauce and cook until the sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add cashews and mix gently. Serve.