Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes
Smith, founder of MissVickie.com, a highly trafficked Web site devoted to all things steam-pressured, compiles her expertise in a single tome, covering the history of pressure cookery from its inception in the 17th century to its resurgence today. Smith extols pressure cooking's benefits, including fuel efficiency, faster cooking time, reduced fats, higher levels of nutrient retention and the ability to create lower-cost one-pot meals. Several pages are devoted to exact cooking times for specific vegetables, meats, fish, beans and even pasta shapes. Though there are a fair number of recipes featuring legumes, for example, this cookbook is mainly geared to a meat-eating audience. As might be expected, a good deal are stewlike creations, but Smith covers eclectic ground with dishes like Italian Seasoned Veal Tortellini Stew; Walnut Chicken Braised in Pomegranate Juice; and Mexican Posole (pork stew with green chile and hominy). Outside of the one-pot meals are ragus, pilafs and pulled meats for sandwich stuffing. Smith even rounds up some intriguing desserts like Sweet Dumpling Flan with Caramel Sauce and a basic bread pudding with six variations. Eminently thorough and enlightening, Smith's cookbook is bound to please the beginner pressure cooker and aficionado alike.(Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.