Sass - Pressure perfect: two hour taste in twenty minutes using your pressure cooker

If you are one of those hurry-up cooks who dreams of getting a fork-tender beef stew on the table in half an hour, youve discovered the right book. For healthy, homemade fast food, the pressure cooker cant be beat.

Pressure cooking first became popular in America during the Second World War when Rosie the Riveter came home from her shift and had to make dinner for the kids. The cookers popularity waned during the fifties when America discovered frozen food and TV dinners. But, by the late eighties, with the introduction of newly designed, 100-percent safe cookers from Europe, pressure cooking started making an impressive comeback. Who could resist a pot that produced soul-satisfying soups and stews in one-third the standard cooking time?

I certainly couldnt. I was first introduced to pressure cooking by my mom, who had carted a cooker back from India where she had eaten curries and dals prepared in minutes rather than hours. After eating a few of her delicious creations, I bought my own pressure cooker and began experimenting. My excitement with the results inspired me to write Cooking Under Pressure, published in 1989.

Between then and now, Ive continued to cook under pressure. (Who doesnt nowadays?) I love good food, but Im not patient about waiting for it to be done. If I can make that fork-tender beef stew in thirty minutes rather than ninety, theres a good chance Ill make the beef stew.

Pressure Perfect is really two books in one: it teaches you how to make the most of your pressure cooker and also offers you over two hundred recipes to add to your repertoire. I had a lot of fun creating new recipes for this book, largely because I dropped any preconceived notions about what the cooker could and could not do. As a result, I was able to create enticing recipes for pasta, fish, risottos, meatloafs, and cheesecakes (yes, cheesecakes!), in addition to all of the splendid soups, stews, ribs, and pot roasts that the pressure cooker is known to do so well.

And were not talking about fifties food here: gray pot roast and limp string beans. Glance through the recipes and youll discover contemporary dishes with vivid color and flavor on every page.

Since the pressure cooker came into my life close to twenty years ago, Ive eaten better and saved money as well as time. Now Id like to share with you all that Ive learned. I invite you to experience the surprise and delight that awaits every cook who unlocks the lid of a pressure cooker and sees what magic has transpired within.

Happy Cooking!

Lorna Sass

New York City

If you need information on purchasing a pressure cooker or would like to share your recipes or reactions, Id be happy to hear from you. (Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if requesting a response.) Write to me c/o Cooking Under Pressure, P.O. Box 704, New York, NY 10024.