tabacco
My RSS Feeds
Pressure Cooker Chicken Livers Risotto – No Constant Stirring, Quick & Simple; So You Don’t Like Livers, Huh!
posted Tuesday, 27 December 2005
Pressure Cooker Chicken Livers Risotto –
No Constant Stirring, Quick & Simple;
So You Don’t Like Livers, Huh!
Tabacco has never been particularly fond of chicken livers or beef liver or any kind of liver. But I wanted to use my new pressure cooker many years ago, and I wanted to try risotto, without all the elbow grease. So when I found this recipe, I knew it had a chance to be good. My original pressure cooker (Cuisinart) has 3 settings: 5-pounds, 10-pounds, and 15-pounds or pressure. Most current models only have 10-pounds of pressure.
I recently purchased an electric model with Low and High settings (5-pounds and 10-pounds of pressure). I always use the electric one now, but I still prefer the stovetop model. It took less time to build up the pressure.
But this risotto recipe works in either model. There is still no constant stirring, and the chicken livers don’t have that off-taste that turns so many eaters’ noses out-of-joint. It may not be the way they make it in Sicily, but my arm and my tongue appreciate this variation.
If you heard horror stories about pressure cookers exploding in the past, forget those stories. That doesn’t happen now, unless your model is 35 years old.
One final tip: never make a cheesecake in a pressure cooker. It is pointless. Cheesecakes have to rest, and then be refrigerated overnight. What’s the point of cutting actual cooking time by one-half hour? I don’t have any idea what a pressure cooker does to cheesecake flavor and texture because I would never go that route. If somebody else did one, I might taste it.
My one regret in life is that I never owned one of those pressure cookers, which handle fried chicken. I would love to try one out. DeGroot’s book gives a recipe. Current pressure cooker books attempt to treat all recipes the same – one pressure setting. That is silly. If I were to do cheesecake, it would be on the Low setting, not the High. DeGroot says that cooking certain meats, at too high a setting, will destroy the texture and taste. So use your head, even if the recipe says “High” or makes no setting distinction at all.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, go out and buy one now. But don’t buy any model unless it has at least 2 settings.
The greatest advantages of using a pressure cooker are
1- cuts cooking time (See Conversion Chart below) and
2- if you time it the same, it will always turn out the same, provided you don’t change the recipe.
Risotto of Chicken Livers With Vegetables
Source: 'Pressure Cookery Perfected' /PCP by Roy DeGroot, Page 72
Other meats and vegetables may be substituted
INGREDIENTS
4T butter
.25lb green beans, topped, tailed & chunked
1 small zucchini, coarse dice
.25lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tomato, peeled & chopped
12T red pimento, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, finely minced
.5lb chicken livers, bite-sized (increase to 1lb OK)
.5C raw Arborio rice
1C clear chicken broth
Asiago, Parmesan or Romano, grated
onions, optional (lots preferred by Tabacco)
CODE:
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon
C = Cup
lb = pound
PROCEDURE
1- In pressure cooker, melt butter until hot without inserting trivet
2- Quickly sauté beans, zucchini, mushrooms, tomato & pimento
3- Add salt, pepper & garlic
4- Add livers, stir gently until livers stiffen
5- Stir in broth and rice, blending thoroughly
6- Put on pressure cooker lid, bring pressure up to 10 lbs; then cook precisely 7 minutes
7- Turn off heat; reduce pressure immediately
8- Remove lid and stir; should there be too much liquid, boil without lid while stirring to prevent sticking
9- Grate cheese and sprinkle over risotto, served on a heated plate
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY RISOTTO RECIPE WITH A FEW ADAPTATIONS. YOU NEVER NEED STIR-STIR-STIR RISOTTO AGAIN.
PRESSURE COOKER TIME CONVERSION CHART
http://www.biblio.com/books/4795002.html
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)
No Constant Stirring, Quick & Simple;
So You Don’t Like Livers, Huh!
Tabacco has never been particularly fond of chicken livers or beef liver or any kind of liver. But I wanted to use my new pressure cooker many years ago, and I wanted to try risotto, without all the elbow grease. So when I found this recipe, I knew it had a chance to be good. My original pressure cooker (Cuisinart) has 3 settings: 5-pounds, 10-pounds, and 15-pounds or pressure. Most current models only have 10-pounds of pressure.
I recently purchased an electric model with Low and High settings (5-pounds and 10-pounds of pressure). I always use the electric one now, but I still prefer the stovetop model. It took less time to build up the pressure.
But this risotto recipe works in either model. There is still no constant stirring, and the chicken livers don’t have that off-taste that turns so many eaters’ noses out-of-joint. It may not be the way they make it in Sicily, but my arm and my tongue appreciate this variation.
If you heard horror stories about pressure cookers exploding in the past, forget those stories. That doesn’t happen now, unless your model is 35 years old.
One final tip: never make a cheesecake in a pressure cooker. It is pointless. Cheesecakes have to rest, and then be refrigerated overnight. What’s the point of cutting actual cooking time by one-half hour? I don’t have any idea what a pressure cooker does to cheesecake flavor and texture because I would never go that route. If somebody else did one, I might taste it.
My one regret in life is that I never owned one of those pressure cookers, which handle fried chicken. I would love to try one out. DeGroot’s book gives a recipe. Current pressure cooker books attempt to treat all recipes the same – one pressure setting. That is silly. If I were to do cheesecake, it would be on the Low setting, not the High. DeGroot says that cooking certain meats, at too high a setting, will destroy the texture and taste. So use your head, even if the recipe says “High” or makes no setting distinction at all.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, go out and buy one now. But don’t buy any model unless it has at least 2 settings.
The greatest advantages of using a pressure cooker are
1- cuts cooking time (See Conversion Chart below) and
2- if you time it the same, it will always turn out the same, provided you don’t change the recipe.
Risotto of Chicken Livers With Vegetables
Source: 'Pressure Cookery Perfected' /PCP by Roy DeGroot, Page 72
Other meats and vegetables may be substituted
INGREDIENTS
4T butter
.25lb green beans, topped, tailed & chunked
1 small zucchini, coarse dice
.25lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tomato, peeled & chopped
12T red pimento, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, finely minced
.5lb chicken livers, bite-sized (increase to 1lb OK)
.5C raw Arborio rice
1C clear chicken broth
Asiago, Parmesan or Romano, grated
onions, optional (lots preferred by Tabacco)
CODE:
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon
C = Cup
lb = pound
PROCEDURE
1- In pressure cooker, melt butter until hot without inserting trivet
2- Quickly sauté beans, zucchini, mushrooms, tomato & pimento
3- Add salt, pepper & garlic
4- Add livers, stir gently until livers stiffen
5- Stir in broth and rice, blending thoroughly
6- Put on pressure cooker lid, bring pressure up to 10 lbs; then cook precisely 7 minutes
7- Turn off heat; reduce pressure immediately
8- Remove lid and stir; should there be too much liquid, boil without lid while stirring to prevent sticking
9- Grate cheese and sprinkle over risotto, served on a heated plate
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY RISOTTO RECIPE WITH A FEW ADAPTATIONS. YOU NEVER NEED STIR-STIR-STIR RISOTTO AGAIN.
PRESSURE COOKER TIME CONVERSION CHART
http://www.biblio.com/books/4795002.html
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)
comments