Pressure Cooked Hoppin' John to Start the New Year

Take a look at my blog post on my other blog (http://www.theveggiequeen.blogspot.com) for my version of Hoppin' John which I call Jumpin' John because I obviously do a vegan (no ham bone) version. It tastes great.

Happy New year to y'all.

Pressure Cooking DVD Gets Two Good Reviews

It brings me great joy to get people actually using their pressure cookers. It's a tool that can change your cooking life and lead you easily to healthier and more delicious eating, all while saving time and energy. It's green, lean and delicious -- a truly unbeatable combo.

Read what others have to say about my DVD. At GoDairyFree.Org Sarena made the black beans and loved them and the fact that they took about 10 minutes to cook, from start to finish (after presoaking). On Lisa Reviews you'll need to scroll down the page to see that Lisa realized I was telling the truth when I said, "If you can boil water, you can pressure cook."

If you've been afraid of the pressure cooker, I want to encourage to take the next step. Buy one and try it. It's one of the best holiday and New Year's gifts that you can give yourself.

But if you want to wait, Valentine's Day is a good time, too.

I am always happy to answer pressure cooking questions at jill@pressurecookingonline.com. My DVD is available on my website at http://www.pressurecookingonline.com/.

The Veggie Queen's Black Lentil, Winter Vegetable and Wild Rice Soup

For many people, including me, yesterday was a cold day. I am not complaining but 40 degrees F. for us Northern California weather weenies is cold. But it's perfect soup weather. And if you've read any of my blog posts, you know that it's likely that I will pull out my pressure cooker and get to work making a fast soup.

I actually spent a bit more time (maybe 2 more minutes) thinking about this soup because I would have preferred barley but my husband doesn't really like it, or at least he doesn't think that he does. He actually prefers white rice but I'm not using that so...

Wild rice seemed like a happy compromise. I also wanted to use lentils and the black ones called to me. They are called Beluga black lentils because they look like caviar. I realized that my soup was going to be awfully dark, so I also added carrot, parsnip, celery and celery root, along with purple potatoes. After the initiail cooking, a peeled and ready to use kabocha squash showed up on my doorstep (you ought to see what shows up here -- usually edible, delicious and free) and that also got added.

Here is my best stab at the recipe. It's a highly adaptable soup so take what you like and leave the rest.

Takes 20 minutes at high pressure with a natural pressure release.

Black Lentil, Winter Vegetable and Wild Rice Soup

Makes about 2 quarts

1 tablespoon oil (optional)

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 bay leaf

2 medium purple potatoes, diced

1 small parsnip, diced

1/2 cup diced celery root (also called celeriac)

1 medium carrot, diced

1/3 cup black beluga, or other, lentils

2/3 cup wild rice

6 cups homemade vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups diced squash

Salt, pepper and herbs to taste

Add the oil to the cooker over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for a minute or 2. Add the garlic and celery and saute another minute. Add the remaining ingredients except squash,salt, pepper and herbs and lock on the pressure cooker lid. Bring to high pressure, then lower the heat to maintain high pressure. Cook for 20 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally.

Open the lid carefully and add the squash, salt, pepper and your favorite herb blend. I used organic vegetable rub but Italian or your favorite seasoning would be good, too. This is a blank canvas, waiting for you to add color.

Lock the lid back on and bring to high pressure for another 3 minutes, or simmer on the stove top until the squash is done. Quick release the pressure. Serve hot. If you have any fresh green herbs such as parsley, cilantro or chives, they would make this soup look and taste even better (than it already is).

Do NOT do what I did, which was stir the soup and then put it back on the heat. The cooked lentils will sink to the bottom and burn.

Add more stock or water, if the soup is too thick. I like mine thick. It's a meal in a bowl. Serve with salad and/or bread.

Enjoy.

Perfect Pressure Cooked Millet for VegNews

This past Tuesday I was the guest chef at VegNews magazine for their special Cafe VegNews lunch. You can read more about it on their website: http://http://cafevegnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/award-winning-african-stew.html

I made my prize-winning recipe for Spicy African Sweet Potato and Ground Nut Stew which wasn't very spicy that day. What goes along with it is millet. And I must admit unabashedly that it was the best millet that I've had in a long time.

Here is how I made it. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you.

Basic Pressure Cooked Millet
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups millet
2 1/2 cups water
salt, to taste, add after cooking

I heated the pressure cooker over medium heat and added the millet, stirring it often until it began to pop. When I could smell that it was toasty, I added the water and locked on the pressure cooker lid. I brought it to pressure. Turned down the heat to maintain high pressure and cooked it for 10 minutes. I took it off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally, which took about 5 minutes. When I carefully opened the pot, the millet looked great. But I had to travel at least 20 minutes to get to the VegNews office so I just grabbed the cooker and went.

When I was finally ready to serve, I could tell that I had completely nailed the millet. Wooo hooo!

I've found that the key to cooking great grains is to keep them from stewing in liquid. So I add the suggested amount for the first cup and then decrease the liquid by 1/4 cup for each additional cup of grain. It seems to work just about every time.

If you don't eat millet, give it a try. It's the "bird seed" grain that's popular in Japan, China and Africa. It's gluten-free and non-acidic, which means that it's easy to digest. Not expensive either.

Pressure Cooker versus Slow Cooker

As you well know, I am a big fan of the pressure cooker and not at all a fan of the slow cooker (the one I have was my grandmother's and see has been gone 20 years), although I do believe that for some people the slow cooker can do the job well.

I was reading a blog post about the pressure cooker vs. slow cooker here http://feebeez.blogspot.com/2008/11/pressure-cooker-vs-slow-cooker.html. This woman uses her cooker and understands the benefits. So rather than me go on and on about it, I'll let Fiona do it.

She also lists some pressure cooker recipes. Despite the fact that she is a fan of Miss Vickie's, I will attribute that to the fact that my pressure cooking book is not yet in the world. She also mentions Lorna Sass who is my pressure cooking mentor.

If you don't or can't plan your meals hours in advance, and want great tasting food, then get yourself a modern pressure cooker, and start using it. It will change your cooking life but as with all other things in life, there are no guarantees.

I will promise you,, though, that I will help guide you through the process, if you need me to. You can email me at jill@pressurecookingonline.com.

People No Longer Feel Under Pressure with a Pressure Cooker

The past 2 Saturday mornings at the farmer's market have been pure joy for me. Right at the beginning of shopping, I have connected with people regarding pressure cookers. I had not even started shopping last week when K., a student from my class 2 days earlier, saw me. She told me that she'd used her pressure cooker to make soup and it was fabulous.

Just a few minutes later while I was buying Satsuma mandarin tangerines, another woman who I don't know by name but have seen at the market often, told me that she bought a Fagor set on sale at Macy's and just loves it. Wow, and it only gets better.

The same thing pretty much happened today. Now maybe this has something to do with my being on KRCB (public) radio's show Mouthful last Sunday but other people told me that their fear of the pressure cooker has subsided.

K. said that she'd used her cooker quite a number of times since last week, and that she is no longer afraid. Yippeee.

Mari told me that I haven't seen her on Saturday mornings because she's now doing yoga at that time (I guess that she had today off.). She credits the yoga and using her pressure cooker as methods for relieving the stress in her life, and making life bearable. (I hope that it's more than that.) Mari did ask about cooking broccoli and how long it takes. Just a minute with a quick release, I told her.

But Amy, who sent me an email message yesterday, said that her husband loves her 2-minute pressure cooked broccoli and he hadn't been a big broccoli fan. He likes it because it doesn't taste sulfury. Amy told me that she is making lots of other food in her cooker, too. Healthier eating, the quick and easy way, I say, and Amy agrees.

And after I left the market today I drove to another store. As I was walking to the entrance, a woman stopped me and said that she'd taken a pressure cooking class with me at Santa Rosa Junior College. I think that was more than 10 years ago, and was a one time class. But she told me that she'd heard me on the radio, and gone out and bought a pressure cooker. She's using it and loving it because it saves her so much time and energy.

And if I can help anyone relieve the pressure in their life and eat healthier, I am just thrilled. Today, I am beaming. I hope that you'll think about using a pressure cooker -- no pressure, no fear.

The Veggie Queen Reviews the Fissler Pressure Cooker

I have been so excited about trying my new Fissler 4 1/2 quart pressure cooker but have not had the time. I have been busy teaching. But I have some time now that I can do it.

I have run a few tests on it but have to compare it to the others that I have. I wouldn't really make it as a scientist as I am a bit more creative than most of them. Instead of starting with the water test, I started by cooking in it.

First, let me say that if heft is a positive criteria, then the Fissler cooker wins in that department. It feels like the heaviest, most durable cooker of any that I own. But for some people, that's not such a great thing. It does get extra points for good looks and design -- very pleasing.

The special waffled interior surface is interesting. It might work very well for searing meat or browning chicken breasts but as a vegetarian or vegan, the dimples don't seem to serve much purpose, at least not to me.

So, I cooked my braised tofu, potato and vegetable dish, same as I always do. And I did have different results. When I opened the pot after 2 minutes of cooking the potatoes and tofu, the tofu looked good. I added the greens and green beans and cooked another minute at pressure. When I opened the pot, the resulting dish was a bit more overcooked than usual, with the potatoes turning mushy, and the green beans just a bit overcooked. I ate the dish anyway.

After cleaning the pot, which was a breeze, I did the water test in it. It took more than 3 minutes to reach pressure which is about 1 minute longer than most of the other cookers. This really is not a big deal. More important is that the pressure release takes a bit longer than with the other cookers. And most important is that after coming to pressure and doing a quick release, 2 of the 8 ounces of water was lost. As I usually use very little liquid in my vegetable recipes, this could be important.

I am going to ponder what else to make in this beautifully designed heavy cooker to see how it performs on a regular basis. Watch for Part 2 of this post.

Transforming Your Recipes for The Pressure Cooker

Transforming your recipes from stove top cooking to pressure cooking is fairly easy. First, your original recipe must have some kind of liquid in it, as that is what will get your cooker to pressure. The pressure cooker is best for soup, stew, chili, braises and mock stir-fries, as well as beans, grains and vegetables. I feel like an expert in the latter since I do this very often with whatever local produce I have available.

Yesterday I cooked colored cauliflower and purple and yellow potatoes with carrots. I used only about 2/3 of a cup of stock (made easily earlier in just 5 minutes at pressure), and there was plenty of liquid to get to pressure plus a bit left over which gets absorbed by the potatoes as the dish sits. I don't like my veggie dishes to be watery but sometimes it happens. If it does, you can remove the vegetables and cook down the remaining liquid.

When reducing the liquid, you use less but how much less truly depends upon what you are cooking. When I cook presoaked beans, I use only 1/2 cup per 1 cup of soaked beans. In my tofu braises, I only use about 1/4 cup of liquid. Obviously for soup, it really doesn't matter much. Just remember that most cookers don't lose a lot of liquid in cooking, and if you are adding vegetables that release water, that will add to the liquid as nothing boils away.

Pressure cooking is a great way to cook. If you have any questions, you can always shoot me an email at jill@pressurecookingonline.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Pressure Cooking to Relieve the Pressure in the Kitchen

It's been a long time since I've posted here. I have been wanting to write about the Fissler pressure cooker but first needed to finish up a bunch of non-pressure cooking projects which only happen in the fall when it's harvest time. You can read http://www.theveggiequeen.blogspot.com to see what else I've been up to -- lots of drying, making, putting away.

So, finally I unpacked the Fissler from the box and I am contemplating what tests I should put it through. I may just do one of my standard recipes to see what happens but first I always start with water. This way I can get a feel for what the cooker can do. Then, I'll get going on food.

Since I just cooked a big pot of black beans and another of brown basmati rice in some of my other cookers, I don't need to repeat those dishes. I've baked tofu twice in the past 2 days for 2 different Halloween parties but some braised tofu would be just fine. So, watch for the next post which will be the review.

New Gasket for My Fagor Pressure Cooker

I got a new gasket -- it made my pressure cooker feel like new, almost. I hadn't ever bought a gasket for any of my cookers. But my Fagor 4-quart gets used often so after just 5 or so years of being used many times each week, it just didn't seem to work as expected. It was leaking a bit and I figured that spending $10 for a new gasket was a good investment.

Remember that your cooker is only as good as the seal that it makes which is the process for it getting to pressure. And using my cooker is very important so...

Fine Cooking Reviews Fissler Pressure Cooker

Today at the store the checker asked me if I'd like a copy of Fine Cooking magazine that was going to be discarded. I said, "Sure", figuring that there would be something interesting in it. And there was.

They have a review of the Fissler 4.2 quart 10-inch wide pressure cooker. They loved it. Cost: $265 but it comes with a glass lid and a steamer basket. That's a hefty price tag. For about half that amount you can buy a Fagor Duo Combi http://www.pressurecookingonline.com/dvd/pressure-cookers.html set that has 2 cookers and 1 lid, plus a glass lid and a basket.

I cannot comment on the Fissler cooker but hope to get my hands on one sometime soon. It'll have to be a loaner for me to give it a test drive, as I am not likely to spend that kind of money for a pressure cooker since I have a bunch of them already.

To watch me use the pressure cooker you can go to my website at http://www.pressurecookingonline.com/ or look for me on You Tube.

They are safe and make "the new fast food".

Why I Adore My Pressure Cooker

Just a short time ago I presented an all day workshop at the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program in Napa for the staff to teach them about vegetables, whole grains and tofu.


My pressure cookers, as usual, made me look great. In just a few hours, I made a batch of brown rice and 4 vegetable dishes which would have easily taken twice as long with regular cooking. In that time, I made a Garlicky Eggplant Dish, Squash with African Curry and Tomatoes, Tofu with Ginger and Green Beans, and one other dish. The cooking time included all the prep, as I was doing one of my extra-special show, tell and taste demonstrations which are wildly popular.

With a pressure cooker or two I can whip up quick meals anywhere that I have a burner -- at home is best but I can bring my trusty butane burner or camp stove or induction burner (if there's electricity) and I am set to go.

It would take many minutes for me to wax on about why I adore my pressure cooker but if you've read here at all, you know that I do. On the short list of kitchen equipment that I wouldn't want to live without -- the pressure cooker is right there. That is, if I want cooked food.

Pressure Cooking Fresh As Often as I Can

Last week I was pressure cooking Eggplant in Tomato Sauce which took all of 3 minutes at pressure, and was fresh and delicious.


What I have discovered about my summer pressure cooking is that it is much more free form than in winter. I have an abundance of ingredients to use and I do. In the past few days I have made dishes with Old Mother Stollard beans and separately with Marrow Fat beans, both of which were fresh shelling heirloom beans. They were a bit of work but entirely delicious, especially combined with the other fresh and seasonal vegetables that I have.


This time I year I go gaga over Italian Romano (green) beans and eggplant, and tomatoes. My favorite tomato this year is the Cora del Toro or ox heart. It is like a large roma in a strange shape that is meaty and firm and wonderful, sliced into chunks or made into sauce. Unfortunately, I am not growing them but my farmer friends at Triple T Ranch and Farm are. I see them at least twice a week, in a good week, at the Santa Rosa farmer's market.


Since I do free form cooking, I don't seem to tire of what I make since I season at will and add what sounds good a la minute (right then). I may add new potatoes, of various types, or corn off the cob to my concoction, or some chopped fresh okra, or herbs. These are recipes that don't get written down or analyzed, it seems like too much work.


Yesterday I made 3-minute Szechuan Eggplant that I am going to repeat. My eggplant-hating husband even liked it. I was pretty thrilled to have made it. Likely it will be a staple this year. Now to move on to some other delicious dish with my green beans. (Can you hear me swooning?)

Lots of Pressure and it All Goes Well

I have been pressure cooking up a storm lately at many different public venues -- and always making incredibly tasty dishes that people love. But I don't do what I do to make great food (although that's certainly the bonus), but to get people thinking about how easily they can do the same themselves,while being energy efficient.

At Solfest in Hopland, CA last week, I had one of my best audiences ever. I think that it's because they knew that they would be learning about pressure cooking, and that's what they came for. Often people think that they will learn about cooking and I spring the scary (NOT) PC on them. They're still waiting for it to blow up, which it will not do.

I tried to put in the Google link to the info with my handouts from Sol Fest but it didn't work. So, below is the recipe that I made.

I, of course, recommend that you only use an old, noisy, jiggle-top cooker if you like it and have experience. Remember, I don't touch that kind -- for the fear that it will blow up. I'm not into explosions of any kind when it comes to food.

White Bean Soup with Garlic, Tomato and Herbs
Makes 8 1 cup servings
7 minutes high pressure, 10 minute natural pressure release; 2 minutes stovetop
This soup tastes so fresh and the colors are attractive. It’s more energy efficient and way less expensive than going to the store for a can of soup, and you can season it however you want.

2 cups Cannellini (Italian white kidney) or Great Northern beans, presoaked or quick soaked
2 teaspoons oil
1 medium onion, diced to equal 1 cup
3 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic, divided
1 cup diced potatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped plus some sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons grated dairy or soy Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Add the oil to the cooker over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the garlic and sauté 1 minute more.
2. Add the beans, potatoes, broth and bay leaves. Lock on lid. Turn heat to high and bring to high pressure. Set timer for 7 minutes. Turn heat to low to maintain high pressure.
3. When the timer sounds, turn off heat and move pot to a cool spot on the stove. Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
4. Carefully remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaves. Using a hand blender, carefully mix the hot soup until it is mostly creamy, with a few whole beans left in for texture.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until they start to soften. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, basil and remaining garlic. Taste and add lemon juice or vinegar and adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with the cheese and additional chopped parsley and basil, if desired.

© 2008, The Veggie Queen™, Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, http://www.theveggiequeen.com/ or http://www.pressurecookingonline.com/

The Veggie Queen at Sol Fest in Hopland in August

I had been waiting to hear about my cooking demonstration at Sol Fest in Hopland, CA in August. I just found out that I will be presenting Green Cooking in the Pressure Cooker: The New Fast Food on Sunday, August 17th at 11 a.m.

As far as I understand it, this is one of the greenest festivals around - more so than even the Green Festivals. I have never wanted to attend as a speaker before but this year feels like the right time to get people excited about pressure cooking.

I will do a short demo, using local produce, that will likely amaze people in the audience, as usual. I hope that some of you will be there.

Hopland is about an hour and a half north of San Francisco. There will be other amazing speakers there that usually include Amy Goodman, Paul Stamets (right up there on my list of personal faves) and more.

And while I am there, I believe that I can pump some biodiesel for my car. So, mark your calendar and I'll see you there.

The Veggie Queen Cooks Under Pressure on the East Coast

Last week I taught pressure cooking at Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnstown, PA and also at Warren Kitchen and Cutlery in Rhinebeck, New York. Both classes were well received.

I made some amazing Moroccan Chickpeas in Rhinebeck with could become a staple dish for me, along with the quinoa pilaf that I have demonstrated probably 100 times (and this not likely an exaggeration). I also made a 2-minute Vegetable Melange which included fennel which is not usually part of my repertoire (except for occasionally in my roasted vegetables). It turned out perfectly, as I predicted.

I tell everyone to be sure that they use the minimum amount of liquid that the manufacturer recommends, unless they experiment and find out that they can use less which is often the case with the new, spring-valve pressure cookers. I use just enough to bring the cooker up to pressure.

Now, a good number more vegetarians and vegans attending Vegetarian Summerfest are getting on the PC bandwagon, and some of the staff at Warren Kitchen and Cutlery know more about the benefits of pressure cooking. Thanks to those who participated, and may you spread the PC word.

Fagor New 3-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

Word on the street, or at least on the Yahoo Pressure Cooking forum is that the new Fagor 3-in-1 cooker is going to be released soon. Truth is, I have had one to try out for at least a few weeks. Unfortunately, I have been too busy to actually use it. But when I saw the words flying on the page, I decided that it was time to get it out and use it.

I am not a big fan of electric pressure cookers but have only tried one before. I own it and ended up using it more as a heat source at cooking demonstrations instead of actually cooking in it. It's an older model that doesn't have a quick release function and it had a mediocre timer. It was NOT digital, as the new ones are. I hope going digital helps somewhat with the timing. This one also has a quick-release feature.

I've made rice for the first time in it. My observations:

It took almost 5 minutes to get to pressure. Cooking time for rice is set at 6 minutes. You then quick-release the pressure.

Time to check out my 4 quart Fagor Duo to see how it performs. A bit too much basmati rice for me but it's just for testing. My son really likes it so he'll be the beneficiary.

Here are the stats for the Duo 4-quart:

Took 1 minute 20 seconds to come to pressure. 3 minutes at pressure and 5 minutes natural pressure release.

The rice seems virtually the same and the rice in the stove-top cooker is ready in less time.

First experiment down. Stove top pressure cooker triumphs over electric. The pluses for the 3-in-1 -- the removable insert is easy to clean. For some, the fact that it's nonstick teflon will be a plus. I prefer the stainless steel myself.

Until I adjust to using the 3-in-1, I am likely to continue most of my cooking on the stove. But it will be good for testing recipes for my book The Veggie Queen Goes Green: Pressure Cooking Basics.

Watch for more on the 3-in-1 trials, triumphs and failures.

Save Money with Your Pressure Cooker and Vegan Cooking

Having just paid $4.99 per gallon for diesel for my car, I am looking for ways to save money. Luckily I am already happily ensconced in pressure cooking.

I think that most people don't realize the many ways that the sky-rocketing fuel costs are going to impact them. It is going to mean rising food costs. So, to save money, you may have to go with my eating beans and grains once a week (or more) plan.

I'd like to see everyone adopt vegetarian or, even better, vegan eating at least once a week. OK. This may mean eating rice and beans but they don't have to be ordinary rice and beans.

Did you know that it only takes about 5 minutes at pressure to cook pinto or black beans (if they aren't really old)? More recently harvested beans cook more quickly but if you don't have the luxury of buying beans from a local farm or heirloom bean grower such as Rancho Gordo or Tierra Vegetables, you won't likely know the age of your beans.

Last week I demonstrated how to prepare red rice and beans (instead of red beans and rice) in the pressure cooker. The rice (which is whole grain) took 9 minutes at pressure and the beans took 4 minutes at pressure. You can season either any way that you like.

I also made a quick vegetable dish that included scarlet turnips, watermelon daikon, spring onion, garlic and yellow squash which took just one minute at pressure.

My complete meal hardly used any fuel at all, except for the cost of getting the vegetables. But these days I am on my bicycle so the energy that I burn is my own, therefore I am using my fuel well.

I encourage you to do the same -- get a pressure cooker, play with it and enjoy many meat-free days, saving time, money, energy and maybe even your health. And if you feel like it, ride your bicycle.

Acutely Aware of Alliums and other A Vegetables

It's spring and that means a new beginning. And the beginning of the alphabet starts with the letter A. Perhaps that's why this is the season for alliums, artichokes and asparagus. Of course, none of the alliums start with the letter A but it's fun to have some alliteration here.
My market finds this morning included many A veggies including spring onions, green garlic (mostly adolescent but more about that later), garlic scapes, uncured shallots, chives (all alliums) and artichokes.


Currently I am cooking my small artichokes in the pressure cooker. I added a bit of olive oil to the cooker and put in a minced cured garlic clove (first of the season but not local to me), a minced stalk of green garlic, salt, pepper and vegetable broth. The artichokes were sliced in half. After 9 minutes they were tender and delicious and no chokes but just a few tough leaves. I'll do them again if I can get them.

But the green garlic and garlic scapes (the top flowering part of the garlic) are done. And we will move past the A vegetables and get to the rest, including the Zs for zucchini. Oh, I can't wait because that means that tomatoes will also be on their way.

When I Say PC, I Mean Pressure Cooker

For some, PC means politcally correct, but not for me. My PC is pressure cooker. And I am not speaking about the type that comes with the political environment.


I mean that one that you actually use for cooking. For cooking that's fast, easy, tasty, economical, energy saving and more nutritious.


I recently joined a Yahoo pressure cooking group when the moderator contacted me about my DVD. Ray is going to have a contest and wants to offer my DVD, Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look http://www.pressurecookingonline.com/, as a prize.

From what I can tell of the group, they need more instruction on cooking vegetables, beans and grains. Many of the recipes that i have seen so far are very meat-oriented. Or maybe I am just not meat-oriented and notice it more.

Honestly, to be perfectly PC (and this time it does mean politically correct), everyone ought to be cutting back on meat as a way to correct the imbalance in our environment. So, maybe it's time to go PC.

Pressure Cook for More Nutrition

One of the main reasons to use a pressure cooker is because it's so fast but it also makes your food more nutritious. The quick cooking time helps retain nutrients.

The following is from a New York Times story titled , Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables
('http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/nutrition/20well.html');
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By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: May 20, 2008:

That report did not look at the effects of microwaving, but a March 2007 study in The Journal of Food Science looked at the effects of boiling, steaming, microwaving and pressure cooking on the nutrients in broccoli. Steaming and boiling caused a 22 percent to 34 percent loss of vitamin C. Microwaved and pressure-cooked vegetables retained 90 percent of their vitamin C.

Now, that's impressive. The article also had other information that I liked reading, one tidbit stating that including avocadoes with your salad will help you absorb more nutrients. Since I really like avocado, that's good news.

But now I'm off to pressure cook some vegetables so I can improve my nutrition. I hope that you will, too.

It's really not scary and can improve your life in many ways.

Pressure Cooking is So Scary

Well, I would agree that using an old-fashioned pressure cooker like your mother or grandmother owned, was scary. And the stories of beef stew or split pea soup on the ceiling and walls are true.
But the new spring-valve, shiny stainless steel pressure cookers aren't like the old ones. They are quiet, don't hiss or pop, and they have so many safety features that they just can't blow up. I do believe that some of my junior college cooking students have tried to make it happen but without success.
The one drawback to them is that they are so quiet that it's possible to walk away from your cooker and forget that it was ever on the stove. In that case, you'll likely have a very burnt-bottomed pot that requires a lot of work to get it clean. But it will come clean.
And so will I -- I am a pressure cooking teacher. I sing the praises of pressure cooking whenever and wherever I can. That's why I am here.
I also have a pressure cooking website http://www.pressurecookingonline.com that you can check out.
I am going to post more about pressure cooking here, along with some recipes. I hope that you'll decide to join me on this green journey.