pressure cooker...

as a house warming gift, we received a pressure cooker.  i remember as a kid my mom occasionally cooking with this to make a quick pot roast dinner.  i was not very familiar with how to use it, but now i am all into slow and speed cooking.  our favorite thing to make in the pressure cooker (so far) is steamed artichokes.  i recently introduced jarad to them and we really enjoy them as a snack or an easy appetizer.  however, before we got the pressure cooker, i would usually steam them in a big pot, and it would take at least 40 minutes, the new pressure cooker method gives you perfectly steamed artichokes in 10 minutes!

how to:

i learned to clean an artichoke by cutting the base and top and trimming the pointy tips of the leaves with kitchen shears.  this is how it should look before it gets cooked.

place the artichoke in the pressure cooker with one cup of water, and seal the lid.  once the spout on top starts to whistle and rock (it should only take a minute or two), start the timer for 10 minutes.  when the time is up, release the spout to let the steam out and remove artichoke.  we usually make a spicy aoili sauce to serve with it.

ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo
2-3 ts. tapatio (or to your liking)
dash of dill
salt and pepper to taste

*mix all ingredients to your taste (we like it spicy) and serve alongside your artichoke for a delicious dipping sauce.

we also did fried chicken and waffles for a brunch, using the pressure cooker to fry the chicken.  my next experiment will be to try a roast, but i love the speediness and versatility of this kitchen product.