Sunday, November 21, 2010

Pressure Cooking: The Adventure Continues

How many times have I thought of something I'd like to make for dinner, but couldn't because I hadn't planned ahead and soaked the beans, thawed the chicken or done some other bit of indispensable prep work? These days, thanks to a kitchen marvel called a pressure cooker, it's no problem!! In fact, I've found this piece of equipment so useful that I've purchased a second one!!

The first cooker that I purchased was the familiar rocker-type, a 6-quart model (Presto), and I fell instantly in love with it. In fact, since it arrived, I haven't used the stove for regular cooking -- except for a dinner of fried rice, which definitely cannot be done in the pressure cooker. Today, a "new generation" cooker (8-quart, also a Presto), with a pressure release mechanism in the lid, arrived. And tonight, I used them both to cook dinner. The smaller one handled the artichokes, while I tossed together a Shrimp Bisque from Toula Patsalis's "The Pressure Cooker Cookbook" in the new one. Because the soup recipe is somewhat involved (several more steps than I would normally consider, but, hey -- I was celebrating my new piece of equipment!!), dinner took longer than it usually would when using a pressure cooker, but the results were well worth it!! I did substitute brown rice for the white, but otherwise I followed the recipe pretty carefully. Oh -- and instead of running cold water over it when the shrimp were cooked, I let the steam off with the release mechanism, so the shrimp were probably a little more done than they needed to be, but it still turned out very nice. And it was good to know that my husband was heading off to an evening meeting well fed.

I've been doing a bit of reading, and am intrigued by all the things you can cook, and the ways you can cook them, in a pressure cooker. You can, of course, put things like soups and beans directly into the cooker. But you can also prepare several different kinds of foods at the same time, if you put them into individual containers -- so long as they fit into the cooker with at least a half-inch to spare on all sides. You can stack them, too -- provided you don't fill the cooker more than 2/3 full. Small stainless steel bowls are ideal, and ovenproof casserole dishes and ramekins are second-best. The stainless heats up both quickly and evenly, while ceramic cookware heats unevenly and requires a little extra cooking time. What this means is that you can virtually cook a whole meal -- including dessert -- at the same time. Using a quick-release method will allow you to cook meats or beans, grains or potatoes and various veggies to perfection.

I had just a few small ovenproof cooking vessels, and decided I wanted to try to find some small stainless containers. So I headed for one of the larger thrift stores in my area. A walk down the aisle of their kitchen section turned up only a 2-cup, lidless Corningware casserole, which, of course, I grabbed. Disappointed that I hadn't found more, I was turning to leave when I noticed a woman rummaging through a bin I'd walked right by without noticing. I sidled up to the opposite end of it and started sifting through the mismatched pots and lids, serving trays, cookie sheets, etc. And, whaddya know -- hidden among the pots and pans were little silver jewels -- stainless steel serving bowls, probably former residents of some defunct resaurant, and not one priced more than $1!! So I scooped up all that I could find and made my way to the register. After a trip through the dishwasher, they'll be ready to be pressed into service.

Admittedly, I'm still learning to time things (which means things often end up either over- or under-cooked), but each time I cook this way, things come out a little better!

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