Pressure Cooker Recipes

The Presto web page has recipes, though you can google “pressure cooker recipes” and find tons of them.  CJ mentioned cooking pinto beans 12 minutes.  I usually cook mine under pressure for 5 minutes, then let the cooker cool down on its own.  It can be set in a tray of ice to cool it more quickly but I cook my beans early in the day so I can season them and get them to the right consistency before dinner so I’m never in a rush to cool the pot down.  I also soak my beans overnight before cooking.  Here’s a chart from the Presto page and I keep a similar chart taped inside my cabinet so I remember how long to leave the pressure on.

For those who don’t like beans, you wouldn’t make it here.  We love beans.  Many days for lunch, I’ll eat just a bowl of beans while Vince eats other things to go with the beans.  Pinto and baby lima beans are my favorites but I probably cook more garbanzo beans than anything else because not only do we eat them but I drain them and put them on salads, and we use them in hummus.  Some “experts” say not to add salt to the beans until after you’ve cooked them under pressure.  I sometimes do and sometimes don’t and I honestly can’t tell a lot of difference.  Because some beans tend to foam, adding a bit of oil helps.

I’m probably not what you’d consider “cheap” but I love to get bargains when I can.  Pork loins seem to be about the best value I ever find and there’s so much to do with those.  I bought one this week and it was a big one and it was $12.20.  Here’s what I did with it:

• Sliced 12 pork chops that were a little over 1″ thick for the grill and put them in the freezer using the FoodSaver.  I put 3 per package so I got 4 packages.  That’s 4 meals.
• Sliced about 4″ worth into very thin pieces, less than 1/4″ thick, dipped them in seasoned flour and fried them in a little oil and we used them to make sandwiches for lunch one day.  That’s 1 meal.
• Divided what was left into 2 hunks; froze one and cooked the other on Thursday.  That’s 2 meals.

That means that for $12.20, I got 7 meals worth of meat.  I like it a lot when I can do that!

Anyway, here are two of my favorite, easiest pressure cooker recipes.  The first one, you can also do with beef.  The least tender cuts of meat make some of the best gravy and when cooked in the pressure cooker, they’re fork tender.

Pork Loin Recipe #1:

1. Cut pork into chunks . . maybe the size that would make 2 bites.
2. Season well.  Use salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder.  We use the Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning and it makes our gravy a bit spicy.  We love that spice mix!
3. Brown the meat in a bit of oil.  I brown it in the cooker and I get it nice and brown.
4. Add some water.  Add enough water to cover the meat but don’t be afraid to add more than you think you need.  You can always cook it down later.
5. Cook under pressure for 6 – 8 minutes.
6. After pressure is released, remove meat and make gravy.  Adjust seasonings.  Put meat back in and let simmer in gravy for a few minutes.

Not sure what’s the “right” way to make gravy but I stir 2 – 3 tablespoons flour into a glass of cold water, pour that into the hot liquid and whisk continuously for a minute or two to make sure there are no lumps.  Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Pork Loin Recipe #2:

Do the same thing as for Recipe #1 but before putting the lid on and adding pressure, stir in 6 or 8 cups of peeled, chopped apples.  You don’t have to chop them fine.  They could probably be just quartered.  They’re going to turn to applesauce.  Put less rather than more water because you want to end up with more of a sauce than a gravy.  Follow the steps for Recipe #1.

We serve this over yellow rice and it’s a much requested recipe around here.