Pressure Cooker Recipes and Resources

Santa gave me a great new pressure cooker for a Christmas present. In the length of time it takes to drive to the local burger barn, or to get pizza delivered, I can cook for the family. I'm almost excited.

The recipe book which came with the cooker lists 12 recipes. Three of the recipes are really food for my family and the other nine make me want to go out for hamburgers. Does anyone out there have sensible good, fast pressure cooker recipes? Thanks.
Teri and her guys

Here are some good sites that might help:

The Kitchen Link - Crock Pot Recipes / Slow C... (this also has pressure cooker recipes)
Pressure Cooking Recipes - Home Cooking
-- Penny

My suggest is that you use your imagination. Throw in a ham, pinapples, some brown sugar and you've got dinner. Put in a whole chicken stuffed with seasoning. Eat the chicken one night and save everything else for soup the next. You have the broth and the extra chicken. All you need to add is noodles or dumplings.

Try a pot roast with carrots, onions, mushroom, and potatoes. A great dinner that looks like you slaved for hours. Or try stew meat, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, etc. and you've got beef stew.
Gail of Red Hill, PA

Get out your old casserole cook books and go for your life! I find that most of my old favourites work just as well in the pressure cooker (usually better!) with a couple of minor adjustments to the water/moisture content. Depending on the pressure cooker, you can usually do your browning or braising in them as well - I like to get inexpensive lamb chops on sale at the supermarket, brown them in the pressure cooker with a little sprayed on oil and some sliced onion, then I add whatever I have in the way of extra vegetables, a little stock/water/wine and cook for 15 minutes (once it's steaming). It's quick enough to have on the table in less than 30 minutes after we get home from work.

My quickest soup recipe is 1.25 cups of lentils/split peas, 5 cups of beef stock, one onion chopped, and a tin of chopped or crushed tomatoes (whichever was on special!) with my favourite dried herbs. It takes about 30 minutes (depending on the dried pulse you use - less for red lentils and split peas, longer for brown lentils) and can then be blended if you like a finer soup or served with big chunks. It's thick enough to make a weekend family lunch with bread or garlic bread and the almost total lack of preparation makes it very simple to make!
Kristen (from Port Lincoln, Australia)

I've had my pressure cooker for years and I just love it! My family of 4 loves my roast beef with carrots and potatoes. First, you brown the meat with a little bit of oil (inside of the pressure cooker), then you drain the oil. I have a rack that has holes that came with mine. (it's old) Put the meat on top of this plate (if you don't have one, no big deal) and pour water half way up the side of the meat.Season to taste. After it starts to jingle cook the meat for 1 hour. After the hour is up, put your potatoes and carrots in. I use fresh carrots. After it starts to jingle again, cook it for another 10-15 minutes. And then enjoy! Also, I do stuffed green peppers. Here is the recipe for this.

large green peppers
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef (I use ground turkey)
1 Tbsp. chopped onion
1 c. dry bread crumbs (1-1/2 to 2 cups with ground turkey)
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 - 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 can tomatoes ( cut, whole - large can)
1 small can tomato puree

Take the core out of the green peppers and wash out the seeds. Mix together all the ingredients except for the tomato sauce, tomatoes and tomato puree. Stuff the mix in the green peppers. Place them into the cooker standing up. If you have the rack with the holes, place it in the cooker first. Then start adding all the tomato ingredients around the stuffed peppers. Add 3 cups of water after the tomato ingredients are in. The water should be 1/2 way up the peppers. Then just wait for the jingle and let cook for only 20 minutes.
B.

I use a pressure cooker during the winter months. It makes great "comfort food" meals. If you season your meat to your liking you get tender meat with good gravy in a short amount of time. The three meals that I make the most are basic round steak, chicken, and pork steak. ( also I found that I had to go heavy- handed with the spices I like or the food was too bland.)

For the Round Steak, I cut the meat into portion sizes. I season with fresh ground black pepper, paprika, seasoned salt, marjoram and thyme. Using a small amount of oil, I brown the meat well on both sides, throwing in some chopped onion with each batch of meat. Then I add enough water to cover the meat with a teaspoon of beef bouillon for each cup of water. Cook according to the directions of the pressure cooker, or 12-15 minutes after the weight starts to gently rock. I do the quick cool down under cold water. Remove meat and thicken the gravy with either flour & water paste or cornstarch and water paste. I serve with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli or carrots.

Pork Steaks are basically the same but I adjust my seasonings (leave out seasoned salt and add parsley) and cover with chicken broth, and since they cook up in about 10 - 12 minutes or so, I add peeled carrots to the pot with the browned meat. I serve with noodles or rice.

For the chicken I use boneless skinless breasts that I season with parsley and black pepper and maybe a little garlic powder. But I don't brown the meat. I just cover with chicken broth and add whole carrots and celery and cook for about 12 - 15 minutes. I thicken the sauce with cornstarch paste and serve with rice.

I have three children. One will eat anything and the other two are extremely picky and all three will eat meals prepared in this manner. Hope it helps!
LM

I highly recommend Lorna Sass's books on pressure cooking. She has one version for meat eaters and one vegetarian version. I have found the vegetarian one at my local library, so you might try that if you are not interested in buying them, or want to try before you buy. Both of the books are titled Cooking Under Pressure.
Shay G.

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

If you liked this article why not sign up for our free money-saving email alerts? Your bonus? 209 ways to save on groceries.

Follow The Dollar Stretcher on Twitter.

I Would like to:

• Read other articles on this topic
  
• See what else is in this issue
  
• Subscribe to "The Dollar Stretcher" free weekly email newsletter
  
• visit the Problem Solving Center
  
• visit the Reference Library
  
• browse the 'author' index
  
• search 'by date' index
  
• check out Past Issues of Newsletter
  
• go see 'What's New'
  
• "Can You Help This Reader?"
  
• drop by 'Tips, Quips & Quotes'
  
• send email to the Editor of "The Dollar Stretcher"