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?)