My 'Pressure Cooker' World!

It was an intriguing wedding gift, an appliance that I had never heard of or ever seen. (It could be a dangerous one, however, if you were not careful). Since then, the pressure cooker has been modernized, modified and is now made of healthy stainless steel, not the aluminum of yesterday, with an unmovable 'pressure gasket' that cannot be knocked off, accidentally. This important cooking 'tool' now graces my front-line meal time 'appliance' line-up, next to my Phillips Air fryer. Oh My, how times have changed.

In our pressure cooker world, it is comforting to know that there is an appliance that fits into our timed constrained lives. I began to use this 'pressure pot', again, recently, when I needed to make chicken soup, in a hurry. Only a frozen chicken was available. (A family member was struggling with a sore throat. She felt fine but her voice 'spoke' differently). Scientists have said that chicken soup has a profound effect on the re-building of immune health. So, from beneath the bottom cupboard, came the pressure cooker I had not used in years. With the lid locked securely in place, the frozen chicken began high pressure cooking for 25 minutes on medium-high heat. When the burner was shut off, the contents continued to cook as the internal pressure and temperature, higher than the boiling point of water, began its slow descent to room pressure. Forty minutes later, the 'red gasket' on the locked lid finally dropped, indicating room pressure had been reached and I could safely 'unlock' the cover. I removed the partially frozen chicken, sectioned it, then placed the pieces back into the cooker along with bay leaves and onions for a repeat performance of the cooking process. Vegetables were added, later, having repeated the cooking process one last time. With a bit of ingenuity and my pressure cooker, delicious chicken soup had been made. I had reached a new place in cooking, not realizing that the flavour of the chicken soup had intensified by using my 'long-lost' pressure cooker. At a 'cooking' temperature reaching 250 degrees, the steam generated inside this pressure pot literally cooked the chicken from the inside out, intensifying its flavour and producing a more nutrient rich soup. Could take-out fried chicken be next?

Decades ago, after arriving home from school and realizing I had forgotten to take something out of the freezer, I thought we were doomed to eat eggs again. Then I remembered the pressure cooker. The countdown to dinner began as I waited for this prized 'cooking assistant' to begins its magic, in real time, in no time, tenderizing the meat with incredibly high pressure steam from this '1973' futuristic 'appliance.' After 15-20 minutes of 'pressure cooking', I turned off the burner and waited for cooling and depressurization to occur, taking about 20-30 minutes. I then removed the partially frozen roast. Slices of it were made, then cubed, and finally returned to the pot to begin another countdown to taste perfection. The vegetables were added, 'layered' near the end of the cooking process. Since foods have different cooking rates, they should cooked in staggered fashion in the pressure cooker for taste, tenderness and nutrient integrity. Within one hour of arriving home from school, a delicious stew had been made, as tender and flavourful, as any that might have slow cooked for 2-3 hours. And all it took was a pressure cooker to do it. ...(Take-out could never compete with the pressure cooker on cost, nutrient content, flavour and time).

Today, the array of modern table top appliances is mind-boggling. But nothing can compare with the pressure cooker and its interior 250 degree temperature. Steam both cooks and tenderizes in record time. But my cooking arsenal has been up-graded, now, to include my Phillips Air Fryer, a name synonymous with quality and my childhood. It was bought two years ago and is akin to a mini-oven and fryer in one. Re-heating suitably baked or fried foods is a breeze. (I have baked 4 cookies, in an emergency dessert situation fashioning a baking sheet out of aluminum foil). I used the fryer, one day, to re-heat pizza. It was as though this party favourite had just come out of the oven. Pizza never tasted so yummy. The Phillips Air Fryer's method, with 1 tablespoon of oil, has given french fries new meaning for me. The air moves while the food remains within its tightly woven wire-basket. After many months of use and asking “Do you want fries with that” I decided to up my french fry game. Something was missing. Frying them in another pot with added oil in the last few minutes of doneness gave me what I was looking for: that take-out golden look and flavour hit. ... Food truck fries had finally arrived - in my kitchen!

In the Air Fryer by Phillips, I now enjoy fries without guilt, using organic or non-GMO oils, with high smoke point, just in case. (Momsey is highly suspicious of 'marketplace' fries). Is the oil being used changed as often as it should be? (Over-used and unsuitable oil is a menace to human health). Are trans-fats being used? I am now in french fry heaven. (Sweet potato fries are next).

The re-introduction of the pressure cooker and the purchase of the Phillips Air Fryer have made the kitchen a practical fun place to be. Delivering chicken fingers with yummy spicy fries, quickly, means my take-out world has finally come home to stay. I now have more time to relax, play with my animals, de-stress them with dry-brushing and figure out how to make a perfect Mojito, just in case.