My mother always used what’s called in French “cocotte minute”, literally meaning “minute casserole”. The name basically illustrates the speed at which it cooks. A recipe that would take 2 hours to cook in a traditional casserole would cook in 30 minutes or less in a pressure cooker.
I particularly like pressure cooking meat dishes. The meat comes out so tender and juicy! My favorites are stew meat: Beef Bourguignon, Beef Daube, Osso Buco and many more. Last year I posted a "Veal Sauté” cooked in 25 minutes.
In fact I rarely use the oven to cook meat. I remember the first time I bought smoked meat that needs to be cooked, the instructions on the package say to cook it in the oven. Since this was my first experience I followed the instructions. It took for ever (I am not a very patient person) but came out ok, I must say. The second time, I cut the big long chunk in two so it can fit in my pressure cooker. And O Miracle, within half hour, we had a flaky, juicy smoked meat to die for. Needless to say I never cooked it in the oven again!
Oh I almost forgot my infamous leg of lamb in the pressure cooker. I will have to post the recipe one day.
OK, now I have to admit the split peas gave me a hard time at the beginning. They make a lot of foam and this clogs the regulator. I figured out how to avoid it now: give them a boil while preparing the other ingredients then rinse thoroughly prior to cooking them in the Presto. This will eliminate the foam.
Bottom line, I use it almost every day. It is the fastest way to cook your meals. That’s how I am able to cook a Veal Saute and pea soup during weekdays.
Any other fan out there? Please share your experience, comments etc...
For those of you who might be interested, my pressure cooker is an older version of this Lagostina model.
Hi Mony, I have never used a pressure cooker, mainly because my parents always said they are dangerous to use and can explode! Your meal looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with all my family using it for each meal, even my grand mother who was illiterate. I have never seen an accident around me. It is quite safe really. It has 2 safety features: 1) a safety button that pops up and release pressure if there is too much pressure, 2)the lid is locked in when the pressure reaches a certain level so you cannot open it and burn or hurt yourself. The only precaution that you must take is to release completely all the pressure before opening it, which can be done easily by putting the pressure cooker under the tap. The water will cool it down faster.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps.