Ground Beef Stew

For stews, I usually slice onions longitudinally. I think that the slight variation in flavor and texture is well suited to this application.

How to Slice An Onion Longitudinally

There are a ton of ways to cut an onion. Over time, you tend to favor different cuts for different dishes. I favor longitudinal slices for stews and braises because they provide a little more texture than slicing at latitude. The difference is subtle, but I think it's worth looking at.

Cut the jalapeño very finely. This way they'll mostly disappear in the cooking process. A fine dice like this is also known as a brunoise. The jalapeño here is just to add a little extra heat. Skip it if you aren't a fan of spicy food.

How to Brunoise Jalapeño

These spicy little jalapeño brunoise cubes are great in all kinds of dishes. Use them to spice up a stew or a mignonette or as a garnish for a cold appetizer.

Warm some oil in your instant pot. You can turn the pot on to the meat setting to get it going.

Dump in the onion and let it cook for a few minutes.

Add the jalapeño and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the onion begins to tenderize and turn translucent.

When the onions are beginning to soften, toss in the spices. I like to give my spices a few minutes to toast. It really helps the flavor.

Once you can smell your spices, dump in the ground beef. Let it cook until browned.

Peel and dice the potatoes. If you need a hand, or want to improve your technique, just check out this recipe.

How to Peel and Dice Potatoes

Square one? Maybe. But you gotta start somewhere. A dice is a cubic cut. The dice shown here is probably considered a medium dice in terms of size.

Now you can add the remaining ingredients. Dump them in, and stir it all up.

Seal 'er up and let 'er roll. I believe I used some kind of meat setting on this. I don't pay much attention with my instant pot. I just push a button that makes sense and then check to see if it's done cooking.

Season and serve

If the potatoes are tender all the way through, it's ready to eat. Season with salt and pepper.