Cooking under pressure
I had swestrup and taxlady over for dinner last night.
I have also confirmed that I cannot turn out a three-course meal in less than two hours time. My cream of scallion and mushroom had to be served warm. But the steamed fish with basil and the poached pears turned out marvellously.
Pressure cooker
Originally uploaded by sfllaw. On Friday, a copy of Cooking Under Pressure arrived on my desk. The author has written subsequent books, but none of her other titles have been as appropriate to the subject. It's not a particularly thick book, but it has all important timings for a variety of ingredients. I've been quite enjoying my pressure cooker, even though I lost its steamer basket, and have been using it more and more often.
I used to really enjoy using a crockpot whenever one was around, but I have fallen in love with the pressure cooker. It seems to give equivalent results in a magnitude less time. I've happily done stocks, soups, sauces, and pot roasts in this thing, which I had originally bought because I wanted a thick-bottomed pot. What a nice investment, albeit expensive, it has turned out to be.
The only disadvantage is that I have to set a timer, so my typical absent-mindedness is a small impediment to decently cooked meals. Leaving something cooking too long does not scorch or burn it, but it does turn it into baby food. Flavourful baby food, mind you, but the texture leaves something to be desired. This is something I'll have to keep in mind if I ever find myself feeding a baby.
I'm still unsure about pressure steaming, but I think there might be a "sparerib with black-bean" experiment that would benefit from this. I shall have to investigate, after I find a replacement basket. I suspect that this might work better than bamboo steamers over a wok, mostly because I cannot find bamboo steamers that can actually hold bowls of food.