Pressure Cooking for Everyone by Rick Rodgers, Arlene Ward
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Book Reviews of Pressure Cooking for Everyone
Book Review: Great Recipes!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I looked at almost every book on the market for pressure cookers and this was one of the books I chose. I liked the variety of the recipes, the pictures which alot do not have and the information was helpful if you are new to pressure cooking. I found it to be very thorough and covered a wide range of dishes...meat, poultry,desserts and even just vegetable and bean dishes if you are not into meat.....Highly Recommended!!!!Book Review: Fast, Tasty, and Simple
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful and well thoughtout book. All your questions are answered without needing to have a culinary degree. The pictures are splendid and the recipies are easy to follow. A must for anyone who loves good, wholesome food, but does not have the time to labor over the stove. Why make a 4-6 hour beef stock when you can do one in an hour.Book Review: Wide variety of recipes, good instructions, pretty photos
Summary: 4 Stars
After investing in a pressure cooker, I knew that I'd need a cookbook or two to help me get the most out of it. I took two books out of the library to audition them for long-term placement in the cookbook library (which I may yet review; I haven't finished evaluating The Pressure Cooker Gourmet or Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes). But on a browsing trip to the local bookstore I found this one, too, and the author's name sold it for me; I have a few Rick Rodgers cookbooks and all have been reliable or better (recommended: Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague).
Pressure Cooking for Everyone does a very good job, but in the long term I don't think it will be the only pressure cooking cookbook I own. (This is not necessarily a bad thing! Except for my bookshelf situation, which is becoming dire.)
There are recipes for foods in just about every category: soups & stocks; meat main courses; poultry and seafood; beans; risotto and grains; quick pasta sauces; vegetables; desserts and fruits. There's plenty of American comfort food and "the usual suspects," such as a Yankee pot roast; however one thing I like about this book is a wide breadth of ethnic recipes, such as a Cuban pot roast (with capers and olives) and osso busco, in a relative short (150 page), inexpensive cookbook.
The introductory sections about using your pressure cooker aren't as extensive as I've seen in the other books; Rodgers clearly expects your equipment manual to go into depth. Every recipe has an inspirational photo, which I know matters to some people.
So far, I've made two recipes, with good (4-star, not 5-star) results: chicken alla cacciatorra (Italian chicken stew) and last night's risotto with butternut squash and sausage. Both were straightforwardly written, though as other reviewers have remarked Rodgers is a bit light-handed with seasoning (just 3/4 tsp "Italian seasoning" for a a a whole chicken?). Neither generated leftovers that made us say, "Sheesh, do we still have THIS to use up?"
I have little post-it tabs stuck in several more recipes. Besides the aforementioned osso bucco, I'm looking forward to the quick-cooking boeuf bourguignonne, pinto bean salad with chile vinaigrette, and five-spice pork roast.
Rodgers does fall for the "I have a gadget and I'm going to use it for everything" trap which is slightly irritating. For example, the risotto has you use the steamer basket to cook the butternut squash (for one minute), then quick-release the pressure, clean out the pressure cooker, and get on with the sausage and rice. You add the squash at the end. I just steamed the squash separately, which was more effiencient.
I'm glad I have this cookbook, and I'm sure to use it regularly. But I'm not going to say "This is the only pressure cooker book you should own," and I'm not sure it's the best first-book, either. I like it; if you're comfortable with your equipment and looking for more inspiration, you'll probably like it, too.
Book Review: Beautiful, fun and informative!
Summary: 4 Stars
This cookbook has a quality not normally associated with pressure cooking: glamour! These are not Grandma's pressure cooking recipes! New techniques, great pictures and graphics made this book a joy to read and use. I haven't had a chance to try many recipes yet, but I'll be using this one a lot. I went straight to the rice pudding, a favorite comfort food of mine. It was done in 11 minutes and tasted great, with no added fat besides milk. I can't wait to try some of the more fancy desserts, like Black Forest Croissant Pudding and Cafe' Con Leche Flan. I need to get a springform pan and try the cheesecake, as well (I noted in my pressure cooker review that it would be great if the manufacturers made custom inserts for this! I may be dreaming...)I'm giving this book 4 stars simply because no one cookbook can cover it all. For the basics, and for more "family" type meals, you may want another book. This book really does reflect the way my family eats (with a baby and 4-year-old) but we also eat a lot more basic soups, steamed vegies, and grilled seafood (one thing that doesn't work in the PC.) I usually improvise, and in fact I found a few of these recipes were nearly identical to meals I've cooked recently (beet and orange salad, Mexican chicken tacos).
I'll skip the red meat recipes, but the bean recipes are fresh and wonderful, and there are some great chicken recipes as well (Moroccan chicken, Mexican chicken in soft tacos). I recommend taking a class in pressure cooking, but if you can't, this is the next best thing. I'm not surprised that pressure cooking seems to be experiencing a revival, but I am surprised it took this long. I love my pressure cooker (see review) and would be hard-pressed to cook most meals without it!
Bon appetit!
Book Review: Not everyday recipes, but a good book
Summary: 4 Stars
The book is well written, well presented, with some images, and the recipes are short and very clear. The seleccion of recipes covers from the basics (stocks, broths) to more ellaborate dishes and desserts. There are also tips on pressure cooking, not only recipes. The only downside to the book is that most of the recipes are a bit too "gourmet", and not for everyday cooking (which is what I was looking for). Other than that, I strongly recommend the book.