What's Cooking this Week?

The Joys of Pressure Cooking

Last week I wrote that I got a new pressure cooker set. I was raving about the BBQ chicken I cooked in it. Well, since then I have made salsa chicken (so easy, just brown you chicken in olive oil and then pour 1/2 to 1 cup of salsa over it and add just a little water if needed so that it coats the chicken. Then follow your pressure cooker instructions for cooking chicken. I used boneless, skinless thighs and they were so delicious.

I have had a difficult time eating meat beyond the ground stuff (turkey, chicken, lean ground beef, pork) since my weight-loss surgery, so being able to eat nice, moist chicken that is not put through a grinder first has been wonderful!

The latest recipe I tried is Cuban Style black beans. Normally when I cook black beans it takes almost all day to simmer them and get them to the consistency I like. With the pressure cooker, it took less than an hour with prep and everything. I used a recipe from the Fagor site so it was easy since that is the brand of pressure cooker I have. I did tweak the recipe just a bit - I left out the sugar and after the beans were done, I added a bit of polish sausage. I also doubled the recipe. Normally this would mean adding extra cooking time, but what is so great about pressure cooking - the size of the recipe doesn't affect the cooking times.

I can't wait to try more recipes. If you have some good sites or Pinterest boards to recommend, let me know!