Cookaholics Bulletin Board

4 years ago, a two months before Christmas.
Mrs. "You need to make a list of what you want so me and the boys can tell Santa."
Me. "A pressure cooker."
Mrs., looking frustrated, "Like being married to me is not pressure cooker enough? You want more?".
Me. "As Lombardi said 'No pain, no gain.'"
Mrs. "What could you do with a pressure cooker?"
Me. "Well, I could take the blocks of hickory and pressure infuse then with Jack Daniels before I use them in the smoker."
Mrs. "You would do something like that?"
Me. "No, I COULD do something like that."
Mrs. "What's the difference?"
Me. "You asked me what I could do, not what I would do."
Mrs. (sigh!) "Whatever!"
Mrs. --> exit stage left.

Tuna,

I take it you didn't get a pressure cooker?

But seriously, my 4 year old pressure cooker is suited for a ton of things.
So, yea, Santa got me a pressure cooker.

Ribs.
You know how some people boil their ribs before grilling them? I stuff them in the vessel with enough BBQ sauce to cover and infuse and TENDERIZE the ribs. Some will grill first to render off the fats and char the puppies before hand.

BEANS and METH.
Costco sells a gallon container of a 9-bean mix. You don't have to go to Costco, many other places have their blends too. The directions say soak in water for 8 to 24 hours before cooking. Some cooks say with a pressure cooker you can BYPASS the soak.
So why the soak? Without the soak, outer skins are tough and difficult to cook so they end up hard and difficult to digest. If they are difficult to digest, they tend to create GAS in the digestion tract. It's a Blazing Saddles moment. Those who have experience can sound off now.
Soaking softens the skins enough so they break down during the cooking process, and therefore digestible.

I don't make chili with the beans in the pressure cooker, that would be sacrilegious.
Instead cooked beans with the stock pot for my "California" chili.

POT ROAST
'Nuf said there.

Steamed pumpkins and squashes and any other vegies.

Soups and stocks.

Rice - really fast.

That sounds remarkably similar to some conversations I've had.

Just in case you didn't know...I love you...

Took me a bit to read that as methane rather than methamphetamines!