Lorna Sass wants to pull pressure cookers - the rage in post-World War II American kitchens - out of the company of poodle skirts and pompadours and put the appliance where it belongs: on the stovetops of '90s cooks.
"Why are we not all using pressure cookers?" the diminutive food scholar wonders aloud, quickly ticking off reasons why any contemporary cook should own one."Everyone wants to eat healthfully; we're all in a huge rush . . . and people are craving home-cooked food, the kind that nourishes" body and soul, says the woman who's been known to lug a heavy-duty stovetop superpot to interviews in restaurants.
"Pressure cookers are one of the few vehicles that make it possible to cook at home," and quickly, says Sass, the author of two books on the subject, 1989's "Cooking Under Pressure" (Morrow, $18.95) and the just-released "Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure." (Morrow, $23)
When Sass talks about her favorite kitchen appliance - which is no more complicated than a tightly sealed pot in which steam is superheated to penetrate food - people who haven't thought about making stocks or bean dishes or risotto in years (if ever) picture themselves cooking.
Imagine a favorite long-cooked dish and Sass responds with the amazing speed with which a pressure cooker realizes the meal.
Lamb stew? "Nine minutes."
Curry? "Seven minutes."
A great soup is a possibility in three minutes, the cookbook author offers.
Unlike that other kitchen time-saver, the ubiquitous microwave oven, the pressure cooker uses standard stovetop vocabulary, and the time it takes to cook food doesn't change with quantity. In the course of testing recipes for her most recent books, Sass discovered a wealth of dishes at which the pressure cooker excels.
"Risotto is unbelievable," she says. While it doesn't have the slightly sandy texture of a classic, "you get a chewy, very respectable product," she says. Her new cookbook also devotes a chapter to desserts, including apple sauce, rice pudding, a fig-hazelnut risotto and "pudding-cakes," or steamed puddings.
The food scribe's path to "Cooking Under Pressure" was paved by her mother, Eleanor Sass, who picked up a pot during a visit to India in the mid-'80s and returned home to tempt her daughter with luscious, complexly flavored cooking - along with the boast of having made such meals literally in minutes.
Simultaneously, Sass, whose previous writings centered around medieval cookery, remembers "looking for a way to get into more contemporary food writing. Coming from the Middle Ages, pressure cooking was relatively modern."
The timing for her love affair seemed right: A brief story in The New York Times praised the arrival of sophisticated European imports (what the author refers to as "second-generation" pressure cookers, distinguished from removable "jiggle-tops" by their stationary pressure regulators). Moreover, the only cookbook Sass could find on the subject was 10 years old, out of print and full of rich, overly complex recipes.
At home in her New York apartment, Sass says, she uses her pressure cooker almost every day.
"When I get hungry, watch out," the queen of pressure cookers warns. "I don't want to wait a long time" for a meal. "But if I know I can make split pea soup in 6 minutes, I'm more inclined to make it than if it were to take, say, 40 minutes." (The countdown begins once the pot reaches high pressure, from 30 seconds to 20 minutes, depending on quantity and type of food.)
One doesn't use a pressure cooker for everything, though, and new acquaintances learn to play to its strengths: "Anything that's quick-cooking" - fish or asparagus, for example - is best kept out of the pot, says Sass, who says the intense heat turns such fragile ingredients to mush.
Further, the appliance requires cooks to increase the amounts of herbs and other seasonings, adds the author, who has also learned to "build a lot of color" into her speed-cooked dishes (hence the frequent appearance of carrots, red peppers and tomatoes in her recipes). The softer texture of food prepared in a pressure cooker frequently calls for the addition of crispy or crunchy garnishes or side dishes, too, Sass advises.
That said, because the appliance is very good at quickly cooking such low-fat, high-fiber products as grains and beans, "the pressure cooker has allowed me to eat more healthfully. It's changed my life."
So why hasn't it changed the lives of more home cooks?
"Fear is the biggest hurdle," says the author, sounding a little weary of the skeptics she encounters, including some in the food world. "People in general are appliance phobic."
They also have long memories: decades ago, before safeguards were introduced, the original "jiggle-top" pressure cookers were known to explode under the force of built-up steam. Consequently, several generations can joke about sullied kitchens and recall the terror struck in the hearts of legions of home cooks.
Improvements in the design of the equipment have eliminated such problems.
Still, the dated reputation of an unpredictable appliance lives on.
At least one food professional, Arthur Schwartz of the the New York Daily News, recently confessed in print to standing in another room when he auditioned a pressure cooker not long ago. And Sass has lost track of the friends and colleagues who, scared at the sound of a pot's hissing, leave nervous messages on her answering machine, only to call back later to thank her for a good, speedy meal.
Sass has reason to be optimistic. Peter Colletti, president of Magefesa, a manufacturer outside Chicago, says that industrywide, pressure cooker sales have increased at least 10 percent a year for the past few years. Target, the national chain of department stores, has been test marketing a line of budget pressure cookers.
And "Cooking Under Pressure," now in its eighth printing, has sold 68,000 copies.
That's 68,000 believers, Sass figures.
But she knows her mission is far from accomplished: "I feel like I've converted everyone."
What's fast and tasty? From "Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure," here are a trio of recipes that show off the attributes of author Lorna Sass' favorite kitchen appliance: Cauliflower Potato Curry, Risotto with Winter Squash and Tarragon-scented White Bean Soup.
The Post-Intelligencer tested the recipes using a 6-quart stainless steel Magefesa brand pressure cooker, which costs $127. For additional information on Magefesa's product, contact Magefesa USA at (800) 923-8700.
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Additional Information
Recipes
CAULIFLOWER POTATO CURRY
1 large head cauliflower (about two and a half pounds)
2 teaspoons safflower or canola oil
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 pounds thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into half-inch dice
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh coriander (optional)
Cooking time: 3 minutes high pressure.
Cut the cauliflower into florets about 2 inches wide across the top. Set aside.
Heat the oil in the cooker. Sizzle the cumin seeds over medium-high heat just until they begin to pop, 5 to 10 seconds. Turn off the heat and add tomato paste and the coconut milk (stand back to avoid sputtering oil). While stirring with a fork, sprinkle in the curry powder, coriander, cinnamon, salt and cayenne. Bring to the boil. Set the potatoes and red bell pepper in the liquid and place the cauliflower florets on top.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape.
If the potatoes are not quite done, replace (but do not lock) the lid and let them cook for a few more minutes in the residual heat.
Stir well to combine the cauliflower and the potatoes. While stirring, the cauliflower will break up into small pieces and amalgamate with the cooking liquid to create a thick sauce. Mix in the coriander (if using) before serving.
Serves 4 to 6.
Note: The vegetables in this recipe are cooked in coconut milk, giving the final dish a smooth finish and a tantalizing balance of flavors.
RISOTTO WITH WINTER SQUASH
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped shallots or onions
Generous teaspoon dried sage leaves
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 1/2 to 4 cups vegetable stock
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 3 cups)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional) or balsamic vinegar to taste
Freshly grated pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Cooking time: 5 minutes high pressure.
Heat the oil in the cooker. Cook the shallots over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Add the sage and rice, stirring to coat the rice with the oil. Stir in 31/2 cups of the stock (stand back to avoid sputtering oil) and bring to the boil. Add the squash and salt.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape.
If the risotto isn't creamy, stir in a bit more stock. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the rice achieves the desired consistency (it should be tender but chewy) and the squash is partially pureed. Stir in the Parmesan (if using) or vinegar, pepper and parsley.
Serve immediately in shallow soup bowls.
Serves 6 as an appetizer, 4 as a main dish.
Note: In this luscious risotto, the squash cooks down into a sweet puree that gives the rice a light amber color. The sage provides a tantalizing herbal backdrop. If you're not using Parmesan cheese, you'll probably want a bit more salt or a dash of balsamic vinegar to sharpen the flavors.
TARRAGON-SCENTED WHITE BEAN SOUP
1 1/2 cups dried navy (pea) beans, picked over and rinsed, soaked overnight in ample water to cover or speed-soaked
5 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon safflower or canola oil (optional, except for owners of jiggle-top cookers)
1 cup thinly sliced leeks (white and light green parts) or coarsely chopped onions
2 large carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into half-inch slices
2 large celery ribs, finely diced
2 large bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Cooking time: 8 minutes high pressure.
Drain and rinse the beans. Place them in the cooker with the water, oil (if needed), leeks, carrots, celery, bay leaves and tarragon.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 8 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally or use a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape.
If the beans are not quite tender, either return to high pressure for another minute or two or replace (but do not lock) the lid, and simmer until the beans are done.
Remove the bay leaves and add salt.
If the soup is too thin, with a slotted spoon, transfer about 1 cup of the beans to a food processor or blender, and puree. Stir the puree back into the soup.
Serves 4 to 6.
Note: Tarragon adds a note of elegance to this oh, so simple bean soup.