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It's just as easily made in the pressure cooker. Although, I usually cut back on the amount of liquid in anything I'm doing in the PC.

Amy

Carey, here's my Cuban Black Beans Recipe. I thought you could use it to adapt CI's for the PF.
EXPORTED FROM LIVING COOKBOOK

BLACK BEANS MAMI'S*****

Do not reduce olive oil amount, it is what distinguishes Cuban Black Bean Soup from others.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Inactive Time: 12 hours Total Time: 12 hours and 45 minutes

1 lb. dry black beans
2 bay leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut in half
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt to taste

Wash beans well and remove any bad beans and debris. For 1 lb. of dried beans, dissolve 6 TBS. kosher salt in 4 qts of cold water. Soak the beans at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours. Drain and rinse them well before using. If you soak beans and aren’t able to use them immediately, they can be drained, transferred to a zipper-lock bag, and refrigerated for up to four days before being used without ill affect to flavor or texture. We do warn against soaking beans much beyond 24 hours as testing has suggested that they can lose flavor and develop tough skins and a mealy texture.

Wash and seed bell pepper and cut in quarters. (You can chop it you prefer, we like to have the flavor but don't eat it). Dice onion and peel and mash garlic with a bit of salt.

Place the beans with the water in which they soaked in 6 Qt pressure cooker. Add extra water if needed to have 1" over beans. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Cool cooker quickly and check consistency of beans. If not tender enough close cooker and do another 10 minutes and check again. If there is too much liquid, leave cover off and boil to reduce some of the liquid. There should be some liquid, but it should not be thin and soupy.

Some folks like to add a TBS. of sherry vinegar before serving, we don't. Beans can be successfully frozen for a long time.

Some folks prefer to make a sofrito in the pressure cooker first, with the olive oil, onion, garlic. pepper and oregano before adding the beans and the bay leaf. I've done it both ways and usually do it the lazy way.

Recipe Type: ALINA'S ADAPTATION, Beans, Bell Peppers, BEST, Cuban Food, Grandma Hilia, Onions, Printed, Side Dish

Author: Grandma Hilia

Thanks Alina,

Your time matches well to one of the pressure cooker books I have (20 minutes for soaked black beans; 40 min for unsoaked), so that's reassuring. I have to admit that I'm going to have to get over my need to peek, stir, and taste as I go like I do when I'm cooking stovetop. I have the same issue with the slow cooker and baking too - you don't know until the end how it's going to turn out.

You all inspired me (that and the cold, gray fog) to make black bean soup. I made the pc one that Soccermom posted on the other board. Delicious. I also have that check and cook thing. This is a good recipe for that as you add some final ingredients after pc'ing. This was 30 min unsoaked, letting the pressure come down naturally.

Mary

Carey, my Cuban Black Bean recipe is pretty foolproof. No need to check. You can always add more salt, etc. at the end, though I seldom have to. The only time I've had problems with it is when I put in too much water (spaced out) and then left it on the stove to reduce at medium heat for 3 hours. The beans tasted great right after cooking in the PC, but the liquid reduction did not turn out well as you can imagine. Gotta love Barkeeps friend though, my PC looked as new when I finished.

I should have done what my mom did if it was too liquidy. She just put enough beans to fill a mini fp, added a bit of EVOO and pureed them and added them back to the beans. It did the trick every time. I made another batch the next day (soaked another lb.) and this time followed liquid instructions and they were super good.

For other recipes, especially when I am adapting one, I just take the PC and put it in the sink, drop down the pressure with cold water, open, stir, check, taste, etc. and then let it come back to pressure and continue the timing. One of the reasons I got an old fashioned sink was so I could put my PCs in them to reduce pressure.

The only concern when adapting is when the liquid is made of things like orange juice, which are only part water. In those cases, I err on the side of more liquid rather than less because you can always do a stove top reduction at the end (on low and watching it, lol). I have an electric stove, so I also have to be aware that temps go up and down slowly, so I lower the heat as soon as the pressure starts and watch to make sure it maintains. Not a problem with a gas stove.

Alina you've inspired me (and you're right, I can do a cold water release to check things if I get nervous - with my induction range reheating it back to pressure wouldn't take long). This weekend I am committed to doing an actual recipe. I got tired last night so popped the bean soup into the slow cooker this morning (instead of doing it in the PC last night like I had planned) and came home to soup. Nice, but not as exciting as pressure cooking it.

As an aside, if anyone is looking for a lower heat slow cooker, the touch-screen Crock Pot one CI recommends is the most like my old vintage one that I have seen. It maintains a simmer at about 205 on high.

Made the PC butternut squash soup from Modernist Cuisine at Home the other night. Very good, and somewhat different then expected.

I've been under the weather with a cold, so my recipe aspirations have been put on hold. When I can smell again, I'll do some more cooking.

Last night made Farro risotto in the PC. 200g Farro + 40g minced shallots + 50g oil, sauteed a bit, 400ml of chicken stock + 50ml dry vermouth. Cooked @ 15psi for 10 min, fast release. strained (keep liquid), and placed farro on frozen cookie sheet and put in fridge to rapidly cool. Later, took it out, mixed with reserved liquid and simmered a bit. Add some butter and parm, season and serve. Really really good, and the par-cook+finish make for good timeliness. Very creamy, very much like a traditional risotto. My only hiccup was that the stock i used was very gelatinous, which made the re-warming a little more hazardous than it might other wise be, but probably helped the texture quite a bit.

Adapted from Modernist Cuisine at Home

All this inspired me to find my PC, find the instruction manual, and make chicken stock twice so far.
Stock in 45 minutes. And good stock. Who woulda thunk it? Well, besides you guys.

I'm so looking forward to using this more.