2010 The Year of the Pressure Cooker Declares Lorna Sass

My friend, colleague and pressure cooking mentor, Lorna Sass, the Queen of pressure cooking, shared the following blog post for me to share with you. I hope that you will agree that the time has come for the pressure cooker to make its comeback. As I told Lorna, sometimes it takes 20 years for something to become an "overnight" success. This year Lorna has a newly revised and updated version of her seminal book, Cooking Under Pressure. Please read on for what Lorna has to say...

For the Chinese, February 14 will begin the Year of the Tiger. For Mac users, it’s the Year of the Snow Leopard. For me, it’s the Year of the Pressure Cooker.

Just when I was about to give up hope that American cooks would ever give up their paranoia about the dangers of pressure cooking, some very good things began to happen.


Carolyn Russock pressure-cooked her way through the 20th anniversary edition of COOKING UNDER PRESSURE and wrote rave reviews of the 30-minute chicken broth and French-style beef stew, the 4-minute risotto, and the ultra-fast baked beans in a 5-day series for the very popular foodie blog, Serious Eats. Dozens of comments document the growing number of the people who are pressure cooking on a daily basis and understand that today’s cookers are 100% safe.

The same week, Paula Crossfield wrote an enthusiastic column for popular online blog, Bitten about how she became a pressure cooker convert. Again lots of enthusiastic cooks wrote in to sing their praises of pressure cooking.

An NPR piece on pressure cooking is soon to hit the national airwaves, and a few other major voices are about to get the word out that pressure cooking is not only safe, but terrific for what I call the four P’s: planet, palate, person, and purse.

Great for the planet because it’s so fuel efficient.

Great for the palate because the pressure-cooker mingles flavors quickly, giving food the soul-satisfying appeal of a long-cooked meal.

Great for the person because even the hurried or impatient cook can prepare healthy food in a flash.

Great for the purse because the pressure cooker is ace at tenderizing tough cuts of meat and cooking whole grains, beans and other inexpensive ingredients in record time.

How does the pressure cooker work its magic? In the vacuum-sealed cooker, water boils at 242 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the standard 212 degrees. At this higher-than-normal boiling point temperature, food cooks in one-third or less the normal time. That’s why many Top Chefs are relying on the pressure cooker to help them win.

I’m no Top Chef in any kind of competition, but last Sunday was so cold out that I was tempted to stay in bed and read. Then hunger struck. I didn’t want to go out and shop, so I decided to devise a hearty pressure-cooked soup from ingredients in my pantry.

In celebration of the Year of the Pressure Cooker, I put on my chef’s jacket and asked The Sweetie to make a video of the process. About 30 minutes later we were eating a mighty fine Curried Split Pea Soup that cost under $8 and made 4 hearty portions.

Take a look at the video and then let me know if you decide to help make 2010 the Year of the Pressure Cooker, all the while eating better, faster, cheaper, and more eco-friendly than you ever have before.

In the first video, I show you how to assemble the ingredients in the pressure cooker and lock on the lid. In the second, I show you how to release the pressure and stir in some last-minute ingredients for a punch for flavor and a fresh finish.

NOTE: Due to my technological inability to put videos on this site, I will refer you to Lorna's original post on her site so that you can see the videos or you can look at the You Tube video directly.

I hope that you'll help convert more people to the joys of pressure cooking. Please leave a comment on this blog if you love pressure cooking and tell me about your favorite dish.

Will Blog for Lunch, Dinner or Breakfast: Quickly in my Pressure Cooker

Some bloggers concoct recipes because they have a keen desire to publish and photograph them. I have a keen desire to eat -- at least 3 meals and a number of snacks a day. Since this is a blog about pressure cooking, I am not going to mention any raw food that I eat, but I do that, too.



Today, I did a take off of one of my own recipes for the pressure cooker: Green and Red Bean African Curry which is a riff on an African Curry recipe that I learned from Shuli and Ronit of Whole Spice, which is where I get the mighty delicious African curry powder.

Today the curry did not contain red beans (kidney) but did have marinated Zesty Lemon tempeh from Lightlife Foods, as well as potatoes. At the end of cooking I added some corn cut off the cob, which I cooked on the cob last night for 2 minutes in the pressure cooker.

The whole dish requires about 3 minutes at pressure. I say about because I used freshly dug potatoes and they sometimes only require a couple of minutes cooking. I do this dish in increments, using a quick release in between.

Here's what I discovered:

1. I was hungry and I ate a lot of this for lunch.
2. I prefer to marinate my own tempeh and do not care for the Lightlife but like the Turtle Island brand marinated tempeh better.
3. The dish really does taste better with kidney beans but I didn't have any, and wanted a protein component.
4. This curry, like many others, is highly adaptable and many seasonal vegetables could be added or substituted. I thought about adding summer squash or greens but that thought quickly left my head as I started cooking because I was so hungry.
5. I still love my pressure cooker and what it does for me, and how quickly it does it. I can have a meal in almost no time -- less than 15 minutes from cutting board to mouth.

And that's why I blog -- for meals. If you want the recipe for the African curry, please leave a comment or email me jill@pressurecookingonline.com.

If you are interested in learning more about pressure cookers or how to use them please visit my pressure cooking website.

Pressure Cooking Millet Stuffed Artichokes

Susan from Fat Free Vegan just wrote a wonderful post about Millet-Stuffed Artichokes. What Susan didn't say is that you can cook the millet in the pressure cooker in just 5 minutes at pressure. Read about cooking millet here.

Don't underestimate what your pressure cooker can do for you. It's the most amazing piece of cookware that I own, and use it almost daily. In fact, I just came back from visiting my mother and now she has a pressure cooker, thanks to her daughter (that's me). And I got to use hers. What a joy.

My sisters both have, and use, pressure cookers, too. If you want to help the people that you love eat better tasting and, possibly better-for-them, food buy them a pressure cooker and teach them how to use it. You can watch the beginning of my DVD here or watch my You Tube videos at TheVQ. I am also always happy to answer any questions that you have. You can leave comments here or email me at jill@pressurecookingonline.

Here's to a great PC experience -- artichokes and all.

Getting People Excited About Pressure Cooking

I am just returning from a half-day workshop that I presented to the employees of the San Diego Red Cross WIC (Women, Infant's and Children) office. There's nothing like packing one's pressure cooker in their suitcase, as I did but it worked out just fine. Cooking while on the road, without a kitchen, isn't my favorite thing to do but I can certainly handle it.

I made red and white quinoa, and along with it I made a tempeh dish with dried mushrooms, red and orange peppers, finished with pea shoot sprouts. It was mixed with Drew's shiitake ginger dressing, as a way to get around buying entire bottles of tamari and olive oil. I didn't taste it but it smelled heavenly to me.

Since today was the Great American Meat-Out, I got to showcase vegetarian foods, along with the microgreens and edible flower products from Fresh Origins. I tell you that you haven't lived until you've tried baby orchids which taste something like cucumbers. The Buzz buttons (or at least that's what I think that they were called, were quite interesting for people since they make your tongue tingle.) Tofurky donated the 5 Grain tempeh which was excellent. I don't get it at my store so I was especially happy to serve it.

The topic of my talk was Mindful Eating to Boost Your Energy and Soothe Your Soul. I think that I presented enough ways for people to become more mindful of their eating, along with ways for them to carry it out such as batch cooking, and using the freezer as your pantry. This is one of my favorite ways to make my cooking life easy.

Using the pressure cooker also makes it fast. So no need to buy frozen brown rice when you can make your own.

My biggest hope with the group was that I could help dispel the myths that pressure cookers are dangerous and can blow up, while introducing the group of almost 100 to foods that they'd never tried. I am sure that I did that. The pressure cooking went on without a hitch and my cooker is once again packed in my suitcase, awaiting its return trip to Santa Rosa. (Think 38 pound suitcase, ugh.) I still think that home-cooking is best so give it a try without taking it on the road.

Veggie Queen Cooks Under Pressure with John Ash

I am rushing off to the farmer's market to buy ingredients so that I can appear on the radio this morning. I will be demonstrating live, how to use a pressure cooker to make 2 of the recipes on my DVD Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes. I will be on KSRO, 1350 am here in Sonoma County, on the Good Food Hour with John Ash and Steve Garner at 11 am PST.

I will be making Shane's Fabulous Lentil Soup and Market Fresh Breakfast Tofu, Potatoes and Vegetables. I have not yet done live radio pressure cooking but I am sure that all will go just fine. It's a beautiful day and we will be out at Bassignani's Nursery in Sebastopol on a live broadcast.

I am really excited to see what gems appear at the market this morning to go into my vegetable dish. That surely will help relieve the pressure.

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.

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.

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.

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.