The Pressure Cooker Gourmet: 225 Recipes for Great-Tasting, Long-Simmered Flavors in Just Minutes (Paperback)

by Victoria Wise (Author) "SOUP has been part of every cuisine since man acquired fire and then figured out how to create a vessel to hold liquid and ingredients..." (more)
Key Phrases: crispy shallot rings, pinching around the edges, corncob syrup, Susanna Hoffman, Basic Chickpeas, Black Olive Butter Sauce (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
As Wise notes in a thorough introduction that covers general methods, the pressure cooker is a time-saver; she then offers a nice range of recipes, from a relatively simple Trout … la Vapeur with Toasted Almonds and Parsley Sauce to a more complex Salmon Terrine with Asparagus Tip and Spinach Root Garnish that is packed into a loaf pan and steamed. However, Wise (who was the first chef at Chez Panisse) often undermines that savings in time. For example, a recipe for beef broth calls for roasting the bones for 30 minutes before cooking the broth. Other recipes simply would be almost as quick when prepared using normal stovetop methods, like a Spring Spinach and Scallion Soup that takes six to seven minutes to come to pressure, then sits for eight minutes as the pressure escapes. The pressure cooker works best for braised dishes such as Chicken Marengo with Porcini-Topped Fried Bread Rounds and Rabbit with Fennel Seed, Parsnip, and Prunes in Brandy Cream, but perhaps is not the optimal choice for delicate vegetables such as Asparagus with Shallot, Lemon, and Olive Oil Dressing. While the writing in their headers tends to be awkward (Chilled Potato Soup Mexican-style with Cantaloupe and Toasted Almonds begins: "It was the gazpacho in Grenada that showed, in the right setting at the right time, cold soup is an oxymoron of a notion but a lilt in the day's repasts"), the recipes themselves are clear and simple.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Wise is the author and coauthor of numerous other cookbooks, including The Well-Filled Microwave Cookbook. Here she provides dozens of recipes for today's "100% Safe" pressure cookers, from streamlined versions of pot roast to more contemporary, elegant dishes such as Pheasant Braised with Walnuts and Shallots. There are stews of all sorts, or course, but there are also quick (no-stir) risottos, vegetable dishes ranging from Baby Artichokes and Two Sauces to an easy Ratatouille, preserves like Green Tomato Chutney, and even desserts. A good companion to Lorna Sass's now-classic Cooking Under Pressure and its follow-up, The Pressured Cook, this is recommended for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558322019
• ISBN-13: 978-1558322011
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,285 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old World Flavor in a Fraction of the Time!!!, March 15, 2003

By	Daniel F. Moore (Yarmouth, Maine USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Pressure Cooker Gourmet: 225 Recipes for Great-Tasting, Long-Simmered Flavors in Just Minutes (Hardcover)

The pressure cooker is making a comeback after years of disfavor. The old jiggle top units that could be opened and could cause severe burns are pretty much a thing of the past. Coincidentally, as people have less time to spend in the kitchen, the pressure cooker has come back to center stage. For people still a little leery of using one, this book will allay your fears. Victoria Wise discusses thoroughly the hows, the do's and dont's and generally instructs the reader in the proper and successful use of this versatile appliance.

The Pressure Cooker Gourmet includes recipes for soups, meat, poultry, fish, grains, vegetables, legumes, sauces and of course desserts. Although there are photographs of the finished recipes, the reader will delight in the many tips, subtitutions and suggestions that accompany many of the recipes. You will also appreciate the index of recipes with page numbers, that appear at the beginning of each chapter.

Being a poultry fan, I loved the Coq au Vin. The wine sauce was thicker than I ever remember from another method and the blend of herbs and spices was intensified by the increased pressure.

And if you can't resist a moist and rich cheesecake, try the Cheesecake with Mascarpone Cheese in Chocolate Cookie Crust. I had never tried Mascarpone (a very creamy cream cheese) and it, combined with the moist heat of a pressure cooker, was sinfully delicious.

I'm still experimenting with the recipes and there are a lot of them! It takes some 'old time' recipes and applies 21st century flavors and technology to help rekindle our culinary past. As you might imagine, I love this book and you will too! Buy it!!

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, November 20, 2003

By	Amy Lee Weitzman (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pressure Cooker Gourmet: 225 Recipes for Great-Tasting, Long-Simmered Flavors in Just Minutes (Hardcover)

I went to the bookstore and skimmed *all* of the pressure cookbooks they had (about 10 different authors). I found this one to be just the right mix between simple, everyday food and gourmet, international specialties. Also, you get many recipes in one book - more than most of the other books had. I made the split pea soup the other night - easy, quick, tasty, and HEALTHY.

54 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, October 1, 2006

By	R. Suits "passionate cook" (Yellow Springs, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been cooking "from scratch" for more than 30 years and own more than 50 cookbooks, including most of the great classics. Favorite cookbook authors I return to again and agin include Julia Child, Craig Claiborn, Christopher Kimball, Diana Kennedy, Ruth Reichl, Irene Kuo, Paul Prudhomme and Irma Rombauer (& her descendents). I love ethnic food, gourmet food and great American regional home cooking. The best cookbooks provide detailed techniques and enough information so a confident cook can develop variations based on personal taste and available ingredients. I was dissappointed to find that this book fails in that regard. I purchased it hoping it would be like Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet (still the best on its subject), laying out what this kitchen utensil is best suited for and honestly explaining what it can and cannot do well. Instead, the author seems to believe the pressure cooker should be able to tackle any task. For example, she includes several recipes for items like seafood that are best cooked quickly, but leaves out foods that benefit from long, slow cooking, like soups, sauces and stews. There are only two barebones recipes for stock, one for beef stew (Bouef Bourgiugnon), and a few for odd soups and sauces (like a "blonde onion soup" but no French Onion Soup, a lentil soup but no other legume soups, a Bolognese sauce that dumps raw beef and tomatoes in all at once in violation of all principals I have learned), and several recipes for things like custard and cheesecake. There are unusual, tasty recipes in here, and excellent directions on timing, but I agree with another reviewer who warns that her temperature recommendations are way too high.