One of the best Christmas presents I have ever given myself was the 5 quart electric digital pressure cooker that I purchased on eBay last year. Now for those of us who remember the old school manual pressure cookers, just the mention of the word can strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest of cooks. Just about anyone you ask who has had any experience with the old school pressure cooker can tell you a horror story about running for cover as a one exploded or scraping pinto beans off of the ceiling as a result of such an explosion. And if they don't have any explosion stories they can at least remember being terrified by the awful noise and vibration these old school pressure cookers produced.
As a wife and mom who works full time; I am always searching for creative ways to put a delicious and healthy meal on the table in a relatively short amount of time, and with the advent of a kinder gentler version of pressure cooker, I decided to give the pressure cooker second look. So after doing some research, I decided to take the plunge and get one.
Pressure cookers work by cooking foods at a set pressure and temperature in an airtight vessel for a certain amount of time. Because the pressure is produced by steam, a small amount of water or other liquid must be added to the food before sealing the pressure cooker. As the internal temperature rises, the pressure also rises cooking the food in about 1/3 of the time of conventional cooking methods. Plus since air and liquid are not allowed to escape once the proper pressure is reached, more nutrients are retained in the food. With the old school pressure cookers, once the proper pressure had been achieved; the temperature changes and the timing had to be done by the operator. With the new school pressure cookers, however, the pressure and timing according to the recipe can be programmed in and the cooker does all of the work. Once the cooking is done, one may opt for the natural release method which lowers the pressure slowly or pressure may be released manually by carefully opening the steam valve.
I had the chance to test out my new pressure cooker for the first time on New Years Day of this year. We had just returned home from a week of visiting family up north, it was rather late, and I was tired. Still I wanted to serve my family a nice holiday meal. I had purchased a 3 pound beef roast and some frozen black eyed peas from the grocery store on the way back to the house and I had a few bags of collard greens in the freezer that I had purchased fresh from a farmer's market a few months back.
I was a little nervous about using my pressure cooker for the first time and was not sure how everything would turn out however, since it was already 8 PM, if we were going to sit down to a nice holiday meal in a short amount of time, I had to try. Dinner turned out wonderfully. I was able to cook a very moist and tender pot roast in just 30 minutes, the black eye peas in 20 minutes and the collard greens in just 15 minutes, a total of 65 minutes not counting the pressure releases, cleaning and prep in between dishes. And the best part… everything was absolutely delicious and tasted as if I had slaved over a hot stove for several hours. Thanks to the miracle of pressure cooking, the new year was off to a great start.
Lucky New Years Collard Greens (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
Directions
Click here to see more!
As a wife and mom who works full time; I am always searching for creative ways to put a delicious and healthy meal on the table in a relatively short amount of time, and with the advent of a kinder gentler version of pressure cooker, I decided to give the pressure cooker second look. So after doing some research, I decided to take the plunge and get one.
Pressure cookers work by cooking foods at a set pressure and temperature in an airtight vessel for a certain amount of time. Because the pressure is produced by steam, a small amount of water or other liquid must be added to the food before sealing the pressure cooker. As the internal temperature rises, the pressure also rises cooking the food in about 1/3 of the time of conventional cooking methods. Plus since air and liquid are not allowed to escape once the proper pressure is reached, more nutrients are retained in the food. With the old school pressure cookers, once the proper pressure had been achieved; the temperature changes and the timing had to be done by the operator. With the new school pressure cookers, however, the pressure and timing according to the recipe can be programmed in and the cooker does all of the work. Once the cooking is done, one may opt for the natural release method which lowers the pressure slowly or pressure may be released manually by carefully opening the steam valve.
I had the chance to test out my new pressure cooker for the first time on New Years Day of this year. We had just returned home from a week of visiting family up north, it was rather late, and I was tired. Still I wanted to serve my family a nice holiday meal. I had purchased a 3 pound beef roast and some frozen black eyed peas from the grocery store on the way back to the house and I had a few bags of collard greens in the freezer that I had purchased fresh from a farmer's market a few months back.
I was a little nervous about using my pressure cooker for the first time and was not sure how everything would turn out however, since it was already 8 PM, if we were going to sit down to a nice holiday meal in a short amount of time, I had to try. Dinner turned out wonderfully. I was able to cook a very moist and tender pot roast in just 30 minutes, the black eye peas in 20 minutes and the collard greens in just 15 minutes, a total of 65 minutes not counting the pressure releases, cleaning and prep in between dishes. And the best part… everything was absolutely delicious and tasted as if I had slaved over a hot stove for several hours. Thanks to the miracle of pressure cooking, the new year was off to a great start.
Lucky New Years Collard Greens (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
- 4-5 five cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
- 1 small onion chopped (I like red onion)
- 4 cups of water or chicken stock
- 1 smoked turkey drumstick or 2 smoked turkey wings
- 2 large bunches of collard greens cleaned and chopped
- Salt and pepper as desired ( I use ½ tablespoon of sea salt and a teaspoon of black pepper)
- A pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
- In a small skillet sauté the onion and garlic until the garlic become fragrant. This can be done in the pressure cooker itself if your pressure cooker has a "brown" setting.
- Place the onion and garlic in the pressure cooker
- Add 4 cups of water or chicken stock to the pressure cooker
- Place the smoked turkey in the broth
- Add the collards and the seasoning
- Toss to evenly distribute the seasonings.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker and seal
- Close the steam valve.
- Set the cooker to high pressure and cook greens for 10-15 minutes depending on how tender you like your greens. (to soften the smoked turkey I recommend 15 minutes)
- When the timer goes off, turn the cooker off
- For the best texture, opt for the natural release method to lower the pressure.
Click here to see more!
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