Emily Paster - Instantly Mediterranean: Vibrant, Satisfying Recipes for Your Instant Pot®, Electric Pressure Cooker, and Air Fryer

Instantly Mediterranean

Vibrant, Satisfying Recipes for Your Instant Pot, Electric Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer

Emily Paster

with Photography by Leigh Olson

An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Copyright 2021 by Emily Paster

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Tiller Press trade paperback edition September 2021

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Cover and interior design by Matt Ryan

Photography by Leigh Olson

Author by Doug McGoldrick

Cover design by Matt Ryan

Cover photographs by Leigh Olson

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Paster, Emily, author. | Olson, Leigh, photographer.

Title: Instantly Mediterranean : vibrant, satisfying recipes for your

Instant Pot, electric pressure cooker, and air fryer / by Emily Paster ; photography by Leigh Olson.

Description: New York : Tiller Press, [2021] | Includes index. | Summary:

Discover how to make delicious, mouthwatering Mediterranean recipes

right in your electric pressure cooker and air fryer Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021005810 (print) | LCCN 2021005811 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982173074 (paperback) | ISBN 9781982173081 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, Mediterranean. | Smart cookers. | Hot air frying. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX725.M35 P37 2021 (print) | LCC TX725.M35 (ebook) | DDC 641.59/1822--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005810

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005811

ISBN 978-1-9821-7307-4

ISBN 978-1-9821-7308-1 (ebook)

To my daughter, Zo Regenstein, a Jewish girl with a Greek name.

You first saw the Mediterranean only a few months before I started writing this book, but you have always understood the importance of a coastline, sparkling water, and, above all, good food.

For the past several years, I have used it nearly every day, whether I am steaming a dozen hard-boiled eggs to satisfy a ravenous teenage boy; turning chicken bones into rich, golden stock; or making a one-pot dinner for my family. I have been amazed by all the different ways the Instant Pot makes my life easier. Not only does it allow me to cook certain dishesand foodsthat previously seemed too time-consuming, but the hands-off nature of todays electric pressure cookers also makes it easy to prepare meals in advance to accommodate my kids crazy schedules. In short, these appliances are a godsend for a busy working parent like me.

More recently, another appliance has come into my life: the air fryer. Like many people, at first I thought the air fryer was a one-trick pony, designed to make fried foods without all the fat of deep-frying. I quickly learned that air fryers can do so much more. They deliver crispy chicken, caramelized vegetables, and seared-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside meat and fishall in a fraction of the time it would take in the oven. The air fryer has quickly become my familys go-to appliance for reheating leftovers, roasting vegetables, and, of course, creating healthier versions of deep-fried favorites. In short, my electric pressure cooker and my air fryer have become important allies in the ongoing fight to make mealtime easier, more convenient, and less stressful.

One of the main reasons I have embraced the electric pressure cooker and the air fryer so enthusiastically in both my personal and professional lives is that these appliances not only make it easier to cook in general, but have made it easier for me to cook my very favorite types of food. Pressure cooking, in particular, allows me, in my everyday working-mom life, to cook the kinds of foods I used to cook before I had children and the kinds of dishes I make when I am developing recipes for workhealthy foods like beans, legumes, and whole grains; elegant soups and hearty stews; and succulent braised meats.

I began to realize that by using these beloved kitchen appliances, it was easier than ever for me to cook the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African foods that are my passion. It also occurred to me that many home cooks are likewise drawn to Mediterranean cuisine, with its reputation for rich flavors and healthfulness, and that these appliances could make it more accessible and realistic for them as well. It was then that the idea for this book was born.

I first dipped my toes in the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea on a family trip to Provence and the South of France when I was fourteen years old. My most recent visit to the Mediterranean was in late 2019, when my husband and I took our teenage children to Israel and Jordan. Between 1988 and 2019, I was lucky enough to travel to many parts of Spain and Italy, as well as return to France many times. In collegewhere I majored in FrenchI spent a year living in Paris with the Zmors, a Sephardic Jewish family who hailed from Algeria but had moved to France when Algeria gained its independence in the 1950s. During that year with my generous and warm hosts, I ate extraordinary French and North African food and celebrated a years worth of Jewish holidays in the Sephardic traditionexperiences that altered me forever.

My travels around the Mediterranean, my formative experience living with a North African Jewish family in France, and my own Jewish identity have all contributed to my abiding passion for and interest in the food of the Mediterranean. As a food writer and recipe developer, I have spent years learning about and cooking the food of this regionwith a focus on the cuisines of the Sephardic Jews and Israel in particular. I have come to the conclusion that Mediterranean food (about which I will say much more in the pages that follow) is among the healthiest, most sustainable, and tastiest food in the world. And now it is easier than ever to prepare this food at home in a way that fits our hectic contemporary lifestyle. I am thrilled to show you how to use your electric pressure cooker and air fryer to make Mediterranean cuisine if not quite in an instant, then at least in less time than ever before.

There is nothing more Mediterranean than taking delight in preparing delicious, nourishing food and serving it to friends, family, and cherished guests. It is my sincere hope that whether you are cooking dinner on a busy weeknight or preparing a holiday feast for a crowd, these recipes will help you channel that Mediterranean spirit in your own kitchen.