Originally Posted by kipper

Those photos are scary and make me want to cry...

Originally Posted by LapLap

Perhaps the black ones. My 9 year old has only just started liking olives, but she hasn't developed a taste for the manzanilla green type yet.

Trying to put my finger on it, it may well be the idea of a "unolivey" olive that puts me off, with the taste and sharpness leeched out of them during the cooking process. Am happy to have them uncooked, in all their glory, on the side but am just not too keen on odd Mediterranean "fusion" tastes, when you're not committed to a certain region or country (in this case Italy) it can all go wrong very quickly. Here's an example of unfettered and uninformed fusion (in Spanish but the photos say everything)
https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcom...37965.amp.html

Originally Posted by LapLap

Perhaps the black ones. My 9 year old has only just started liking olives, but she hasn't developed a taste for the manzanilla green type yet.

Trying to put my finger on it, it may well be the idea of a "unolivey" olive that puts me off, with the taste and sharpness leeched out of them during the cooking process. Am happy to have them uncooked, in all their glory, on the side but am just not too keen on odd Mediterranean "fusion" tastes, when you're not committed to a certain region or country (in this case Italy) it can all go wrong very quickly. Here's an example of unfettered and uninformed fusion (in Spanish but the photos say everything)
https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcom...37965.amp.html

Originally Posted by LapLap

There, there. You're not alone.

Originally Posted by txflyer77

I'm not going to second-guess the culinary tastes of a 9 year old.

BUT (okay I am a little bit) the olives don't end up at all "unolivey" in that recipe.

Originally Posted by LapLap

I asked my (Spanish-Alicantinian) mother of she knew anyone who cooked with olives. She said that the only person was an aunt from an inland mountain town called Alcoy (this aunt was trained when young in the kitchen of a noble family). My mum's view is that the olives from Alcoy back in the 40s/50s were prepared/cured quite differently to the sharper tasting olives that were served at every meal in the coastal area that my mum (and I) are familiar with. And that the Alcoy style olives were more suited to cooking.

In summary, I haven't ruled out cooking with olives, but I will research what kinds to use before doing so. It so happens that a wider variety are available to me in London than in this part of Spain, so that's where I'll try (my internet connection is also very limited at the moment)

Originally Posted by tcl

I cook with olives but it's more of a stir in at the last moment type of cooking, or a quick pan gravy made with wine, shallots and tapenade. Pressure cooking a stew with olives that takes all the flavour out of an olive sounds yucky.

Originally Posted by cubbie

I received a 3-qt Instant Pot as a gift. Here's a tip for anyone else who gets a 3-qt IP rather than a 6-qt IP: cut your recipe quantities in half but keep the cooking times and instructions the same. If I really get into using the IP a lot I may trade up to a 6-qt model. I find the 3-qt inner pot a bit small for convenient sauteeing and a bit small for some other things. I'm still learning how to use the IP and haven't cooked many things in it yet, but I'm already impressed that it makes the best (most tender) corn on the cob and best (perfectly cooked and easiest to peel) hard-boiled eggs I've ever had. Oh, and great corned beef in about a fifth of the time as a slow cooker. I found online recipes for pressure-cooked corned beef with a wide range of cook times and finally went with, and have had good success with, a Wolfgang Puck recipe: 90 minutes of pressure cooking, natural release to prevent meat fibers from contracting, and a liquid of beer + beef broth.

Originally Posted by boxo

I've had my 6 qt IP for four years and have debated for months whether to buy a 3 qt. For those of you who have both, what do you cook in your 3 qt? I like the idea of a smaller counter footprint. I use mine often enough, every 2-3 days, I leave mine on the counter.


So a corned beef hunk of meat fits in the 3 qt. What foods/recipes did you find too large?

Originally Posted by kipper

I have both a 6 qt and a 3 qt. I cook everything that I would cook in the 6 qt. in the 3 qt. It's perfect for cooking a few pounds of chicken breasts or thighs.

Originally Posted by boxo

Thanks. I've never seen the 3 qt in person and it's hard to imagine how much smaller the the pot is. I mean obviously 50% smaller, but you know what I mean. Being able to fit a few pounds of chicken is sufficient for my party of one.