Under Pressure!

Many years ago, we bought a really cool pressure cooker at a fantastic value. It has taken up considerable pantry space ever since, as we have both been too afraid to try it out. Once in a great while I would haul it out with fresh resolve to actually use it, only to be overcome by vague childhood memories of stories of exploding kitchens and scalded cooks. Add to that the fact that I do not often cook meat and the pressure cooker has remained in pristine condition.

Well, I volunteered to bring dinner for our bible study group and started looking around on the Internet for an easy bean recipe. I discovered that people cook beans in pressure cookers and instead of taking 1-1 1/2 hours to cook, it takes 15 minutes!! Bonus!!! I found a great site http://www.vegancoach.com/pressure-cooker-beans.html called Vegan Coach where they have posted an instructional video on making pressure cooked beans. Watching the video gave me the confidence to actually try it and I decided to document my experience (in ridiculous detail) and share it with you!

Ah beans, the musical fruit, turns out that a lot of that "music" is caused by not soaking the dried beans long enough. Because I live in a house with 4 naturally musical guys, I soaked mine about 17 hours (recommendation is overnight) and this is what they looked like:

That's 4 cups of dried turtle beans (black beans are also called turtle beans, who knew!) in enough water to really cover as they'll expand to 3 times their size.

Important tip alert: DO NOT ADD SALT until after your beans are done cooking. Apparently this will toughen the skins and keep the beans from cooking properly.

Drain and rinse the beans in a colander and place in the cooker with 12 cups of water. The rule is 3 cups of water to every 1 cup of dried beans.

Close the lid of the cooker AND LOCK IT!!! I set it to High Pressure, for 18 minutes, and - SUPER SCARY part - I pressed the start button and proceeded in an orderly fashion (if running away with flailing arms is orderly) to the other side of the kitchen. Where I observed the cooker, it did nothing for quite some time until suddenly the red pressure indicator popped up! The false calm I had settled into was again replaced by apprehension. The cooker began to make all kinds of sizzling and whistling noises and then the 18 minutes of cooking actually began. It sounded like the faucet was running at full blast the whole time, so not a quiet undertaking. And, when you add in the pressure building and de-pressurizing time, actual cooking time is really about 10-15 minutes longer. Still much shorter than traditional methods.

OK, on to the reveal...ta dah....perfectly cooked (maybe even slightly overcooked) beans!! I added in a ton of salt and spices (unsalted beans = YUCK) and very yummy beans were enjoyed by all!

Pressure cooking was fun, and it appears the opportunities are endless. Pressure cooked cakes, chili, sauces, and more! Wonder if I could squeeze a turkey in there!!

Bon Appetit!