The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook
200 FAST AND FOOLPROOF RECIPES FOR EVERY KIND OF MACHINE
BARBARA SCHIEVING
Creator of the popular blog Pressure Cooking Today
Preface: Under Pressure
Like many of you, Im a busy mom and under pressure to get delicious, healthy meals on the table fast. Now, thanks to my electric pressure cooker, mealtime has never been quicker or easier.
Growing up, my mom used an old-fashioned stovetop pressure cooker to cook a pot roast on Sundays. The regulator on top wiggled and jiggled and made scary noises. It always made me a little nervousalthough I was too little to remember, my older siblings loved to tell the story of when my stepmothers old stovetop pressure cooker exploded, blasting food everywhereeven the ceiling! Still, despite that mishap, I grew up knowing meals made in a pressure cooker were fast and delicious.
Pressure cookers fell out of favor at my house when my mom got her first microwave. While theres no denying a microwaves convenience, its simply not possible to get the rich flavor of a long-simmered meal from a microwave.
Many years later, after becoming a mom myself, I began hearing about electric pressure cookers. I was impressed when I read how much pressure cooker technology had improved and saw all the safety features on the new pressure cookers. I was also intrigued by how easy electric pressure cookers were to useset-it-and-forget-it easy. I also remembered the home-cooked dinners of my childhood and knew I had to try one.
I really did fall in love with my electric pressure cooker after making my first recipe. I appreciated how quick and easy it was to make meals in the pressure cooker, and I loved having only one pot to wash. And the food tasted greattender, fall-apart meats; soups that tasted as though theyd simmered for hours; and pasta and rice dishes cooked to perfection.
All 200 recipes in this cookbook are recipes I enjoy with my family. Ive included 50 of the most popular recipes from my website, Pressure Cooking Today (www.pressurecookingtoday.com), and created 150 all-new electric pressure cooker recipes that Im sure will become new favorites. The recipes in this cookbook are a good mix of old-fashioned American favorites, international cuisines with an American flair, and healthy meals with trendy ingredients. Of course, I had to include some decadently delicious pressure cooker desserts as well. Im so excited to share these new recipes with you!
Thanks for joining me on my journey to make quicker and better-tasting meals using todays modern, easy-to-use electric pressure cookers.
Barbara Schieving
Introduction: Getting the Most from Your Electric Pressure Cooker
There is a pressure cooking renaissance going on right now. You can make better tasting meals in a fraction of the time using todays modern, easy-to-use electric pressure cookers. As with any new tool, there are a few things youll need to know before you get cookinglets get started.
ADVANTAGES OF USING AN ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
Pressure cooking, in general, offers certain advantages over the oven, stove, or slow cooker.
FASTER COOK TIME. Electric pressure cookers let you cook meats, stews, soups, beans, stocks, and broths in a fraction of the time they take to cook on the stove, in the oven, or with the slow cookerand foods still taste like theyve been cooking for hours!
BETTER FLAVOR. The pressure inside the pot raises the boiling point, which forces liquid into tough foods, making them tender, and the high heat promotes caramelization, adding depth of flavor.
BETTER NUTRIENT RETENTION. The longer you cook fruits and vegetables in water, the more nutrients they lose. When you pressure cook your vegetables, you use a shorter cook timekeeping nutrients in your food and making your meals healthier.
COOK FROM FROZEN. Forget to thaw the meat? No problem! No thawing required before pressure cooking. (This works best for smaller cuts of meat.)
COST SAVINGS. Ovens and stoves use a lot of energy as they cook. Pressure cookers require less energy, have shorter cook times, and dont heat up your house.
EASY CLEANUP. One-pot cooking means only one pot to clean.
In addition, there are some unique advantages to electric pressure cookers instead of stovetop pressure cookers:
SAFETY. Electric pressure cookers have several built-in safety features to prevent mishaps, including automatic pressure control, heating and pressure sensors, lid detection, and heating plates that distribute heat evenly.
CONVENIENCE. You dont have to stand at the stove to adjust the heat so that whatever youre cooking doesnt boil overthe electric pressure cooker automatically regulates the heat and pressure. Go play with your kids, pay bills, or clean the kitchen and set the table while the electric pressure cooker does all the work.
CONSISTENT RESULTS. Once you figure out the right cook time for your pressure cooker youll come back to a perfectly cooked dishevery time.
KEEP WARM SETTING. Unlike a stovetop pressure cooker, you dont need to worry about being home to turn off the pot; most electric pressure cookers automatically switch to the Keep Warm setting when the pressure cook time ends.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
The earliest pressure cookers were created on a simple concept: Food cooks hotter and faster inside a pressure-sealed pot. (The scientific explanation involves raising the boiling point of water, which allows pressure cookers to cook food about 40F (4.5C) hotter than it could cook on the stovetop.) Electric pressure cookers use technology to enhance this processfor instance, by using sensors to regulate the temperature and pressure automatically inside the pot during cooking.
Electric pressure cookers place the cooking pot inside a housing unit that includes a heating element and sensors as well as the operating controls. The lid contains a gasket to ensure it fits snugly against the housing and a pressure release valve and small float valve that allow pressure to release safely, if needed.