"pressure" news and stories

Pressure cookers can be quite versatile when used with a little imagination and time. First, let me say that if you are going to get into pressure cooking, get a stainless steel stove top model and be prepared for some anxiety if you've never used one. I only recommend a simple stove top model, as opposed to an electric one with bells and whistles because this advice is pitched to the lazy guy. The lazy quotient comes into play later.

Pressure cookers develop serious pressure; up to 30psi at higher altitudes. This may not sound like much when your car tire blows, but that's not blowing superheated steam into your face and gas stove fixtures. Gee, why would steam and gas be an issue? Well, it's not that, it's the blowing off of the couplings or hoses that deliver the gas, thus creating a leak that pose the issue. It's happened. If you are alert it won't be a problem. Read on for a simple recipe that can also be adapted for soups, chicken, meats, you name it.

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Top Chef is really heating up. The closer we get to the end of the season, the more the viewers can get involved with the contestants. No doubt everyone has their favorite to win at this point, but it is still anyone's game. This week the contestants faced the celebrity chef judge Ted Allen, the food guru of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and a panel of professional food writers and critics at a party he hosted to celebrate the release of a new book. Talk about pressure! This was the first challenge that all the chefs had to work together, though the were judged separately, and things really got hot in the kitchen.

The quickfire challenge was about budgeting money and time. The contestants were presented with an array of ingredients, priced by the ounce, and had 20 minutes and $3 to spend on an appetizer. Ted Allen's favorites were Tiffani's dish of oyster 3-ways ($2.67), Harold's radicchio stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped in bacon ($2.93), Stephen's poached clams over grilled sea beans ($2.84) and Lee Anne's deep fried oysters ($2.98). Allen was won over by Stephen's El Bulli-like ultra-modern presentation, as well as the taste of his dish, and awarded him with immunity. This drew criticism from the other chefs, but clearly is a hugely successful trend in the restaurant business.