K.I.S.S. Turkey

After being inspired by watching dozens of celebrity chefs' favorite turkey techniques over the last few days, I decided to show a turkey being prepared using none of them. This goes out to all you terrified first timers whose heads are probably spinning with cryptic visions of brining, rubbing, marinating, injecting, smoking, and frying.

This also goes out to you grizzled veterans who realize the turkey is  nothing more than an edible centerpiece; merely an excuse to surround ourselves with the most delicious and decadent side dishes and desserts possible.

I’m not saying that all those tips and tricks aren’t worthwhile; they are, and I’ve used many of them at one time or another, but the fact remains that if you simply buy a great bird, rub it with a some butter, season it generously, and slow roast it – you’ll have a perfectly wonderful tasting turkey with magazine cover good looks.

Having said that, I don't really expect most of you to just settle for such a primitive method, but the point here is that you could if you wanted to. If you do decide to first use whatever brines, marinades, and/or spice rubs strike your fancy, this roasting method will still work very nicely. By the way, if you need it, check out this gravy post for what to do with all those pan drippings. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

12-24 pound turkey

seasoning salt: salt, black pepper, and cayenne

3 tbsp butter

4 springs of rosemary

1/2 bunch sage leaves

1 onion

1 carrot

1 celery rib

*Roast at 325 degrees F. for about 15 min/per pound or until an internal temp of 175 degrees F.

Turkey Gravy with Porcini Mushrooms and Marsala Wine – Make-Ahead So You Don’t Get Behind

They say timing is everything; to which I would add, “was” everything, and “will be” everything. So, with that in mind I present this “make-ahead” turkey gravy with porcini mushrooms and Marsala wine.

The Thanksgiving Day kitchen is a busy, hectic scene that can intimidate even the most experienced cooks. As dinnertime approaches, you’re flying around the kitchen trying to get everything to the table, hot, looking delicious, and most importantly, on time.

While the turkey is resting under foil, you’re mashing potatoes, reheating sweet potatoes, warming rolls, and probably trying to finish a gravy. That’s a lot of stuff going on, and one reason new cooks are so afraid to try a big holiday meal.

However, by doing your gravy ahead of time, you make that last-minute production a lot easier, and your other offerings will benefit from the extra attention. That’s not to say I want you to throw away all those lovely turkey pan juices sitting in your roasting pan. Time permitting of course, strain them into a saucepan, boil them down, and add them to this sauce.

This recipe is made for adaptation, so feel free to use a drier white wine, sherry, or none at all. I highly recommend the caramelized porcini mushrooms, which are easy to find dried in any large grocery store, but you can also use any fresh varieties with delicious results. Anyway, if you’re looking to “gourmet up” this year’s turkey gravy, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Turkey Gravy Ingredients (makes about 3-4 cups gravy):

For the turkey neck stock:

2 tsp vegetable oil

3-4 turkey necks

1 onion

1 rib celery

1 carrot
1/3 cup Marsala wine, or white wine

2 quarts cold water

2 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

1/4 oz dried porcini mushrooms

For the sauce:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 oz dried porcini mushrooms

3 tbsp flour

about 6 cups of the reserved turkey neck stock

2 tbsp heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

How to Reheat Soggy Leftover Pizza

I’m not sure when or where I started reheating leftover pizza using this stovetop method, but it’s one of my favorite kitchen shortcuts of all time. By the way, since I don’t remember learning this from anyone, I’ll assume I invented it. 

So, if you’ve been actually been doing this for years, and know many others who do the same, please keep it to yourself, and just let me have my moment.

There are so many advantages to using this method. There’s no insufferable wait for an oven to preheat (10 minutes in real time is 45 minutes in “I have the munchies” time); you don’t waste all that extra energy (you’re welcome, Planet Earth); and most important of all, you get perfectly crisp crust. In fact, you’ll get a crust that’s hotter and crispier than it was when it was first served.

Of course some of you will go to the old toaster oven card, and while that does work just as fast as this method, it does not give you the same quality of crispy crust. Besides, many of us haven’t seen a toaster oven since college [insert hilarious dorm room cooking anecdote here].

Not only do I use this method for reheating day-old pizza, but also for crisping up pizza that was just delivered. Because the pie steams in the box, even the best pizzerias, with the fastest delivery systems, can’t bring you a pizza with the same texture as one fresh out of their ovens. Now, using this method, you can take care of that yourself. Enjoy!

Spatchcocked Spatchcock

“Spatchcock” refers to the method of cutting open a whole chicken, so that it sits flat in a pan, or on a grill. However, it wasn’t always the highly amusing verb it is today. 

Originally, it was a highly amusing noun used to describe a small, young chicken. Since these tender birds were usually butterflied to cook faster and more evenly over the coals, “spatchcock” became the culinary term for this technique. So, if you use a small, young chicken like I did, then you’re actually spatchcocking a spatchcock, which is about the most entertaining answer ever to the question, “What are you doing for dinner?”

Above and beyond how fun it is to use in casual conversation, the technique really does work beautifully for grilling a whole chicken. Once you remove the backbone, and set free the sternum from its covering of cartilage, you'll have a bird that will cook quicker and more evenly. It also looks pretty damn cool.

If you don’t own a sturdy pair of kitchen shears, then I hope this video inspires you to go out and get this must-have piece of equipment. They make this technique incredibly fast and easy, and you can also use them to completely section a whole chicken into serving pieces, as we showed in this video demo.

Anyway, I hope you pick up some spatchcock soon, and give this whole spatchcocking thing a try. I’ll be showing a recipe I did using this technique in a future video, so stay tuned for that, and as always, enjoy!

Fig Brulee with Burrata Cheese – Let’s Burn the Top of Some Fruit!

I love a crème brulee as much as the next portly chef, but when you consider the custard base is egg yolk-thickened, sweetened heavy cream, it’s not something you should be eating more than occasionally. But, why waste such a great technique when it can be applied to other things, like fresh fruit?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I chose figs here because I received a generous sampling from the California Fig Advisory Board, and decided this would be a wonderful way to enjoy them. As I mention in the video, this technique also works on fresh banana, a roasted peach or apple, and basically any tender fruit you can slice and sprinkle with sugar.

While this will work with white sugar, the Demerara sugar you see in the video seems to work best. It’s a type of raw brown sugar, and pretty much the same thing as you get in those little, brown “Sugar in the Raw” packages at the coffee shop. Let me be clear – I’m not suggesting you borrow a few of those to use for this recipe. That would be as illegal, as it would be free and convenient.

These were amazing with the fresh, creamy burrata, but any style cheese plate would benefit mightily from the shiny, sexy fruit. If cheese isn’t your thing, go grab a pint of vanilla ice cream, forget all about that sweet-savory thing, and just go full dessert.

Anyway, thanks to California Fig Advisory Board for inspiring the recipe, and if you want more info on how awesome figs are, you can check out their homepage here. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

End of Summer Peach Gelee – When Candy was Special

I was reading some comments under this peach gelee video on YouTube, and was shocked by the number of “omg! the sugar!!” type remarks. People, this is a candy, not a dessert. Candy is supposed to be an extraordinarily indulgent bite, enjoyed in small amounts only on certain very rare and special occasions.

Unfortunately, candy has lost its specialness, and somehow turned into a casual snack. We've gone from enjoying it at a couple sacred yearly festivals, to eating several handfuls a day. Let’s face it, the only reason you go up and chat with that receptionist is because she works behind a giant fishbowl filled with mini Snickers bars. Everybody knows.

Well, this fresh peach gelee is not that kind of candy. This is an old fashioned, handcrafted candy that takes a little time and finesse to pull off. It’s simple and sweet, but looks and tastes like something you’re only suppose to enjoy a few times a year.

I’ve never made this before, but saw an easy-looking recipe here, and tweaked it by using lime instead of the more traditional lemon. The recipe worked like a charm, and has me thinking about a late fall version using spiced pears. The method really intensifies the fruit flavors, and I find the jellied texture it produces very addictive.

Anyway, I hope you find some nice ripe peaches, and give this a try soon. If you’ve had experience making these types of gelees with other fruits, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks, and enjoy!

Step 1:

1 pound ripe peaches, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon lime juice

- Puree and add to sauce pan with 1/2 cup of sugar

- Boil for 15 minutes as shown

Step 2:

add 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons liquid pectin

- Bring to 200 degrees F. and cook for 10 minutes

Black Pepper Blackberry Slush – Relax, There's More Food Coming

Very early in my career, I remember being at a somewhat fancy banquet, and after the first course had been served, the waiters came to the table and placed down, what appeared to be a small bowl of sorbet.

I was told it was a "champagne intermezzo." Instead of being happy, I was more concerned that somehow they had forgotten about our main dish and skipped right to dessert. Not wanting to make a fuss, I ate, wondering what going to happen next.

What happened next was a very nice Veal Oscar. Relieved, I admitted to a tablemate the sorbet had caught me a bit off guard. After a few chuckles, it was explained that an intermezzo was a small, refreshing palate cleanser served in between courses.

So, while you are more than welcome to use this black pepper blackberry slush as a dessert, I'm hoping you give it as try as an intermezzo at your next dinner party. Some of you may call this a "granita," and it is very similar, but it's not quite as icy as that. This has a softer, slushier texture.

I made a very small batch, as I only had a half-pint of blackberries, but you can double or triple this easily for a bigger group. You can also make it the day before, "slush it," and keep it frozen until needed. I hope you give it a try soon, but do me a favor, and warn your guests, so they're not worried the meal is over. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup blackberries

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons water

pinch of black pepper

very small pinch of salt

Mahi Mahi Ceviche Ceviche

The last time I posted a ceviche recipe video, I almost had to hire a security detail to protect me from angry Peruvians. I'd done a bay scallop and mango ceviche, and within minutes of uploading, highly annoyed South Americans were demanding I change the name, since what I had made was NOT a ceviche.

It seems as though there are some very strict views on what may and may not go into a ceviche, which is too bad, since the technique begs for accessories. Thankfully, I'm no fundamentalist, so I was free to make this version.

One traditional ingredient I omitted was the sliced onions. Personally, I don't like the sharp bite of the raw onion in this recipe, so I decided to use chives instead. I'm pretty sure I'm in a very small minority, as most people consider the sliced onions an absolute necessity, so feel free to add those in.

This mahi mahi ceviche requires a little bit of knife work, but when you consider the seasonal advantage of not using the stove, and just how tasty this really is, I think it's all worthwhile. You can also use shrimp, scallops, swordfish, and snapper.

By the way, sorry about that extra "ceviche" up there, but it's not often you get the chance to publish a symmetrical post title. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 pound fresh mahi mahi

1 tablespoon minced jalapeño

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

pinch of dried oregano

pinch of cayenne

2/3 cup equal parts fresh squeezed lime and lemon juice

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1/2 cup orange segments

1/2 cup thinly-sliced red or white onion (or chives instead)

2 tablespoons julienne radish

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Sandy Beans! Getting Our Grit On with Crispy Parmesan Breadcrumb Coated Beans

We all know our food has to look and taste good, but one of the more overlooked aspects in cooking is texture. This sandy beans recipe is a great example. Sure, a nice bowl of white beans warmed in garlic oil and topped with parsley is a fine thing, but texturally…kind of a snoozer.

Here we're coating the beans with a crispy, cheesy, pleasantly gritty breadcrumb mixture. That's right; less yawn, more fawn. This was inspired by a similar trick I like to use for finishing pastas, and if there's one thing I know about people (maybe the only thing), it's they like crispy and crunchy toppings.

At the beginning of the recipe you'll hear me mention a garlic-infused oil. I will demo this in a future video, but in case you're wondering, here's what I did. Take a 1/4 cup of olive oil and place it on low heat. Add a sliced garlic clove. As soon as the garlic starts to bubble slightly, turn off the heat and let the oil cool to room temp. Do not brown the garlic. Strain this oil and voilà, you have garlic oil.

One quest that never ends for a cook is the search for ways to make common side dishes seem a little more special, and this is one trick I hope you try soon. Enjoy! 

Food Safety Note: One of our concerned viewers reminded me to point out that there is a botulism concern when dealing with garlic stored in oil. So you don't worry needlessly, out of 300,000 Americans, there are only about 25 cases of botulism per year with very few cases resulting from stored garlic. But better safe than sorry, so it's recommended that you store any leftover garlic oil in the fridge and use within 10 days.

Ingredients:

For the crumbs:

1/4 cup garlic olive oil

3/4 to 1 cup breadcrumbs (depends how "dry" you want your "sand")

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

For the beans:

1 can white beans, drained, rinsed

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

salt to taste

cayenne to taste

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Spreading the Homemade Mayonnaise Love

A beautiful homemade mayonaisse from
In Jennie's Kitchen! Photo (c) Jennifer Perillo

My friend and future partner in crime (if this food blogging thing doesn't work out, we're going to rob a bank together), Jennifer Perillo, just posted a homemade mayonnaise recipe on her blog, In Jennie's Kitchen, and was kind enough to credit me with the stick blender technique described therein.

I didn't invent this great trick, but since I don't remember who did, I really have no choice but to continue taking full credit. This video is so old, there's a good chance you've not seen it before, and if that's the case, and you have a stick blender, you'll want to give this a try so you can cross "homemade mayo" off your culinary bucket list. Enjoy!

Click here for the original post with ingredients amounts.

In Case of Emergency: How to Make a Tomato Rose

I like to have a few short, all-purpose how-to videos, like this tomato rose technique, already done and ready for a quick upload, in case something unexpected happens and I can't film a regular recipe.

You know, for emergencies like if my equipment fails, or I get injured saving a fireman stuck in a tree (he was up there trying to save a cat), or like in this case, I get called down to Los Angeles to produce a historically-based reality food show. Enjoy!

How to Poach Eggs - Better Late Than Whenever

I mentioned in the recent Roasted Asparagus with Fried Prosciutto and Poached Egg video post that I'd be doing a new and improved "how to poach eggs" technique demo. I said I'd be doing it "soon," which to me means sometime this year, but apparently to many viewers that meant in the next day or two.

So, it's safe to say, this video recipe was truly "by popular demand." And by "demand" I mean constant harassment, and good-natured threats, or at least I hope they were good-natured. The lesson here is to never promise anyone anything.

In related news: I'm not saying exactly when, only that it will be in the future, but the breakfast I used as a destination for my poached eggs will also be turned into its own video recipe for a sort of hollandaise-less eggs Benedict, so stay tuned for that.

Anyway, this is fairly straightforward stuff, except for the fact that the really, really fresh eggs I bought to show how amazingly well they hold together in the hot water, were anything but. As you'll see, they spread out faster that a group of food bloggers in a free grand tasting tent. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For 2 quarts of water

1 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh eggs!

An Upside-Down Burgers is Right-Side Up

You'll be happy to know I brought all my equipment with me down to LA, and I'll be spending my entire weekend filming a bunch of new videos recipes – none of which will include my "face for radio."

This little quick and dirty cell phone video shows a burger eating technique I've been wanting to share for a while. I like to leave my burger upside-down on the plate, so instead of the thinner bottom bun getting even soggier, the juices drain into the usually thicker, drier top bun. You're welcome. Enjoy!

How to Cook Hamburgers So That Someone Like Me Would Like Them

I normally don't care too much about how absolutely accurate the color profiles of my photos are. I'm the video guy, so if the pictures are a little off, or my grammar's ain't perfect, I get a pass.

But here I was concerned that my average-at-best photography skills would give readers a false impression of exactly how cooked this hamburger was. You'll have to take my word for it, but this was a pretty perfect medium. It may have been the bright light, but the photo makes this look a little rarer than it was.

I'm not a big fan of rare burgers, as I've always believed the beef fat therein should be hot and flowing, not cool and flabby. If I want raw meat I'll make a tartar. At the same time, I do want to keep the burger somewhat pink, if possible, so it stays moist and tender.

The technique you're about to watch is fairly straightforward, but like any cooking methods, it takes a little practice. The good news is, once you get a feel for this "cook it just over halfway up" system, you should be a perfectly pink hamburger making machine.

By the way, I won't engage in any inane debates on the wisdom of eating less-than-well-done burgers. The topic's been covered online, ad nauseam (pun intended). Is it potentially dangerous to eat a pink burger? Of course, but so is crossing the street. Enjoy!

Chicken with Chipotle and Green Onion Gravy - Practice Makes Pan Sauces Perfect

I know it's Easter Sunday, but the show must go on. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this delicious chicken with chipotle and green onion gravy recipe, but this week is so insanely busy, I wanted to get it up as soon as it was ready.

Nothing groundbreaking this time, just a simple exercise in pan gravy perfection. If I only had one day to teach someone how to cook, you better believe this archetypal sauce recipe would be one of the first things I'd demonstrate.

This entire procedure takes about 20 minutes, and the basic technique can be adapted countless ways. I usually avoid those yawn-inspiring, "Easy Weeknight Dinner" recipe lists, but this fits that description perfectly.

It's also a great random chicken recipe generator. You could make this same dish every Thursday night for a year, and by switching up the flavorings and spices, never have the exact same recipe twice. You can also recklessly rotate the starchy, gravy-absorbing side dishes, as this shines with any manner of rice, pasta, or potatoes.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your holiday, don't eat too many leftover Easter eggs, and the next time you're looking for an easy weeknight dinner, give this chicken and gravy recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

3/4 cup chicken broth, or as needed to adjust thickness

1/2 teaspoon chipotle, or to taste

2 tablespoons minced green onions

Homemade Crème Fraiche – Nobody's Ever Made it Just Once

Crème fraiche is French for "fresh cream," which makes it one of the most ironically named foods ever, since it's made by leaving cream out in a warm spot until it’s soured and thickened by a growing colony of bacteria. Yeah, fresh.

Regardless, making crème fraiche is very easy and as the title implies, once you taste the magic of homemade sour cream, you'll have a hard time not repeating this somewhat esoteric exercise. Sure it takes a couple days, but the effort is minimal for such a marvelous payoff.

As I mention in the video, besides the amazing taste and luxurious texture, maybe the best thing about crème fraiche is its ability to be cooked. Because of it's composition and fat content, it doesn’t curdle and separate when you heat it like sour cream.

This makes it an incredibly versatile addition to countless recipes. I can't think of many pan sauces that don’t benefit from a spoon or two. Yesterday on this blog, you saw it stirred into fried rice. Next week, you'll see it turn an ordinary pan of braised beef into a world-class Stroganoff. I could go on and on, and for SEO purposes I probably should, but you get the idea.

As long as your jars and utensils are very clean, preferably sterilized, there isn’t a lot that can go wrong. Be sure to get your hands on the best, freshest cream you can find. In the supermarket you'll want to look for "pasteurized," not "ultra-pasteurized" heavy whipping cream. Also, be sure to use cultured buttermilk otherwise you’re going to be waiting a full day to see nothing happen.

By the way, I'm extremely proud of this video recipe and blog post, but not for the usual reasons. It's because I didn’t make one single Randy Marsh joke! You South Park fans know what I'm talking about, and those of you that don’t should really check out this crème fraiche-themed episode. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons cultured buttermilk

Mix together and leave in a warm spot (about 70-75 degrees F.) for 24 hours, or until thick. Refrigerate for 24 hours before using. Should last a week or two. 

Homemade Butter – The Original "Elbow Grease"

When I saw my friend, Jennifer Perillo, do a homemade butter post on her great blog, In Jennie's Kitchen, I thought it would make for a very cool video recipe here. 

The problem was I have the world's ugliest food processor. It's chipped, yellowed from age, and simply not a good look. But it still works fine, so I'm not able to make myself throw it away and get another. Then I thought about doing a real homemade butter video; a true handmade version, without using any machinery whatsoever, save for the finely sculpted apparatus that is my arm. 

Besides not having to show my lame processor, I would also have the opportunity to do some Shake Weight jokes (among others); talk about a win win! Anyway, as you'll see, this technique worked wonderfully and really was a lot of fun. 

It tasted exactly like good supermarket butter. Of course, since it takes a lot more effort to do, and probably costs more to make than buy, you're probably wondering why bother?

That's a great question, and one I really hope you don't ask yourself before giving this a try. By the way, if you are a regular butter maker, please feel free to share any tips and tricks you may have. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

cold heavy cream (about 36% butterfat)

Stovetop "Sous Vide" Episode 2: NY Strip Steaks – Pretty and Pink

The duck breast we did in Episode 1 of our stovetop sous vide series last month was so spectacular, I couldn't wait to give it a try with some nice thick steaks. I had no doubt that it would work (thanks to the laws of physics), but would the extra time and attention be worth the payoff?

Well, that depends. As far as the taste and texture of the meat goes, it was pretty much the same as any perfectly cooked steak I've ever had. Not to sound all braggy, but thanks to having done thousands of them, I can produce a pretty decent, medium-rare NY Strip steak in about 15 minutes.

It will be nicely browned and crusty outside, warm and pink in the middle. So for me personally, I'm not sure the extra wait is worth it purely for the textural advantages is provides. Don't get me wrong, the results were fabulous, but do I really need to wait 2 1/2 hours to get my beef on?

The real advantage to this technique is not a superior-quality final product (like it was for the duck), but the fact that you're guaranteeing a perfect medium-rare (using 130 degrees F. water, or 140 for medium, or 150 for medium-well, etc.). So, if you've never had any luck getting large, expensive hunks of steak cooked to your idea of perfection, then this is the way to go, for sure.

Since we went over the basics of this procedure in the previous post, I won't rewrite all the background info about what sous vide is, and how it works. For that kind of scintillating background information, please check out, "Episode 1: The Best Duck Breast Ever." Enjoy!

NOTE: For LOTS more information about doing sous vide steaks, check out Sous-Vide 101: Prime Steak Primer by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, posted on Serious Eats.



Ingredients for Stovetop "Sous Vide" NY Strip Steaks:
2 (12-14 oz) NY Strip Steaks
1 teaspoon grape seed oil , or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter, divided
handful of trimmed mushrooms
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Holiday Gift Idea: Homemade Herb Salt – Remember, You're Not Cheap, You're Creative!

Homemade, edible holiday gifts are kind of tricky. There is a fine line between giving a unique, thoughtful, carefully prepared gourmet goodie, and giving someone something that looks like it was just an easy way out. Hopefully, this beautiful looking and smelling fresh herb "finishing" salt will be seen as the former.

If this looks familiar, I did a similar version a few years ago for About.com, and since I needed a Holiday-themed gift idea to film for this year's YouTube Holiday Solution Center, I decided to give it another go.

As you'll see, I used rosemary and lemon thyme, but other hearty green herbs will also work. By "hearty," I mean herbs that are sturdy and resinous, like savory, oregano, and marjoram. Fragile herbs like dill, chervil, and cilantro, just don’t work as well.

Answers to a few common questions: Yes, the color will fade within a few weeks, but the herby flavor and aroma will remain intact for much longer. There is no shelf-life limit, and this can be kept indefinitely.

I described this as a "finishing salt," meaning it's used to season cooked food at the table; however, it can also be used in place of regular salt in any recipe preparation. So, if you're looking for a cool, creative foodie stocking stuffer, or, well, you're just cheap, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 1 1/2 cups):

1/2 cup packed fresh herb leaves (I used rosemary and lemon thyme)

1/2 cup course sea salt

1 cup regular sea salt, or a flaky kosher salt

A Beef Chili That's Great Under Pressure

I've gotten a ton of food wishes for a pressure cooker demo, all unfulfilled due to my serious lack of a pressure cooker. So, when my friends at IMUSA asked me if I was interested in testing their pressure cooker, I answered with an enthusiastic yes.

When you ask someone why they don't use a pressure cooker, one of the most common replies is something to the effect of, "I'm really not into being killed by an exploding stew."

Well, I'm here to tell you, if used properly (meaning you actually read and follow the directions), the chances of a pressure cooker injuring you in an explosion is incredibly slim. You have a better chance of breaking your toe by dropping a bowling ball on it, and this assumes you don't bowl.

While the video features a quite acceptable beef stew-style chili recipe, which I've always called chili Colorado, the point of this post is to give someone new to pressure cookers an overview of the basic steps, tips, and techniques. I've listed the ingredients below, but this will work for any similar recipe.

As you'll see, these marvels of pressurized heat are very simple to use, and really do significantly reduce cooking time. Simply put, by increasing the pressure in the pot, you raise the boiling point, which cooks the food faster. For more info, ask anyone else.

I want to thank IMUSA for sponsoring this demo, and if you want more information about the model I used, you can get that here. Like I said in the video, no matter which brand or model you use, the method is basically the same. Enjoy!




Beef Chili Colorado Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1-inch cubes
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoon ancho chili powder
2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can (10.5-oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon ground corn chips, optional
cilantro and chopped green onions to garnish