Tom Lacalamita, a nationally known expert on housewares, is the author of The Ultiate Pressure Cooker Cookbooks, and coauthor pf Slow Cookers for Dummies and Bread Machines For Dummies
Introduction.
Why You Need This Book.
How to Use This Book.
Foolish Assumptions.
How This Book Is Organized.
PART I: Stress-Free Cooking under Pressure.
PART II: Making the Best and Safest Use of Your Pressure Cooker.
PART III: Getting Dinner on the Table: Basic and Delicious Recipes for the Pressure Cooker.
PART IV: Complements to the Meal: Side Dishes, Condiments, and Sweet Endings.
PART V: The Part of Tens.
Appendixes.
Icons Used in This Book.
A Few Guidelines before You Begin.
PART I: Stress-Free Cooking under Pressure.
Chapter 1: The Pressure Cooker: Fact versus Fiction.
Dispelling Fears about Pressure Cookers.
A pre-WW II timesaver.
The untimely demise of the pressure cooker.
Design changes mean a safer product as well as convenience.
Looking at the Benefits of Owning and Using a Pressure Cooker.
Fast!
Convenient!
Delicious!
Healthy!
My Recipes for Success, Not to Mention Fabulous-Tasting Food, Too!
Chapter 2: How Your Pressure Cooker Works.
Understanding How Your Pressure Cooker Works.
The Sum of the Parts.
The pot and cover.
The ever-important rubber gasket.
Relying on the almighty valve!
Guidelines for Easy Pressure Cooking.
Letting Off Some Steam.
Natural release method.
Quick-release methods.
Doing a Trial Run.
PART II: Making the Best and Safest Use of Your Pressure Cooker.
Chapter 3: Pressure Cooker Basics from Start to Finish.
First Things First.
Keep it clean.
Remove and inspect the rubber sealing gasket or ring.
Check the valves.
Fill the pressure cooker properly.
Look, listen, and smell.
Three Ways to Cook in a Pressure Cooker.
Stop-and-Go Cooking.
Scenario I: The long and the short of it.
Scenario II: Soup versus stock.
The High and Low of It.
Telling whether you've reached high pressure.
Maintaining pressure.
Now You're Cooking.
Is it done yet?
Opening the pressure cooker safely.
Keeping Your Pressure Cooker Squeaky Clean and Shiny.
Storing Your Pressure Cooker.
Help Is But a Phone Call Away.
Chapter 4: From the Pot to the Pressure Cooker.
Adapting Your Favorite Recipes for the Pressure Cooker.
Determining Cooking Times.
Filling the Pressure Cooker.
Best Ingredients for Pressure Cooking.
Meat and poultry.
Fruits and vegetables.
Dried beans, legumes, and grains.
Liquids.
Converting My Favorite Recipes for the Pressure Cooker.
PART III: Getting Dinner on the Table: Basic and Delicious Recipes for the Pressure Cooker.
Chapter 5: Spoon Foods: Soups and Great Grain Dishes.
Soup under Pressure.
Making stock.
Using and storing stock.
The Goodness of Grain.
Chapter 6: Dried Beans in the Pressure Cooker: A Match Made in Heaven!
Beans: A Powerhouse of Good Things.
"Dried" Doesn't Mean "All Dried Up"
To Soak or Not to Soak? That Is the Question.
Overnight soak.
Quick soak.
Cooking Beans.
A Potful of Beans Is a Cook's Best Friend.
Chapter 7: Roasts and Poultry.
Fabulous Results in Half the Time.
Not All Cuts Are Created Equal.
Beef.
Pork.
Lamb.
Poultry.
Using Steaming Baskets for Roasts.
Is It Done Yet?
A Roast in Every Pot.
Chapter 8: Fork-Tender Stews.
Flavor, Flavor, Flavor: The Makings of a Great Stew!
A cut above the rest
Browning your meat
Sautéing and deglazing.
Season away!
The veggies.
When Is It Going to Be Done?
Stews: Meals of Convenience.
PART IV: Complements to the Meal: Side Dishes, Condiments, and Sweet Endings.
Chapter 9: Vegetables: Nature's Bounty.
Saving Time and Nutrients.
Steaming Your Vegetables.
Casseroles.
Eat Those Veggies!
Chapter 10: Desserts, Jams, and Chutneys.
The Pressure Cooker as a Hot Water Bath.
Cheesecakes and Other Tasty Desserts.
Sparkling Jars of Fruit.
PART V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 11: Ten Problems and How to Handle Them.
Don't Force That Cover Closed!
Anemic Pressure.
A Leaky Pot.
The Key to Unlocking the Cover.
Just Broke My Tooth on a Pea.
That's the Mushiest Pot Roast I've Ever Eaten!
Holy Smoke!
I Told You to Lower the Heat.
Pressure without a Rise.
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Why Isn't My Pressure Cooker the Shiniest of All?
Chapter 12: Ten Web Sites to Check Out.
About.com.
Diana's Kitchen.
Epinions.com.
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Bureau.
ezboard.
The New Homemaker.
National Presto Industries, Inc., Pressure Cooking School Program.
RecipeSource.
spinnaweb.com Pressure Cooker Recipes.
vegetarian.about.com.
Chapter 13: Ten Tips for Great Pressure-Cooking.
Keeping It Safe.
Determining What a Pressure Cooker Can Hold.
Using Enough Liquid.
Intensifying Flavors by Searing and Browning First.
Pressure Cooking at High Altitudes.
Building the Right Amount of Pressure.
Releasing Pressure without Burning Yourself.
Avoiding the "Too Hard" Scenario.
Avoiding the "Too Soft" Scenario.
Keeping It Clean.
Appendix A: Contact Information for Pressure Cooker Manufacturers.
Fagor (Cook's Essentials Pressure Cookers).
Hawkins Futura.
Innova.
Kuhn Rikon (Duromatic Pressure Cookers).
Manttra.
Magafesa.
Mirro.
Presto.
T-Fal.
Appendix B: Metric Conversion Guide.
Appendix C: Common Substitutions, Abbreviations, and Equivalents.
Index.
Book Registration Information.
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