Pressure Cooker

Homemade Vegetable Broth

January 13, 2013

If you want to follow a more plant-based diet, try using vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef broth in soup, risotto and other dishes. Vegetable broth can also be used instead of water when cooking rice or quinoa to provide more flavor. Store brands taste pretty bad and have scary ingredients. Homemade tastes great and is guaranteed to be healthy. This is one foundational ingredient you need to make from scratch – and its easy.

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Fast and Flavorful Chicken Rice Soup

November 11, 2012

In the heat of summer, hot soup is the last thing most people think of eating, much less cooking…unless you are Russian. This summer, I made pot after pot of homemade soups for seven straight weeks while working as a private chef. My clients were professional hockey players training in Southern California. This soup was their favorite, hands down. Mikhail said it reminded him of his grandmothers in Belarus. That made me smile. 

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Rice Salad with Corn and Dried Blueberries

May 29, 2012

We seldom eat out, but I can’t resist Gulfstream in Newport Beach, CA. You can always get a great piece of fish, a terrific Caesar salad and a nice glass of wine. Another thing about their food, they have tasty side dishes. When a friend suggested we meet there for lunch, I was all in. The grilled sea bass was served with wild and brown rice with corn, dried blueberries, and nuts. It was rich tasting and textured against the simplicity and freshness of the fish. [...]

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Beef and Vegetable Stew with Rosemary

April 16, 2012

Mother Nature can be schizophrenic in the spring. Sunny and warm one day, raining and cold the next. What’s a cook to do? Go for a classic dish like beef and vegetable stew. Filled with chunks of top sirloin, carrots, tomatoes and herbs, this melt-in-your-mouth dish is a favorite with my beef-eating clients. Done in a pressure cooker, this stew takes about 30 minutes instead of hours, getting dinner on the table fast. You can also make it 2-3 days ahead and refrigerate it or [...]

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French Market Vegetable Beef Soup & Provence

January 27, 2010

Southern California usually has a climate much like the South of France, but last week we were pounded by torrential rainstorms. My thoughts turned to more pleasant weather and a trip to Provence. Fields of fragrant purple lavender humming with bees growing next to fields of golden barley. It was almost surreal, like something from a dream.

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Perfect Cheesecake From the Pressure Cooker

November 9, 2009

Classic cheesecake is pretty hard to resist. It’s simple, rich and creamy. Sometimes there is a little tang from a sour cream topping or maybe it’s topped with fresh fruit, often strawberries or cherries. The traditional method takes hours. But in a pressure cooker – just minutes, with fantastic results!

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