one week of the pressure cooker (food)
So, I decided to make stock, including a test of Bittman's* idea to roast beef bones before using them. The local Ranch 99 has the raw materials for $0.8/lb. I also used Yelp's recommendations to find what's now my favorite produce place.
While the beef bones ($3) and assorted veggies ($0.75) were roasting, I made chicken stock using chicken bones ($3) and assorted veggies ($.5). 2 hours of simmering 35 minutes of pressure cooking (the PC has only one setting, for 15psi) brought out the flavor.
= 3.5 quarts of good chicken stock.
I then rinsed out the cooker and started the beef stock. 2 hours of simmering 35 minutes in the pc.
= 3 cups of beef stock. It had a solid meaty flavor: It was obviously beef stock in a way that store bought "beef broth" isn't.
I used the these stocks to make
Butternut squash soup (via Epicurious's "...with cider cream, but skipping the cream)--
1 squash, leeks, apples and carrots, spices, chicken stock. simmer...about 30 minutes Pressure cook 8 minutes.
I used the leftovers for lunch, and later added Thai spices and green beans as a dinner side dish.
Lentil soup-- 3/4 regular lentils, 1/4 tiny black lentils from TJ's. Also shallots, carrots, most of another butternut squash and spices. Not that lentils take all that much time on the open stove, but I was testing if I could simmer for 35 minutes pressure cook 8 minutes and get the same results.
Scandinavian brown butter cabbage soup (1964 Home & Garden via Epicurious)-- a very tasty 2 ingredient recipe (if all the rest are staples).
1. Caramelize 2T sugar in 1/4 cup butter (I used a little butter and then Smart Balance for this).
2. Add 1 cabbage, shredded. Stir constantly for 3 minutes.
3. Add salt, pepper, allspice, and chicken broth. Simmer covered for 1 hour. Pressure cook for 8 minutes.
Mushroom soup-- mushrooms, shallots, red wine, beef stock. (and yes, simmer for 35 minutes pressure cook 8 minutes.) Cook's Illustrated Soups& Stews recommends not roasting the mushrooms ahead of time: that worked = the flavor was at least as good as with roasted mushrooms.
The next day I reduced the mushroom soup to make a mushroom sauce.
Healthy stock (most 'low sodium' broths aren't that low, especially not if you want to reduce it) and much more flexibility on time (a last minute decision to make soup? Not a problem): all good.
Sure, if I've got a roast in the oven then I might go with the simmer on the stove option, because the time difference isn't relevant and they'll taste the same. And there are soups that won't do as well in the pc.
But just like a good sharp knife opens up options--makes it much easier to contemplate adding more ingredients, because everything becomes a little bit easier-- the pressure cooker makes it easier to add more recipes for a given time horizon, because everything becomes a little bit faster.
Given the season, I'll highly recommend the pressure cooker as a gift for cooks, time-deprived or not.
Next to my Bittman's*, it's been my favorite foodie gift of recent years. And of course I've been able to use the pressure cooker for trying some of his recipes: double win.
* Best Recipes in the World; How to Cook Everything
While the beef bones ($3) and assorted veggies ($0.75) were roasting, I made chicken stock using chicken bones ($3) and assorted veggies ($.5). 2 hours of simmering 35 minutes of pressure cooking (the PC has only one setting, for 15psi) brought out the flavor.
= 3.5 quarts of good chicken stock.
I then rinsed out the cooker and started the beef stock. 2 hours of simmering 35 minutes in the pc.
= 3 cups of beef stock. It had a solid meaty flavor: It was obviously beef stock in a way that store bought "beef broth" isn't.
I used the these stocks to make
Butternut squash soup (via Epicurious's "...with cider cream, but skipping the cream)--
1 squash, leeks, apples and carrots, spices, chicken stock. simmer...about 30 minutes Pressure cook 8 minutes.
I used the leftovers for lunch, and later added Thai spices and green beans as a dinner side dish.
Lentil soup-- 3/4 regular lentils, 1/4 tiny black lentils from TJ's. Also shallots, carrots, most of another butternut squash and spices. Not that lentils take all that much time on the open stove, but I was testing if I could simmer for 35 minutes pressure cook 8 minutes and get the same results.
Scandinavian brown butter cabbage soup (1964 Home & Garden via Epicurious)-- a very tasty 2 ingredient recipe (if all the rest are staples).
1. Caramelize 2T sugar in 1/4 cup butter (I used a little butter and then Smart Balance for this).
2. Add 1 cabbage, shredded. Stir constantly for 3 minutes.
3. Add salt, pepper, allspice, and chicken broth. Simmer covered for 1 hour. Pressure cook for 8 minutes.
Mushroom soup-- mushrooms, shallots, red wine, beef stock. (and yes, simmer for 35 minutes pressure cook 8 minutes.) Cook's Illustrated Soups& Stews recommends not roasting the mushrooms ahead of time: that worked = the flavor was at least as good as with roasted mushrooms.
The next day I reduced the mushroom soup to make a mushroom sauce.
Healthy stock (most 'low sodium' broths aren't that low, especially not if you want to reduce it) and much more flexibility on time (a last minute decision to make soup? Not a problem): all good.
Sure, if I've got a roast in the oven then I might go with the simmer on the stove option, because the time difference isn't relevant and they'll taste the same. And there are soups that won't do as well in the pc.
But just like a good sharp knife opens up options--makes it much easier to contemplate adding more ingredients, because everything becomes a little bit easier-- the pressure cooker makes it easier to add more recipes for a given time horizon, because everything becomes a little bit faster.
Given the season, I'll highly recommend the pressure cooker as a gift for cooks, time-deprived or not.
Next to my Bittman's*, it's been my favorite foodie gift of recent years. And of course I've been able to use the pressure cooker for trying some of his recipes: double win.
* Best Recipes in the World; How to Cook Everything