I knew our 'miracle' wedding gift was
up to the challenge. In less than an hour, we had delicious tender
stew. I was not surprised. Our pressure cooker made it happen,
again, in another 'forgotten' moment, after school. It was the early
70's.
I removed the roast from the freezer
when I got home, having forgotten to do so, that morning, before
going to school. My 'miracle' machine would create a delicious meal
in one hour. And so the journey began. Into the pot went the frozen
roast, for 20 minutes, long enough to soften its edges for cutting
into thick even slices. I was ready for beef stew, beef bourguignon
or goulash. After the thick slices came evenly cut sticks and then
cubes. The meal transformation had begun. The cubed meat was
returned to the pot, for a second time, for 20 minutes of pressure
cooking. The vegetables: diced carrots, celery, onions, potatoes,
arrived soon after, for another 10 minutes, under pressure, to
complete the entree, mere minutes for tenderizing the meat and
cooking the raw vegetables. A slurry of flour or cornstarch,
depending upon the appearance desired, was added to thicken the stew,
adding herbs or spices as desired. Unbeknownst to me, bone broth had
been created, intensifying the flavour of the stew while retaining
valuable nutrients, within minutes, not hours, of cooking. Fast
food's meaning was different in those days.
The hissing sound emanating from
beneath the movable metal 'turret' on top of the lid of the pressure
cooker could easily fall off, if I was not careful. The pent up
pressure from deep inside the pot could be unleashed, perhaps,
blowing a hole in the kitchen ceiling. Was this fact or fiction? That
was the message, in those days, with the cooker of that era. That
threat always seemed to loom large in my active imagination. But
pressure cookers were a rudimentary lot in those days. I used mine as
often as it made sense. Prior to marriage, I had never used one, seen
one or heard of its existence. But it became my cooking ally during
the early years of marriage.
A pressure cooker's pre-eminence in our
lives provided a basis for all other vegetables to appear, willingly.
The web has given me further evidence of the powerful health effects
of this powerhouse kitchen tool, called a pressure cooker, to augment
the nutrient value of the foods cooked in it. With ribs, the 'show'
is more dramatic. After 20 minutes of pressure cooking ribs, these
oft expensive and tough meats, are then placed into my Phillips
AirFryer with its patented technology, for that broiled in the oven
flavour, taste and look. There's nothing quite like it, really. A rib
rub of onion powder, paprika, cayenne?, turmeric, cumin, salt and
pepper, can be added mixed in, prior to 'roasting'. A taste sensation
is just moments away. Dining out is no longer the only place to find
delicious ribs. Now, it can be found in our kitchen where human
health always begins. ... Cooking wings can happen easily in the
majestic air fryer. Slow and easy does it with a dry rub all around.
Many air fryer machines have been on
the market for many years. None caught my eye till the name
Phillips, appeared, a name synonymous with quality and my childhood.
My life changed. Meal time took on new dimensions. “Do you want
fries with that?” was a constant refrain as I cooked dinner. “Other
' fries were always suspect. Was 'old' oil of unknown origins, being
used for them? Did 'new and improved' really mean better? With my
pressure cooker, cooking times were greatly reduced as flavour and
tenderness, improved. Frozen appetizers could now be baked, easily
and quickly, in the air fryer for the fresh from the oven taste.
Cooking drudgery was slowly disappearing and replicating restaurant
meal entrees was now possible with my air fryer and pressure cooker.
The oven is no longer the only
appliance to roast, tenderize or broil. We have the
pressure cooker and the Phillips Air Fryer, working in tandem, to keep us
home, more often, saving money, protecting health while freeing up
the time to engage, once again, with our children and our pets. It is
a simple case of life, happily, ever after.
No comments:
Post a Comment