The Simple Comforts Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook by Jeffrey Eisner

Happy holiday weekend to my Canadian and U.S. readers. Hope you did something fun or have something fun planned, preferably with good friends and good food.

Today I want to talk about a new(ish) pressure cooker cookbook by one of the most experienced Instant Pot cooks out there: The Simple Comforts Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook by Jeffrey Eisner. Thanks so much to Voracious and the Voracious Ambassador program for giving me a chance to cook from and review this book.

There a few things you have to know about this cookbook right from the get-go. First, though the recipes will work in any pressure cooker, they were developed specifically for the Instant Pot (IP). Eisner wisely recognizes that there are several IP models and sizes, so he provides instructions that will work in just about any model you have, sometimes with size or volume adjustments.

Second, each and every recipe is clearly marked for a variety of dietary concerns. If you're keto, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, or vegan, you will find many recipes to suit your needs. Eisner also notes which recipes can easily be adapted from, say from vegetarian to vegan or from gluten to gluten-free, and provides guidelines for how to make those adjustments. Third, just about every recipe includes helpful tips. Some of these suggest ways to lower the fat content of a recipe; others suggest variations or provide advice.

Finally, the recipes in Simple Comforts totally meet the expectations of the title. The dishes included here are indeed comfort food. You'll find recipes for risotto, mac and cheese, pot roast, and fettuccine alfredo. But you'll also find IP versions of Asian, Mexican, and Mediterranean classics, like pozole verde, Thai chicken satay, Korean beef bulgogi, and osso buco.

As you probably already guessed, the majority of the ingredients called for in Simple Comforts will be easy to find for most people. Eisner's directions are exceptionally simple to follow. The ingredient lists include tips and notes, and each recipe step is illustrated with a photograph, so cooks who are new to the Instant Pot or new to the kitchen should have no problem understanding the process for making each dish. Oh, and unlike so many pressure cooker cookbooks, Eisner's time estimations for each recipe includes "pressure building time." This is so important when trying to plan your meals.

I made several recipes from Simple Comforts, all with excellent outcomes. The Sloppy Joes were easy and delicious. The serving size was for 4-6, but instead of cutting the recipe in half, I opted to make the whole thing and freeze the leftovers for another night. The Risotto Ranchero is, as Eisner states, "a taco-inspired risotto." Salsa, green chiles, and Mexican cheeses replace the more traditional Italian ingredients. Yum! I also made a tortellini soup, a beef stew, and chicken teriyaki (see scan). I can say without reservation that the recipes work and the final dishes are tasty.

When I was thinking about the negatives of Simple Comforts, I could think of only one. This cookbook takes the stance that if it can be made in the Instant Pot, then it should be made in the Instant Pot. I'm not really in that camp. Some dishes come together just as quickly (sometimes quicker) on the stove top. But then I thought about the cooks who don't really like to hover around the stove, keeping on eye on dinner as it cooks.

And then I thought about people who have RVs or campers and how convenient it would be to simply use the Instant Pot. How about when you rent a shore house or a cabin the woods for a couple of weeks? You wouldn't have to worry about an under-equipped kitchen. How about people like me who don't have central air-conditioning? The IP in the summer is a godsend. Oh and then there are those who live in tiny city apartments.

Recommendation: In the end, I decided that The Simple Comforts Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook by Jeffrey Eisner is, in fact, a good cookbook for anyone who likes using their IP or would like to learn how to use the one they stashed on that high shelf in the pantry. No matter your dietary concerns, you'll find a number of everyday, comfort dishes in this cookbook.

I couldn't find a video for a recipe from Simple Comforts, but the following video is only a couple of weeks old and shows Eisner making Linguine La Parma. His personality and style of cooking come through on the page as easily as it does on camera.


You can find more Instant Pot recipes by Jeffrey Eisner on his website: Pressure Luck Cooking.

Note: The scans are used in the context of a review; all rights remain with the original copyright holders.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)