No Pressure

It was the culinary bogeyman of my mother’s kitchen when I was growing up. It would hiss like a demon and often appeared on the verge of exploding. And, there was usually some strange orange substance hidden in its bowels.

Beware the dreaded pressure cooker!

Some years have passed, and one would hope I have shed my fears of kitchen gremlins and foods that are a good source of Vitamin A. For the most part I have, but old habits die hard. Although I’ve been intrigued by the promise of lightning-fast preparation of food, the classic pressure cooker that I picked up at a tag sale sits idle (and depowered) in my basement.

All I need is a good suggestion to take action (the power of suggestion may be my Achilles heel), so when I read a post by Debby at Feast for the Eyes that mentioned her electronic, programmable pressure cooker, it was enough to inspire some online research and a purchase. About a minute-and-a-half transpired and I was the proud owner of a Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker.

In my defense, this was not a typical impulse purchase. I have been considering the idea of pressure cooking for years, and I even read the Consumer Reports product evaluations online before purchasing. So it was a well-informed, lightning-fast purchase. And, it was on sale.

So what might you expect if “Kid Flash” joins your culinary team?

Imagine fresh lentil soup in about 15 minutes, where the lentils are tender but firm and you can taste the flavor of the carrots:

Homemade chicken stock is produced in about 90 minutes on a weeknight:

Various recipes using beans and legumes – like this hearty “Chili Con Chickpea” come together quickly. The beans require no pre-soaking:

White rice comes out sticky and firm like the takeout variety, and brown rice takes only about twenty minutes. Vegetables, like butternut squash (which I now actually like) cook in about 3 minutes. Cannellini beans for a White Chicken Chili can be made the day before, in just under 45 minutes, and stored in the refrigerator until it’s time to prepare the dish.

The best news is that the device is programmable, so everything cooks according to the exact time needed. The lid locks into place during the cooking sequence, so the possibility of a Mount Vesuvius -style eruption is unlikely.

It’s kind of become my go-to kitchen pot, which is weird, since I just had a new gas stove installed (a behemoth - more on that later).

And, with the time I’ve saved in cooking, I’m already feeling a lot less pressure. Although on occasion, I still peek under the bed before I go to sleep at night.

©2010 T.W. Barritt all Rights Reserved