Small Bites… More Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

 

COOKING UNDER PRESSURE is the name of a cookbook I recently purchased to go along with my new electric pressure cooker. My grandmother, mother and all my aunties had them and thought nothing of using them frequently. When I mentioned to my two daughters and daughter‐in‐law that I had gotten a pressure cooker they all had the same horror‐stricken response: ”Mom, are you going to explode the house??!” All three of them used the very same words.

Pressure can be a great tool for life situations if we allow God to control our ‘steam vent.’ On my pressure cooker I have a choice to release the steam all at once or let it dissipate on its own. In either case it is a controlled action. Something to think about!

The first thing I made was chicken. I had some Cornish game hens in the freezer that I had been wanting to cook. In the book that came with the cooker there was a recipe for chicken and dumplings. I didn’t want to make the dumplings so here’s what I did: two thawed Cornish game hens.

  • With kitchen shears I cut out the back bone and flattened the birds.
  • With a heavy knife I cut each bird into two pieces through the breastbone.
  • After heavily coating the pieces with seasoned flour, I browned them in garlic flavored olive oil and a little butter on the browning setting in the cooker.
  • Adding diced carrots, celery and onions to the browning chicken pieces, I let them brown a bit, for depth of flavor.
  • Then I added 2 cups chicken stock, a little white wine, extra seasoning of salt and pepper, a bay leaf and a scant shake of cayenne pepper, set the cooker to high pressure for 10 minutes, locked the lid in place and let it do its thing.

I released the pressure all at once as per the directions of the cooker. It was a great dish. Because I had coated it heavily, it tasted like the chicken and dumplings we all had as kids!

The pressure cooker is a wonderful vessel for cooking vegetables. I love beets. I get 2 or 3 bunches a week from the farmers’ market which is held in the park across the street from our condo. Never having been particularly good at cooking beets—roasted or boiled—I found that they turn out perfectly when cooked under pressure. They take 8 to 10 minutes depending on the size! After they are cooled and peeled, I store them in champagne vinegar in a glass jar in the refrigerator. They stay good for a couple of weeks. They make a nutritious snack. Beet salads are trendy right now and for good reason. Slicing them reveals the beautiful rings. A combo of purple and golden beets is especially attractive on a plate of arugula. Splash some of the vinegar over them and garnish with crumbled feta cheese.

 

Tip: Diamonds are formed under pressure.

…we are a new creation in Christ; old things are passed away….2 Corinthians 5:17.