What You Need:

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1 1/2 C of orange juice

1 t lime juice

1 t orange zest, grated

1 t lime zest, grated

1 t ground cumin

1 t of salt

1 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t cayenne pepper

How to Make It:

Place the shrimp into the pressure cooker.

Add in the orange and lime juice and zest.

Sprinkle with the cumin, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

Bring to high pressure and cook 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and allow the pressure to fall by itself.

Remove the lid and cool at room temperature 30 minutes.

Cover the cooker and chill in the liquid for 30 minutes.

Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and place on ice.

Discard the liquid.

These shrimp make a great appetizer for a dinner party.  Lemon juice and lemon zest may be used in place of the lime if you prefer.

Makes 4 servings

What You Need:

1 onion, chopped

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can kidney beans, drained well

2 C of tomatoes, chopped

2 C new potatoes, diced

2 C of frozen corn

8 oz. ham, cooked and diced

2 T tomato paste

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T of soy sauce

1 dash of Tabasco sauce

1/2 t of salt

1/4 t of pepper

How to Make It:

Spray the cooker with a non stick cooking spray.

Place the onions, beans, tomatoes, potatoes and corn into the cooker.

Place the ham slices over the vegetables.

Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire, soy and Tabasco sauce.

Bring the cooker to high pressure and cook 15 minutes.

Slow release the pressure.

Season the hash with the salt and pepper before serving.

This makes a great breakfast has to serve on a cold morning.  The canned beans can be replaced with 2 C of quick soaked fresh kidney beans and the remaining vegetables can be replaced with a 14 1/2 oz. can that has been well drained if your prefer. The Tabasco sauce is also optional.

Makes 4 servings

Country Style Potatoes

Ingredients:

·         1 tbsp. olive oil

·         1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced, stems trimmed

·         1/2 cup finely chopped onion

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         1/2 cup chicken stock or water

·         4 cups potatoes in 1/2” slices

·         2 tbsp. minced parsley

Preparation:

In the pressure cooker, heat the oil and sauté the mushrooms and onions until the onions are wilted. Mix in all the remaining ingredients.

Lock the lid and bring to pressure. Lower the heat and cook for 3 minutes at 15psi. Allow pressure to drop by quick release or auto release method and remove lid.

Serves 4

Stir Fried Broccoli – This recipe also works well with green beans, asparagus, snow peas and red peppers.

Ingredients:

·         2 tbsp. sesame, peanut or olive oil

·         1 large garlic clove peeled and crushed

·         1 slice of fresh ginger, quarter size and peeled

·         1 bunch of broccoli, cut into flowerets

·         6 tbsp. chicken or vegetable stock or water

·         2 tbsp. soy sauce

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In the pressure cooker, heat the oil until very hot. Stir fry the garlic and ginger until the garlic is golden. Add the broccoli and stir fry until it’s bright green. Sprinkle with salt and transfer the broccoli to the pressure cooker steamer basket. Pour the stock and soy sauce into the bottom of the pressure cooker and lower the basket into it. Lock the lid in place, bring to pressure, then lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes. Release pressure using the quick release method or the auto release method and remove lid. Remove the basket and serve using some of the soy sauce liquid.

Serves 4

You can make just about any of your family’s favorite dishes using a pressure cooker. Here are some recipes my family loves, and you can make them in a fraction of the time it would normally take just by using your pressure cooker.

German Potato Salad

Ingredients:

·         4 slices of bacon

·         4 tsp. sugar

·         3 tbsp. vinegar

·         1 tsp. mustard

·         4 med.-large potatoes, cut in 1/4” slices

·         1 med. Onion thinly sliced

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         1/2 tsp. celery seed

Preparation:

Fry bacon in the pressure cooker until crisp, then remove and drain on paper towel and crumble. Reserve 1 tbsp. of the drippings and wipe out the pressure cooker. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, mustard and bacon drippings. Pour 1-3/4 cups water into the pressure cooker. Layer the potatoes, onions, all of the seasonings above, the sugar and vinegar mixture, and the crumbled bacon in the pressure cooker basket. Lower the basket into the pressure cooker. Lock the lid into place and cook for 2 minutes at 15psi. Release pressure using the natural release method or the auto release method, remove the lid and serve.

Serves 4

Using recipes that are low in fat, salt and carbohydrates are easy to do in a pressure cooker, and they come out tasting delicious, even more delicious than if you baked, boiled or microwave them. Not to mention you will tend to make more vegetables when you use a pressure cooker because it is easy, efficient and pressure cooking makes your vegetable, frozen or raw, come out succulent and melt in your mouth. You may find that you prefer your vegetables without butter or salt once you start cooking them in a pressure cooker! Think of all the health benefits in that alone.

An added health benefit to using a pressure cooking is to make some of your favorite desserts in a pressure cooker. That’s right! You can use your pressure cooker to make desserts like homemade applesauce, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and cinnamon and apple flan w/ maple syrup. You can choose the ingredients that go into your dessert to make them more nutritious for you and your family.

Do you remember the days when your mom used a pressure cooker to prepare yummy, delicious foods and meals? Perhaps you’ve thought those days are gone, or you thought pressure cookers were only for beans. Well, with today’s modern pressure cookers, your family can enjoy succulent, delicious and nutritious meals in a fraction of the time it would take to boil, bake or slow cook your favorite recipes.

Because pressure cooking uses the steam from the liquids used in your favorite recipes, the vitamins and nutrients are preserved in the food instead of being “cooked out” as they are in traditional boiling, baking or microwaving. And because pressure cooking reduces the amount of cooking time by up to 10 times, pressure cooking is a lot healthier than running out to a fast food joint.

Another way using a pressure cooker to cook our meals is healthier is because the ingredients used are fresh, whole, natural foods, not processed or packaged foods. Not only is using natural foods for all your meals, opposed to processed or packaged, healthier it also saves you money on your grocery bills every month. When you get in the habit of eating natural foods you’ll find you often have more energy, less weight gain, lower sodium and lower cholesterol levels as well. And because you can choose what goes in your pressure cooker you have more control over the amount of salt and other ingredients you are digesting.

Pressure Cooking Tips

Always pressure-cook meat or poultry with at least 1/2 cup of liquid (water, stock, etc.) in the bottom of the pressure cooker.  Some pressure cookers may require more than 1/2 cup, so check your pressure cooker’s instruction manual.  If cooking time is between 5 and 10 minutes, use 1 cup of liquid.  If cooking time is between 10 and 45 minutes, use 2 cups of liquid.  Preserved or salted meats should be completely immersed in water.

Exact cooking times for meat and poultry vary according to the quality and quantity of meat or poultry being cooked.  The denser the cut, the longer the cooking time should be.

For maximum flavor brown your meat or poultry on all sides in the pressure cooker. Use a vegetable oil, such as canola, before locking the lid to avoid burning and sticking.

You can find a plethora of pressure cooking cookbooks and recipes online, so be sure to use the cooking times given in the recipe for your particular food or meal.

Using a pressure cooker not only is a faster and better way to cook the foods you love, it also saves energy. Pressure cooking saves energy and water because the amount of heat or electricity your stove uses is greatly reduced compared to baking or stove top cooking. In addition, pressure cooking is much safer and healthier than microwaving.

Below are some of your favorite foods and the cooking time needed for using a pressure cooker. You can see how significantly reduced the cooking times are as opposed to stove top cooking or baking. (All cooking times are calculated using 15psi)

·         Asparagus – 1 to 2 minutes

·         Green or Yellow Beans – 2 to 3 minutes

·         Broccoli Flowerets – 1 minute

·         Broccoli Stalks, large – 5 to 6 minutes

·         Broccoli Stalks, small – 3 to 4 minutes

·         Cabbage – 3 to 4 minutes

·         Carrots, small – 1 minute

·         Carrots, large – 4 minutes

·         Corn- 1 minute

·         Corn on the cob – 3 minutes

·         Potatoes, whole, large – 5 to 7 minutes (WOW! Think of the time it takes to bake or even boil a potato.)

·         Zucchini – 2 minutes

·         Pinto Beans, soaked, using natural release-1 to 3 minutes

·         Beef pot roast, 1-1/2 lb to 2 lbs. – 35 to 40 minutes

·         Chicken breast, frozen, boneless, skinless – 7 to 10 minutes

·         Chicken, whole 3 to 4 lb. – 18 to 25 minutes

As you can see, using a pressure cooker greatly reduces the cooking time! Not only that, your foods taste much better because the juices are retained and none of the vitamins and minerals are boiled or baked away and you can forget losing them in the microwave too.

What You Need:

5 to 7 lb. bone in ham

1 (6 oz) can pineapple juice

1 (10 oz) jar pineapple preserves

How to Make It:

Set the oven temperature to 325 degrees and allow the oven to heat up.

Score the surface of the ham by making criss cross cuts about 1/2 in deep into the outside of the ham.

Place a baking rack in a shallow baking pan and place the ham on the rack.

Pour the pineapple juice over the ham being sure to completely cover the top and sides of the ham.

Cover the ham tightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Uncover the ham and brush the pineapple preserves all over the outside of the ham.

Return to the oven, uncovered, and continue baking 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the ham reaches 140 degrees.

Remove from the oven and place on a serving platter. 

Allow the ham to rest 30 minutes before carving.

Serving Size:  12

Instead of using sticky gooey glazes try this with the preserves.  Any type will work including apricot or orange marmalade.  Just be sure to use the same type of juice as the preserves. 

What You Need:

1 (10 1/2 oz.) pkg. miniature marshmallows

3 T of butter

1/8 t of salt

Red and yellow gel food coloring

6 C of crisp rice cereal

6 Popsicle sticks

3 miniature Tootsie rolls, cut in half

3 miniature green apple Air Head candies, cut into thin strips

Black decorating gel

How to Make It:

Place the marshmallows, butter and salt into a large sauce pan over medium low heat.

Stirring constantly, cook 5 minutes or until completely melted and smooth. 

Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the red and yellow food coloring until you have reached a pumpkin orange color.

Fold in the cereal and coat well.

Lightly butter your hands and fingers and form the mixture into 6 equal size balls.

Insert 1 Popsicle stick 1/2 way up into each ball.

Place 1/2 of each Tootsie roll on the top of the ball to represent the pumpkin stem.

Roll the Air Head candy strips between your palms to form a vine.

Press the vine into the pumpkin ball as close to the stem as you can, allowing it vine over the edge of the pumpkin.

Make a face on the pumpkin using the black decorating gel.

Allow the pops to cool completely on a wire rack.

These make fun little treats to give out on Halloween.  Need more than 6 just double or triple the ingredients.  They also make great treats for that Halloween school party or as an after school Halloween snack.

Makes 6 servings