A couple of useful pressure cooker hacks

Pumpkins, squashes, aubergines

Or cooking methods, call them what you will.

Hack #1: Pumpkins and Squashes

You see here a magnificent specimen of Crown Prince Squash, given to me weeks ago at one of my cookery classes by my friend Jane Steward. It has been sitting on the side ever since I got it home. I am very fond of this type of squash – lovely dense, creamy flesh that isn’t too sweet - but it takes me ages to get round to tackling them, because - well, they aren’t easy are they? Very hard, almost impenetrable skin, that dense flesh – cutting them up can be quite an undertaking, even if you are strong of hand. (I do not feel very strong of hand).

And then I remembered - and felt stupid for forgetting - that I could soften it in the pressure cooker first. You can soften or cook all kinds of things in the pressure cooker if you don’t want the faff of peeling them first. I do this with Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, swede, celeriac….there are numerous benefits, but apart from the fact the skin comes away very easily once it is softened/steamed and there tends to be less waste, the flesh will also stay drier – no water logging at all. This makes for much better textured purees and mashes. There are options as to how long you cook for too – you can cook so they are completely cooked through (works best with potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, squashes and pumpkins, not so well with celeriac and swede as it takes much longer), or you can cook for just long enough for the skin (and the outer layer of flesh) to have softened.

For this particular squash, I wanted the flesh to still be firm, so I could still cook it again without it disintegrating.

The method.

So easy. If your squash is small enough, balance it on a trivet. I found that wasn’t going to work with this squash – it was too big, even for my 6 litre Kuhn Rikon and my Instant Pot. Instead I folded up a bit of tea towel and placed it on that, using a foil sling to lower it into the cooker as it was quite a tight fit (and now I think about it, I could probably have just wrapped it in a tea towel). I added just 2cm of water to the base of the cooker.

Then up to high pressure, cook for 8 minutes and fast release. This will give you a firm texture. For a soft (ie, pureeable texture all the way through), cook for 12 minutes.

The fun bit is removing the skin – the pressure cooker turns it into a texture very similar to that of a pepper and it will peel off in strips in the same way as a roasted or steamed pepper. It is very satisfying to do.

You will be left with an outer layer of flesh which will be tinged green. Taste this – if it is bitter – more bitter than you would like – you can scrape it off. Otherwise, leave it on. Then cut it up as you like, scooping out the innards. I toast the seeds too – there are always a lot and they make a great snack, dressed in salt or sugar and spices (dare I say pumpkin spices?!).

You can now use the pumpkin/squash as you like. I now have about 2kg of semi-cooked pumpkin to play with. I used some today to add to the mince/quince tagine I have been talking about and have been reminded about posting a recipe for. I will hopefully do so later in the week.

Hack #2: Pressure Roast Aubergines

I was developing a recipe involving stuffed aubergines and thought even if the dish is finished off in the oven or under the grill, it would save a lot of time and fuel if I could do the first bit in the pressure cooker. It works.

Simply halve your aubergines lengthways and score a cross hatch through the flesh. Season with salt. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in your pressure cooker. Sear the aubergines, flesh side down until you have a bit of colour, then, flip over and cook for another minute. Then add a splash of water, bring up to high pressure, cook for 1 minute only and fast release.

Turn flesh side down for a couple of minutes, on a rack, just to drain off any liquid, then scoop out the flesh and follow whatever recipe you are using. So simple!

And finally….

What I’ve cooked in my pressure cooker since my last post:

A bunch of beetroot for a beef and beetroot salad I was making

Caramelised endive - also for the beef and beetroot salad

1 thermos meal so far this week - leftover potatoes with sausage meat, onion and peas

Roast quince

A lamb mince and roast quince tagine with pumpkin

Pressure sauteed January King Cabbage

Par cooked baby potatoes before roasting

A big pile of sprout tops, steamed and smothered in butter

Cinnamon flavoured rice pudding (for fed up son)

Rhubarb compote - more of a textured puree, really. Forced rhubarb is already in the shops. In December. Is it normally this early?!

It strikes me that it might be nice to make this slightly more interactive and ask what you have been cooking too?