Preparing Ahead of Time
I love preparing as much of dinner ahead of time as I can, and want to get as much as I can out of my efforts. Tonight’s dinner of pork ribs, pinto beans, zucchini and corn on the cob is a good example of this. I used pressure cookers to cook the ribs, then cooked the pinto beans in that flavorful cooking liquid. I cooked my zucchini and coated my corn with a fresh herb compound butter, that I made last night. Together, all the flavors came together for a comforting low stress dinner.
The Pork Ribs
I’ve showcased my The Best of Both Worlds Pork Ribs recipe in a previous post (you can find the recipe there). I season the pork ribs before they go into my pressure cooker (Instant Pot or GoWise, depending on how many ribs I’m making), then pressure cook them with chicken stock and liquid smoke. This process tenderizes the ribs and infuses them with great flavor. After they are done, I let them chill before finishing them on the grill.
Today, I made a double batch in my GoWise, then strained the cooking liquid into my smaller Instant Pot to cook the pinto beans. I couldn’t let that amazing flavored liquid go to waste! I was able to have the ribs cooked and ready for the grill hours before I needed to finish them, so they waited for me in the refrigerator (this is a great way to save time a cook outs).
The Pinto Beans
Because these pinto beans are cooked in this flavorful cooking liquid from the ribs, they have an amazing smokey pork flavor and need no additional salt. As I did a double batch of my ribs, I had enough cooking liquid to cook a full pound of dry pinto beans. If I was making a single batch of ribs, I would have had enough for 1/2 pound of dry pinto beans to cook. I added a little extra water, just because the liquid was pretty concentrated, but nothing else is needed to flavor these amazing low stress pinto beans. Once they were done, I drained off some of the excess liquid and set the Instant Pot for warm until I was ready to serve.
The Corn on the Cob
My pressure cooker once again took care of cooking the corn on the cob. I used the steam cook function to cook them until they were the right tenderness for my family, then used the fresh herb compound butter to add flavor (best to add it onto the corn while it’s hot). The freshness of the herb butter combines with the freshness of the corn, and works perfectly with the rest of the meal.
The Zucchini
Fresh zucchini doesn’t need much to shine but of course butter makes everything better, especially when it’s that fresh herb compound butter. I cut zucchini into quarters, and cut those spears into about 2 inch segments. Then I sauteed the zucchini in the compound butter over medium high heat until it reached the desired tenderness (we like ours more firm, but it’s all about person preference on this one). Since the compound butter is fully seasoned, no additional season is needed.
The Fresh Herb Compound Butter
One of the benefits of spring and summer is the fresh herbs. I am lucky enough to just go out to my garden to get what I need (in this case I used basil, sage, thyme, rosemary and parsley). My fresh herbs combine with butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper to create a very flavorful compound better. It is best if make the day before, so the flavors can really get into the butter well. This butter is great as a finishing butter on grilled vegetables (such as portobellos), grilled meat, or as noted in this recipe. You can find all sorts of ways to use compound butter, and all sorts of ways to flavor it.
The steam function cooks corn on the cob evenly and perfectly! Great when finished with butter, such as my Fresh Herb Compound Butter.
- 6 whole corn on the cob can use less
- 1.5 cups water
- butter to finish optional, such as Fresh Herb Compound Butter
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Pull husk of corn back and remove corn "silks" (the stringy bits). Pull husk back over corn.
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Place trivet into bottom of inner pot of multi-cooker. Add water and corn. Ensure steam can get to all of corn (there is room in between, even if just a little).
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Put inner pot into multi-cooker, and set program for Steam. Adjust time to 3 minutes. Once cooking time as finished, release pressure.
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Remove husks from corn, cut in half and serve with butter (optional).
Great when finished with butter, such as Fresh Herb Compound Butter. Find the recipe and more at Kayla's Food Obsession!
Fresh zucchini doesn't need much to shine but of course butter makes everything better, especially when it's that fresh herb compound butter.
- 2 small zucchini
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Herb Compound Butter see recipe at Kayla's Food Obsession
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Cut ends off of zucchini, then into quarters (lengthwise). Cut the quarters/spears into 2 inch segments.
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Put zucchini and fresh herb compound butter in saute pan. Cook on medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes, until zucchini reaches desired tenderness.
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Serve and enjoy!
This recipe was designed to showcase the Fresh Herb Compound Butter, find out more at Kayla's Food Obsession!
Because these pinto beans are cooked in this flavorful cooking liquid from the ribs, they have an amazing smokey pork flavor and need no additional salt.
- 2.5 cups cooking liquid from Pork Ribs see Best of Both Worlds Pork Ribs recipe
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 pound dried pinto beans
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After Best of Both Worlds Pork Ribs have finished cooking, drain and strain liquid into Instant Pot (or similar pressure cooking device).
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Add water and beans to cooking liquid, stir.
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Secure/lock lid to pressure cooker. Set cooker to Bean/Chili program, adjusting time to 35 minutes. (Make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position.)
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Once cooking program has finished, wait 20 more minutes before releasing remaining pressure.
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You can drain off some or all of the excess cooking liquid before serving.
This recipe is intended to be a follow-up recipe to The Best of Both Worlds Pork Ribs (this recipe uses the cooking liquid from that recipe). If you are making a double batch of the rib recipe, you can double the ingredients in this recipe without doubling cooking time.
fresh herbs combine with butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper to create a very flavorful compound better. It is best if make the day before, so the flavors can really get into the butter well. This butter is great as a finishing butter on corn on the cob, grilled vegetables (such as portobellos), grilled meat, or to saute in.
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
- 2 Tablespoon fresh parsley
- 2 Tablepsoon fresh green onions
- 1/4 teaspoon course ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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Allow butter to sit at room temperature until softened.
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Finely chop fresh herbs.
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Combine finely chopped herbs with butter and remaining ingredients.
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Place seasoned herb butter mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to form the better into a log shape. Wrap the butter completely with plastic wrap.
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Refrigerate the butter for at least 2 hours, but best if done the previous day. Use within a week.
It is best if make the day before, so the flavors can really get into the butter well.
For the ribs recipe: see the original post for The Best of Both Worlds Pork Ribs.
If you are interested in other recipes that use the Instant Pot or Go Wise multi/pressure cookers, checkout KFO Electric Pressure Cooker/Multi-function Cooker Obsession and Recipes page.
I love hearing from people that have tried my recipe! Please feel free to comment below or email me at Kayla@KaylasFoodObsession.com . You can also Like/Follow me on social media (Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram).