My New Pressure Cooker - A New Adventure in Cooking

My New Cooker

 

MY NEW PRESSURE COOKER – A REVIEW

                Growing up in the 1940s and50s I suppose most everyone heard the horror stories about pressure cookers blowing their lids and taking out a ceiling or worse yet scalding the cook.  These stories were firmly implanted in my mind when my brother informed me he had purchased another pressure cooker.  My first thought was, “Oh, no! He might get hurt.” Secondly, he had an electric stove which would make regulating the cooker very tricky.

                He quickly went to work to put my fears to rest and to prove to me that modern pressure cookers have safety features the older versions did not.   He made a video on how to pressure cook ribs which can be found at his website, http://www.twentymile.com/Cookbook/contents.htm and looking at the cookbook section, Pressure Cooker Meals in Half the Time, for the link. So I thought why not, but the more I thought about it the more I began to fret about my electric stove, which is over 30 years old and very temperamental.

                Costco had a Cuisinart Pressure Cooker, 6 quart for $69.00 and it is electric, yes no stove required simply plug in a cook.  I had mentioned this cooker to my son and guess what I got for Christmas? Aha! You guessed it. The trial run was on December 29, 2013 with my son at my side. Our first meal was to be corned beef with cabbage, carrots and red potatoes. Looking back, I would say quite an undertaking for a first time user but none the less quite successful.

Potatoes, Carrots and Cabbage

                FIRST, please read the instruction booklet all the way through, I have a tendency to skim read and this turned out to be my first error.  Timing is everything with pressure cookers and of course in my haste to plug this in and cook I overlooked a simple formula, how to set the timer correctly.  Pressure cooking is based on weight for meats which is calculated by a simple formula; weight x 24 then rounding up to the nearest whole number, so 78 would be rounded up to 80.  Then setting the timer this is where I went wrong. The timer is set in minutes up to 40 then each minute after is 5 minutes and that is how I veered off course.  I overlooked that little bit of information and setting the timer I went past the 60 minute mark and then I added another 10 which I thought was correct. In fact it was only 10.  The timer resets its self at 60 and starts at zero, so I set the timer at 10 minutes when I wanted 110.

                So eagerly we put on the lid and pushed the start button, 10 minutes later it beeped at me; cooking was finished. Next, I learned how to release the pressure the FAST way, by lifting the pressure limit valve to quickly release the steam.  And boy is there a lot of steam; don’t do this under a cabinet; another of the tips to be found in the instruction booklet. Once the steam stopped, in a matter of about 30 seconds, the lid slid to open without any effort and we eyed the contents; yep there sat our four pound brisket with a little cooking from the scant 10 minutes of cooking we gave it.  So this time with calculator in hand we entered the correct cooking time, reset the cooker and started over.

It is time to eat!

                This time when it beeped we were eager to see our brisket. We again opted for the quick release method; not allowing the cooker to slowly cool down in the 20-30 minute mode.  As we opened the lid we were delighted to see a fully cooked and very tender brisket, now time for the veggies.  We removed the brisket and placed in a warm oven and covered with tin foil to keep it from drying out. Next we added 6 peeled carrots, 8 red potatoes and a small to medium size cabbage cut into sections.

                Replacing the lid this time we set the timer for 3 minutes. Yes, that is a correct time. It takes about 10 minutes for the unit to come to full pressure then the additional 3 minutes so total time would be around 13-15 minutes to fully cook the vegetables.  And what a wonderful surprise; they were fully cooked but still retained their crispness and flavor, the flavor was intense nothing was soggy like when you boil, and it surpassed the regular steaming method as well.   The only drawback we found was the capacity of the cooker. You cannot over load the unit or it won’t function. We like leftovers. To remedy this, when I removed the first batch of veggies I simply added another and reset the timer. While we were eating and enjoying the fruits of our labor, a second batch was cooking and ready in 15 minutes.

                My overall rating for this unit would be a sound 10 out of 10, simply for ease of use, ease of cleanup and perhaps the most important the quality of finished product.  It has completely erased my fear of pressure cookers, as the booklet tells you if you follow the instructions you are good to go.  I can think of nothing better than having a complete dinner ready from start in an hour or so, imagine a pot roast succulent and ready to serve in 40 minutes and perhaps served up with mashed potatoes or oven roasted vegetables, all which can be prepared while the main course is in the cooker.

Cabbage Rolls

STUFFED CABBAGE/DOLMA - DANISH AMERICAN/PERSIAN INSPIRED

Growing up we feasted as children on “Pigs in the Blanket”
an intriguing way to inspire young ones to eat cabbage no doubt. As we grew and became inspired as fledgling cooks we discovered the Danish stuffed and rolled Cabbage. When I married I discovered the Middle Eastern influence and the many versions of our childhood favorite. Below I offer the Danish American version I have adapted for stuffed and rolled cabbage and also a Persia inspired version of the same. Both are packed with flavor and subtle differences I hope you will enjoy.

DANISH-AMERICAN ----------------- PERSIAN INSPIRED

1 lb ea ground beef & pork ------------ 2 lb ground beef or lamb
1 med. Onion diced -------------------- 1 med. Onion diced
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes ----------- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce ---------------- 2 TBS tomato paste
1 cup water ------------------------------ 1 cup water
1 tsp paprika ---------------------------- 4 tsp Sabzi Dolmeh
¾ tsp basil ------------------------------- (contains leek, parsley, tarragon,
½ Tsp Mint ------------------------------- cilantro, basil, mint)
½ C Minced Parsley ------------------- 3 tsp ground tarragon
¼ tsp allspice --------------------------- 1 sml can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt & ¼ tsp pepper -------------- Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup uncooked rice -------------------- 1 cup par-cooked rice
1 head green cabbage ------------------ 1 head green cabbage
1 Lemon --------------------------------- 1 Lemon
Sour Cream ----------------------------- Sour Cream

As you can see the majority of ingredients are the same withsubtle differences, but here the technique differs; the Danish American version
calls for cooking the meat mixture raw in the cabbage while the Persianinfluenced is pre cooked and finished in the oven. The Danish American version
can be finished on the stove top (steam cooking) or in the oven (dry heat
cooking). Since the Persian inspired is
pre cooked I have only completed it in the oven. Both steam and dry heat produce a good
tasting cabbage.

DANISH AMERICAN:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except cabbage, tomato sauce, water
and lemon, mix well. Core Cabbage and place in large pot of boiling water.
Remove leaves as they wilt and become pliable and allow to drain. Place a generous amount of mixture on each leaf (leaf size determines amount of filling) fold stem end over and fold in sides, roll up and use tooth pick to secure if needed. Place seem (tooth pick) side down in a coverable roasting pan.

Continue until all mixture is used.
Depending on size of pan used you can place a second layer of rolls if needed.

Squeeze the lemon on top of the rolls, combine the tomatosauce and water and pour over the rolls, cover with aluminum foil and bake in a
350 oven for 1 1/5 hrs or until rice is cooked.

Remove from oven, place rolls on serving platter, thicken remaining
sauce with corn starch and serve table side if desired. Garnish with lemon slices and dollops of sour cream.

** This dish can be made on the stove top, use a heavy bottom pot, line the bottom with discarded pieces of cabbage. Place rolls seam side down in layers and add the lemon and tomato/water mixture. Cover tightly and simmer over a low flame until rice is tender. Test for doneness
by carefully unrolling a top roll and test the rice.

PERSIAN INSPIRED: Place Sabzi Dolmeh in cheese cloth/a fine mesh sieve or large tea strainer and add warm water to cover. Let stand about 15 minutes, cook the rice to
al dente and sit aside. Sautee onion and meat until cooked and onion is transparent.
Drain and add Sabzi Dolmeh spice to mixture and stir and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the diced tomatoes reserving the liquid and add tomatoes to the meat mixture with the tomato paste and par cooked rice and cook an additional l2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

Add cored cabbage to boiling water and remove outer leaves as they become loose, sitting aside to drain. Place a generous amount of meat mixture (depending on leaf size) and
fold stem over and fold in sides and roll.
Place seam side down in a coverable roasting pan; continue until all mixture is used. Combine the reserved liquid from the tomatoes with the can of tomato sauce and pour over the rolls.

Add the water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil and place in 350 over for 45 minutes. Remove rolls and serve with
lemon slices and sour cream.

You can order the above spices at Penzey's Spices.

http://www.penzeys.com/