More pressure cooking

Ribollita:  I made this once before out of Saveur magazine.  It took a long time, and I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure why, since it sounds delicious.  This time I adapted a recipe from the Silver Spoon.  It was much better, although I am sure some sausage would make it even better, and definitely some garlic.  Here's the recipe:

   Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in the pressure cooker.  Add 1 chopped onion, celery stalk and 1 chopped and peeled carrot stick.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add 1 can of tomatoes, 1 tsp dried thyme, and 2 peeled and coarsely chopped potatoes.  Cook another minute.  A 1 bunch shredded kale and 1/2 cup dried navy beans (soaked for at least 4 hours).  Add enough water to cover.  Close pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook 15 minutes.  Let cool on it's own.  (Here the recipe calls for taking 4 slices of country style bread and putting it in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Pour the soup over the top.  Cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  This sounds good, but I wanted to be able to take it to work and heat it up in the microwave.  So I made croutons out of a baguette and olive oil to dip in the reheated soup.)

Jack decided this week would be taco week.  We can't quite leave the concept of one month at a time!  So I have tried a few ingredients in the pressure cooker.  Even had two pressure cookers going at one time.  I feel quite daring.

I pressure cooked 4 pounds of chicken quarters with a chopped carrot, celery stalk, onion and bay leaf and thyme, filled with enough water to almost cover.  I cooked it at 15 pounds pressure for 10 minutes, letting it cool on it's own.  Again, the chicken turned out incredibly tender and the broth is great.  I then cooked it in a pan with a chipotle-tomato salsa.  (Put 2 large tomatoes and 3 garlic cloves under the broiler til charred, about 6 minutes on each side.  Place in cuisinart.  Add 2-3 chopped chipotles in adobo.  Blend.  Add 1 scant tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and stir.)  Another night I add a fresh salsa to the chicken for a less smoky flavor. (Salsa:  Put 2 large tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves, and 3 serrano peppers under the broiler and cook until charred on both sides.  Put all in cuisinart and blend.    Add 1/2 chopped white onion that has been run under cold water, along with 1/4 chopped cilantro, 1 tsp each salt and sugar.  Stir.)


Black Beans:  Soak 2 cups for 4 hours.  Cook 2 slices chopped bacon.  Add 1 chopped onion and cook 3-4 minutes.  Add 4 garlic cloves, minced.  Season with ancho chili powder.  Add drained black beans and enough water to cover beans.   Heat over high heat til 15 pounds pressure.  Cook 4 minutes.  Allow to cool on it's own.  I was shocked how creamy these beans were.


Brown rice:  There are a ton of different recipes for rice.  Some say to put them in a bowl and cover them with water in the pan, a few others say to just cook them in the pan.  Placing them in a separate bowl seems like a pain so I didn't follow those directions.  Instead I did it this way:  Heat 1 tbsp oil in the cooker.  Add 1 chopped onion and saute.  Add 2 cups brown rice along with 3 cups water.  Cover and heat to pressure.  Cook 12 minutes.  Allow to cool on it's own.  I think I will try 13 minutes the next time.  Seemed like it could go just a bit longer.

Chorizo with potatoes:  I cooked the potatoes as in the previous post.  Peeled and diced.  Put 1 cup water in bottom of cooker.  Put potatoes in a steamer in the pot.  Cover and bring to pressure.  Cook 3 minutes.  Cool at once under cold water.  In a frying pan, cook about 1/2 cup chorizo.  If there is a lot of oil in the pan, drain.  Mine had hardly any oil so I added a little canola oil.  Put the potatoes in with the sausage and cook until browned.