Product Description

From the leading authority on speed cooking comes the groundbreaking cookbook that inspired a generation of cooks—now updated and revised for today's tastes and sleek, ultrasafe machines

From the elegant to the ethnic to the traditional, Cooking Under Pressure contains a wealth of flavor-packed recipes for fast, healthy, and delicious meals developed for the modern pressure cooker—a magical appliance that turns out foods in one-third (or less) the standard cooking time without sacrificing flavor or aroma. Lorna Sass introduces us to an eclectic array of dishes that can be prepared on a whim, including classic osso buco (18 minutes), chicken gumbo (9 minutes), and risotto (4 minutes, without stirring!). Even chocolate cheesecake and Grand Marnier bread pudding are done to perfection in short order. Plus, the dramatically shortened cooking times make it possible to prepare cholesterol-free, high-fiber ingredients such as grains and beans at the last minute. The pressure cooker is the cook's best friend!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8289 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-01
• Released on: 2009-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061707872
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Just when we had come to accept the microwave oven as the ultimate cooking machine, food historian Sass ( Dinner with Tom Jones ) has rediscovered the pressure cooker, recently reincarnated in sleek new forms for the 1990s kitchen, "where cooking under pressure has already become a way of life." Sass has figured out how to prepare pea soup, applesauce and pearl barley in the pressure cooker without the threat of shrapnel in the kitchen. Her recipes are seductive, ranging from the homey and familiar (Brunswick stew, nine minutes) to the slightly more mod erne (turnips with orange-mustard sauce, two minutes). Chapters on beans, rice and risotto, and grains are so enthusiastically instructional that some pressure-cooker converts may unwittingly create 12 dishes (all in less than 60 minutes) in their haste to taste Sass's creations. Vegetables are fully explored in their own chapter, and bread puddings and cheesecakes highlight the desserts section. Sass convincingly presents her case in an introductory "Pressure Cooker Primer," and offers helpful "cooking times at a glance" charts throughout. Initial sauteing times, though, are misleadingly omitted.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
It makes sense that the lowly pressure cooker has been rediscovered, for it is perfect for today's busy cooks. Sass's cookbook, the first one in years on the subject, is a valuable primer to this new/old kitchen tool. She tells how to get the best results from pressure cooking; provides guides to preparing all sorts of vegetables, beans, and grains; and includes a wide variety of recipes. Some are for hearty (but not heavy) soups and stews; others are for more glamorous dishes; all are full of flavor but generally uncomplicated. Strongly recommended. Better Homes & Gardens and Homestyle Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Sass makes it clear that good food can not only be delicious, but instantaneous and healthful for eaters as well as the planet. Anyone who doesn't own a pressure cooker will want one right away." (Marion Nestle, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and author of What to Eat )

"In her classic book, Lorna Sass dazzles us with her time- and energy-saving techniques and fabulous recipes, from soup to risotto, brisket to cheesecake. Bravo!" (Peter Berley, author of Fresh Food Fast )

Customer Reviews

If your mother didn't teach you to use a pressure cooker..
get this book. I had heard that pressure cookers were the microwave ovens of the 50's. Then after several people blew them up by overloading them they lost favor. I borrowed one from a friend and bought this book. After making chilli in 20 minutes, and lentil soup in 10. I was a convert.

I now own 2 cookers, one really large one (16qt)for making spagetti sauce and stew, and one medium large one (8qt) for soups.

The one thing the book doesn't really cover, is that once the top is on, there is no stiring, (duh!) So if you leave it on high heat, it can burn the thick sauce recipes. So I always heat the mixture until just to simmering, lock the lid on and then cut the heat to medium. It takes a minute or two longer for the pressure to come up but I rarely burn soup any more.

Also, if you haven't bought a pot, get a big one, when you fill a pressure cooker, you only fill it 1/2 way. So a 8qt pot, is really good for 4qts of soup. If you have time shop estate sales. That's where I got mine. The pots last a long time, and many who cooked in the 50's will have one that is just fine. (You can get new seals from the presto company.)

No Pressure, Pressure Cooking!
I bought my first pressure cooker in the seventies in college. For years, I used it mainly to cook beans, due to its speed. I bought this book when it was first issued and have referred to it countless times, since.

Pressure cookers today are indeed different than the earlier models (including my old Mirro). With my old cooker, even though I never had an accident, I had to stay close at hand to monitor the pressure regular rattling, etc. Pressure cooking with a modern cooker is so much easier! My latest purchase, earlier this year, was an electric, programmable cooker from Salton that's as easy to use as my rice cooker or Crock Pot.

It's true that some of the recipes in this book use ingredients that are not freely available in non-urban areas of the country. No problem: just adapt to what you want to cook! I read a review by a prior person who lamented that they must be a 'meat and potatoes' person. Fine: do your meat and potatoes here! I find that baked potatoes are much more delicious done in the cooker than in the microwave. The time required is rather a split between nuking and conventional baking. Pressure cooking can do wonders on tough meat the same way that a Crock Pot can. Just be sure and brown your meat first!

However, I still use my cooker more for beans than anything. Sass gives a full and careful explanation of bean and legume cooking here, as safety must be considered.

Since this book came out several other cookbooks have been released on pressure cooking. I've bought some, and the best alternative to this book is the one published by Presto, the maker of the original pressure cooker. It's an excellent reference also, and also recommended.

Great approach to pressure cooker cooking; super recipes!
Pressure cooking is, unfortunately, very misunderstood. This book should go a long way towards changing that. It presents an excellent range of recipes, well organized and written, and every one of which we've tried has been fabulous. Because of the speed and flavor, we've been pressure cooker fans for three years, and this book opened our eyes to new possibilities. Ms. Sass's taste in spiciness tends to be a little milder than ours, but once you see where she's coming from, it's very easy to adjust. We'll try the vegetarian version of the book, too