Under Pressure

Enter Queen: "Pressure, pushing down on me, pressing down on you no man ask for..." Ha! Now I hope you have that totally awesome song in your head the rest of the day.

We finally bought ourselves a pressure cooker. 6 quarts, stainless steal with a little nob to hold and release the pressure safely (none of the old school weight stuff). Our main motivation was the artichokes sitting in our fridge, waiting to be gobbled up. Yuuummm. A nice, soft artichoke dipped in a little mayo. Or plain is good too. You know, I don't think I'd ever eaten an artichoke before I got married. Or mangoes. Or falafel. Or hummus. I'm sure there are more things, but it's so weird to think about.

My eating has definitely shifted. I guess some of it is due to Matt, some is due to cooking at New Haven, and some is due to just growing up. I mean, I didn't like olives, onions or bell peppers until we dated and/or got married. I didn't eat meat really. The first time I made hamburgers for New Haven I brought the meat home the night before and made Matt help me for the patties. I hadn't touched raw ground beef in years. I've come so far...

Anyway, that's off the topic. Back to my pressure cooker. I'm excited for other things now that I think about it. It will make baby food making go quicker. It's good for quick dinners since you can do meats and hard beans. My downfall with slow cookers is you have to think so far in advance. This helps us "wingers" out! It may take awhile to get the hang of timing, but I'm excited to try. Anyone have good recipes for a pressure cooker?

On a somewhat related note (food), because I have a Kitchen Aid, I was able to make Alton Brown's pizza dough exactly how his directions say. I've always just kneaded it by hand. It had a very different consistency and was definitely more "toss-able" than a hand knead. However, both Matt and I agreed that hand kneaded had a better taste and much better consistency. So, the reduced salt directions, by hand knead (approx. 10 min.) and stretch (not rolled out with a pin), is my favorite homemade pizza dough yet. Also, since I learned how to use a pizza stone correctly, I now prefer it on the stone. (Heat it in a 500* oven, on the second to bottom rack. Never make a pizza bigger than a medium size so it cooks evenly and you can shake it off the pizza peel easily. Cook the pizza for about 6-7 min.)