Cooking Adventures: Pressure cooking times

Not too long ago, I stumbled upon this amazing site called Hip Pressure Cooking. Interesting name, right?

Of course I was curious, I know a lot about canning with my large 23 qt. pressure cooker.

Vitamin Retention

I also know that many myths about pressure cooking, such as most of the nutrients are lost, are simply not true! But I don’t know a lot about preparing meals with a small pressure cooker! Browsing through the site I can see it’ll come in handy since I recently purchased my Presto 8 qt. pressure cooker.

I was thrilled to see an extensive list of food that could be cooked within the pressure cooker complete with the cooking times.

Wow, I was blown away by the cooking times for some of the foods. Some of those items used to take me hours to complete, not so with a pressure cooker. For example basmati rice takes one minute to make. Boneless chicken breasts take four to five minutes! Four to five minutes, oh my that’s fast!

Pressure Cooker cartoon

 

So if you want to check out pressure cooking times, definitely look at this site.

While browsing through this informative site, I thought about Suituapui. He left the below comment on my post about Siga Wot, Ethiopian Beef Stew. It made me smile…

15 minutes!!! That would take hours over the gas stove…and the meat would still be as tough as leather…and many many hours if using the slow cooker. Hmmm…I must look for a small one, if not here…maybe when I hop over to Kuala Lumpur again. :(

Based on his comment above, he might be blown away by the limited cook time on some of these dishes, and purchase his own. Even a multi-tasker like me, would appreciate not having to constantly watch something since that time can be spent doing other things.

I instantly thought of this scripture passages that  he’d linked too in one of his blog posts

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

New American Standard Bible

I’ve always loved this passage, I’m definitely more of a “Mary” than a “Martha”. At times we need to relax and spend time more time with those we love, the other stuff can wait.

Admittedly, my reasons for wanting Suituapui to get a pressure cooker are a bit selfish. You see, I truly enjoy Arthur’s site since it opens a window to some amazing foods I’ve never heard about.

He’s a great virtual host and is an incredible source of inspiration, not only with the food he prepares, but also his amazing relationship with his daughter.

Food Adventures: Ethiopian Cuisine; Siga Wot (Ethiopian Beef Stew)

As suspected, my Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker makes meat extremely tender. I didn’t taste it, but my  daughter and father told me it was tender.

Siga Wot Ethiopian Beef Stew_1
Adding ingredients to make my Siga Wot

 

A few hours ago, I made Siga Wot for both of them. My mother is working so I made enough for my father. I cut the beef into cubes and trimmed off the fat; there wasn’t much to trim. I also added tomatoes, garlic, basil, herbal tea and a variety of spices and herbs.

Before I added all the ingredients, I seared the beef in a bit of olive oil (to lock in the juices.) I wanted the beef cubes to be moist and tender. I used my brand-new 8 qt. pressure cooker!  Once I’d finished searing the beef, I added the remaining ingredients, and closed the lid so the pressure cooking could begin. I’m still new to making anything besides dried beans in a pressure cooker, so there’s a lot to learn. I referred to the included booklet to see how long I needed to pressure cook the beef.

Siga Wot Ethiopian Beef Stew_2 - Copy

 

Total cook time was fifteen minutes. I took off the pressure cooker lid, after the pressure had been released and saw this… as you can see there is a lot of liquid! I imagine this would make a nice  beef stock, if you didn’t want to use the liquid with your stew.

Siga Wot Ethiopian Beef Stew_3 - Copy
Siga Wot Ethiopian Beef Stew made in my pressure cooker

 

My daughter and father said this turned out very well. I must say it did smell delicious! It was simple to make, delicious, according to them, and definitely nutritious! Sure I’m vegan, but I do take the time to prepare non-vegan/vegetarian meals for my loved ones. Why? I want to make sure they are eating healthy foods also.

Besides this dish, there was also Tikil Gomen (Ethiopian Cabbage dish) which was made yesterday. Guess what? That dish tasted even better today! You know how that is, some dishes taste even better once it has marinated. Additionally, there were garbanzo beans. I’d made those in the Pressure Cooker yesterday.

I’ll definitely write a post about my Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker after I have had the chance to use it for a while. Thus far, I’m extremely impressed since it greatly reduces the cook time of the variety of foods I’ve prepared. Although I’ve only had it one day, I’ve already made a lot of foods with my pressure cooker.

Cooking Adventures: Ethiopian Cuisine; Tikil Gomen (Vegan)

Earlier today…

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Vegan_2
Ethiopian Cuisine; Tikil Gomen (Vegan)

 

I satisfied my craving for Ethiopian food and made Tikil Gomen (Ethiopian cabbage dish.)

I gathered the ingredients together…

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Ingredients_1
Yellow onions…

 

Onions were chopped and set aside

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Ingredients_4
finely chopped garlic…

 

Along with garlic, must not forget that!

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Ingredients_2
Cubed potatoes fresh from the garden…

 

Oh, we must not forget the potatoes. Guess what? They were dug up from our garden…

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Ingredients_3
Head of cabbage (cubed) from our garden…

 

We most certainly can’t forget the main ingredient… cabbage! Yes, this came from our garden also!

 

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Ingredients_5
Thinly sliced carrots…

 

Whoops, before I close the pot, I must add carrots and add some spices and herbs!

Presto 8qt. Pressure Cooker

 

I guess it’s time to close my Presto 8qt. Pressure Cooker.

Ethiopian Cuisine Tikil Gomen_Vegan_2
Ethiopian Cuisine; Tikil Gomen (Vegan)

 

Ten minutes later, I opened the Pressure Cooker and was greeted with the wonderful aroma of this lovely Ethiopian dish… cooked to perfection!

There are a few firsts with this recipe. It’s the first time that I’ve made Tikil Gomen for my daughter. She really enjoyed it immensely. It’s also the first time I used my Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker, it arrived earlier today.

I must say, I really love the Pressure Cooker. Now I don’t have to look longingly at my 23 qt. Pressure Cooker that I use for canning. The Pressure Cooker makes everything tender. I imagine it would do an awesome job with meat.

Tomorrow I’m making Siga Wot (Ethiopian beef stew) for my daughter. Since my mother is working, I’ll be sure to make enough for my father.

 

Food Cravings: Taste of Africa; exploring Ethiopian cuisine

Recently I’ve been craving African food! African cuisine is something I prepare several times monthly. When I had the site Vegan Momma, one of the posts that received the most hits was an African peanut soup that I’d made. My goodness, was that good.

There are different African cuisines that I want to prepare; Egyptian, Kenyan etc.,  but top on the list is Ethiopian cuisine.

Ethiopian cuisine

An explosion of flavors just waiting to be devoured! But I must admit, the idea of eating food with your hands is a bit interesting… of course, my inner germaphobe, is trying not to think about the other people sharing the meal with me, since they meal is typically scooped with injera bread. But… If I keep those who partake of it simple such as just sharing with my daughter… then I won’t be repulsed by the thought.

The great thing about having such a diverse group of friends who also love to cook, means I get to taste meals like they were prepared in the originating country and since I’m open-minded to trying different  cuisines, I don’t miss out on some truly delicious cuisine.

I just checked Amazon, and it shows my Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker has been delivered, so when I arrive home, I do believe I’ll make some Ethiopian dish later today.

Cooking adventures: Stir fry broccoli, carrots, okra and habanero peppers; breakfast

A few moments ago…

Vegetarian broccoli, okra, carrots and eggs_2
Breakfast: Stir fry veggies with habanero peppers and eggs

 

I made this quick breakfast. It’s a very simple meal consisting of broccoli, carrots, okra and habanero peppers, they all came together to make a tasty meal. I made a vegetarian and vegan version. This version has the egg.

All the vegetables, with the exception of the onions, came from the garden. A few spices like turmeric were also added to increase the diversity of our morning breakfast. Simple to make, nutritious and delicious!

The okra, is different than the okra that I’ve planted before (or could find in most of the grocery stores here in the USA.)  It’s some type of Indian okra and it has much less slime. Last year, I received the seeds from some of my Asian Indian friends and naturally I planted them. But even with the traditional okra, there’s a way to reduce the slime when cooking…

In other news…

Logging into Amazon, it appears that my Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker should arrive some time today. As mentioned in other posts, I already have a 23  qt. Pressure Cooker, but I use that exclusively for canning. I’m not about to be lugging that out just to cook a family meal. If I do receive the smaller Pressure Cooker today, I might make some hummus. My daughter and I love hummus, but we don’t don’t eat it too often. Why?  There are so many other delicious foods that we enjoy eating, that it’s rare that I’ll repeat the same meal within a month time frame.

Adventures in Cleansing: Update

Herbs for cleansingThus far, I must say that I’m pleased with my cleansing process...

I haven’t changed the way I eat, but I have introduced herbs, enemas and various other items that are specifically focused on bowel care. You know something? I always found it a bit strange that bowel health wasn’t talked about openly. The primary function of the colon is to reabsorb nutrients, along with water, into our bodies. Ever wonder what happens if our digestive system isn’t working correctly? If we aren’t experiencing proper elimination, an impacted bowl can lead to a variety of issues such as constipation, hemorrhoids, ulcerative colitis and colon cancer.

I can’t help but think that a lot of the bowel issues that many experience could be avoided if more would just be open about it. Proper bowel care is a topic discussed in our household armed with the information I’m hoping, as my daughter gets older, she will continue to make choices that will improve her bowel health.

Hopefully later this week, I’ll have a chance to write about using enemas/colonics to improve your overall health…

Bowel health isn’t an embarrassing topic for me. I learned about it’s importance from my own mother and my grandmother (father’s mom.)

Cooking adventures; Pressure Cooker

As I’ve mentioned numerous times on this site, I’m not a fan of canned beans. In my opinion, they don’t taste as good as cooking them myself. My first preference, is cooking freshly shelled beans from our garden, but if that’s not an option, I’ll always choose dried beans. Since I don’t always have time for the preparation that can sometimes go into cooking dried beans, I usually cook my beans in large batches.

Personally, the cooking time, is the only part that I’m not always thrilled about when cooking my dried beans. A pressure cooker would speed things up significantly, since it drastically reduces the cooking time of a variety of foods, but I don’t want to be lugging out my heavy 23 qt. stainless steel pressure cooker every time I want to cook my dried beans or some other dish!  That pressure cooker’s only job is to can the produce I gather from the garden.

You know what? I’ve been saying, I was going to purchase a small sized pressure cooker for years, but I never got around to purchasing one until now…

 

Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker
Presto 8 qt. Pressure Cooker

 

A few moments ago, I (finally) ordered a much smaller sized pressure cooker which makes it more suitable for preparing a typical meal. I decided on the Presto 8 quart stainless steel pressure cooker.

 

What I do like about this pressure cooker is that it’s not too small (such as a 4 qt.) since I prefer cooking a large amount of dried beans at a time, but still much smaller than my regular 23 qt. pressure cooker. Based on the reviews, The Presto 8 qt. pressure cooker is a “no-frills” pressure cooker; but it still gets the job done.

I’m looking forward to using it, and reducing the cooking time for some of the foods I prepare by 60 – 70%.

Tomorrow,  my daughter and  will be stopping by the store so I can purchase a variety of bulk dried beans. It seems I’m running out of most of my favorite beans; black beans, black eyed peas, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, etc.,

 

 

Satisfied with my purchase?

Is the purchase worth it? I would think so, since it’ll drastically reduce the cook time needed for grains, legumes, beans and many other types of foods that take a long time to process. Which means saving me money since I won’t be using the stove for longer periods of time. For example, garbanzo beans normally take me over an hour to cook. In a pressure cooker, it takes about fifteen minutes.

 

Presto Pressure Cooker

 

A few minutes ago, I stumbled upon this vintage ad for Presto Pressure Cookers.