Western Reserve School of Cooking: Pressure Cooking Workshop

Pressure cooking is something that was just on the fringe of my cooking interest. Until I started to watch Top Chef and Iron Chef, the pressure cooker was just this piece of equipment that looked dangerous to use and typically overcooked food in my experience. I say that Top Chef and Iron Chef changed my outlook because it was confusing to me how they could braise a beef shortrib in under an hour when it takes me close to three hours to do it at home. The answer to that question, which surprised me, was that they are using a pressure cooker to achieve their results. The infusion of the steam pressure into the meat allows for the cooking time to be shortened by as much as 70 percent. That’s a lot of time.

The old pressure cookers look rickety, scary and require a lot of skill to use in my estimation. The ones that I have seen are made out of aluminum which I really prefer not to cook with. They make a lot of noise and spit steam out everywhere. Sometimes it reminds me of the furnace from A Christmas Story… not something I really ever wanted to deal with. But, to be a well rounded cook there can be no equipment that is unknown or off limits. My drive toward complete immersion in the kitchen necessitated learning how to use what I considered to be antiquated kitchen equipment.

Let me take a minute to expound a minute. About a month ago, an old friend of mine hit The Chubby Cook Facebook page and said that he was the proud new owner of a pressure cooker. He wanted to know if I had any recipes that he could try out. Typically I have something for just about any occasion, but on this one I had nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Who knew I would be stumped by a pressure cooker question?!? I checked on the schedule for the Western Reserve School of Cooking and saw that there was a class being offered by Gina DeRose on pressure cooking. Game on. No silly pressure cooker is going to get the better of me.

I liked the menu offering in this participation class which is one of the reasons for going as well. Sometimes the four or five hours to make stock just isn’t available. The idea of being able to make homemade stock in an hour is very appealing to me. I liked the look of the barley risotto with asparagus and the concept of making bread pudding in a pressure cooker intrigued me to no end. The fact that Gina DeRose specializes in healthy cooking and has worked with some pretty big named people also had me looking forward to going to this class.

Gina DeRose demonstrating the proper use of a pressure cooker. Photo by Scott Groth

This workshop at the Western Reserve School of Cooking started off by everyone working on the mise en place for the recipes of the night. The real trick to the pressure cooker is simply getting your timing right. With the new pressure cookers out there (we were using the Fagor brand, which really works nicely) it’s easy to figure out. There’s a little yellow button that raises when the appropriate pressure has been reached. At that point, start timing. When you’re done cooking, flip the switch to release the pressure, wait a couple minutes and then check what you have cooked inside. It’s really easy.

The one issue we ran into during the class was timing for all the dishes. Pressure cookers don’t grow on trees last time I checked so we had to share three of them. With the stock cooking in one, the barley risotto in another and the last for the curried chicken soup, the people working on the pumpkin bread pudding were just hanging out for a while. They say that a watched pot never boils, but I say that watching a pressure cooker work isn’t exciting. The good news is that Gina was full of information and stories while we were waiting for the dishes to be completed.

Gina DeRose working on a dish and telling some stories. Photo by Scott Groth

The risotto was delicious. I wasn’t a huge fan of the coconut soup, but I attribute that more to the fact that in my Foundations classes I’ve set the bar pretty high when it comes to soups these days. Also, curry just isn’t a spice that makes a regular debut around my house. The pumpkin bread pudding was delightful. The flavor was spot on. This is a dessert recipe that will make my Fall rotation once I pick up a pressure cooker. That’s right, The Chubby Cook is sans pressure cooker to this day. The Holidays are around the corner, so I’m hoping that one will show up with my name on it.

Barley and asparagus risotto. Done in 11 minutes! Photo by Scott Groth

There are more pressure cooking classes coming up at the Western Reserve School of Cooking. I think that the next one is being taught by Sarah McNally whom I met the other day. The recipe for that night looks awesome: Chicken Basquaise with Artichokes, Risotto with Broccoli, Polenta and Cream Cheesecake with a fruit glaze. I’d love to be at this workshop, but I’ll be out of town that night. If any of you guys reading this take the class, be sure to e-mail me and let me know how it was. TheChubbyCook@Gmail.com

Pumpkin bread pudding. Wish this photo came out better- awesome taste! Photo by Scott Groth

The funny thing about pressure cooking is now watching The Next Iron Chef and seeing how many troubles they are having using this piece of equipment. It happened on the last season as well- I guess that it’s important to learn how to use as much kitchen equipment as possible!