Oh--you asked for recipes. Here are two from Lorna Sass, either of which would justify the purchase of a PC: Curry in a Hurry This recipe from Lorna Sass’s Pressure Perfect is a quick and easy way to make a pretty tasty curry. You can make it with chicken, beef, lamb or pork, and vary the hotness by using mild or hot curry paste. 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste makes a pleasant-but-wimpy curry; 4 tablespoons of mild paste makes it pleasantly zingy; 4 tablespoons of hot curry paste makes it very hot, near my limit of tolerance (and I really like hot food). I generally use 2 tablespoons of hot and 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste. This is another recipe that’s ridiculously easy yet produces delicious food. If you don’t want to mess with the yogurt, peas and cilantro, don’t bother—the dish will still be very tasty, but the sauce won’t be as rich or velvety-smooth. ( I personally don’t like cilantro, so I don’t use it.) The recipe calls for 3 pounds of bone-in chicken; I find it easier to use about 2 or 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. –Once you get the pressure cooker up to pressure, make a pot of rice. By the time the rice is done, so is this. 1 cup water 4 tablespoons Patak’s Mild Curry Paste 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs, or 2 lbs. other meat (see chart below) 1 cup plain yogurt 1 ½ cup frozen peas 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional) Pour the water into a 4-qt or larger pressure cooker and blend in the curry paste. Place on high heat and add the onion and meat of your choice. Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring up to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for the time indicated in the chart. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. (If cooking chicken, release any remaining pressure after 4 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. If the chicken or meat isn’t tender, cover again and simmer until done. If necessary, skim off the fat that rises to the surface or degrease the broth in a fat separator. Blend the yogurt into 1 cup of the broth. Stir the peas into the curry and simmer until they are defrosted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir the yogurt mixture into the curry. Stir in the cilantro and salt to taste. Serve in bowls over rice. Meat choices and Cooking times Chicken (see notes above) 8 min high pressure, 4 min of natural release, then quick release Beef (boneless chuck, 1” cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Pork shoulder (1” cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Lamb (boneless, 1” cubes) 12 minutes high pressure, then natural release If using beef, pork or lamb, trim off excess fat and cut the meat into approximately 1” cubes before cooking.. Osso Buco alla Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks, Milan-style) Serves 4 This recipe for Osso Buco is from Lorna Sass’s Cooking Under Pressure. I have made Osso Buco both as a slow braise (traditional), and made it in the pressure cooker. I actually prefer the pressure cooker version. Even if you’re only cooking for two and using just two veal shanks, don’t halve the remaining ingredients; the sauce is wonderful by itself, and any leftover sauce will make a great pasta sauce for the next day. Once you get the Osso Buco started in the cooker, cook up some pasta or rice to soak up the sauce. The gremolata garnish is traditional, but I don’t care for it; some authorities, such as Marcella Hazan, don’t use it. 4 veal shanks, about 10 oz each 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 large onion, coarsely chopped ½ cup dry red wine or dry vermouth 1/3 cup beef or chicken stock or bullion 2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped 1 stalk celery, sliced thinly 1/2 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced One 14 oz can tomatoes, coarsely chopped, including juice 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional) ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste (less if using canned bullion) Freshly ground black pepper to taste Gremolata: (optional) 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest ½ cup finely minced fresh parsley Rinse the veal shanks, pat dry, and dredge in flour, pressing the flour into the veal with the heel of your hand. Shake off excess flour. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in the cooker. Over medium heat, brown the veal on both sides and set aside on a platter. Add the remaining oil and sauté the onions until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the red wine and stir, taking care to scrape up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, browned shanks, carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, oregano, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 18 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally or use a quick-release method (venting the steam or putting the cooker in the sink and running cold water over it). Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape. Prepare the gremolata, if used, by combining the garlic, lemon zest, and parsley. When the shanks are done, stir in the gremolata and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve. Note: if using smaller shanks, check for doneness after 15 minutes of high pressure.

DC I have used a smaller pot in the pressure cooker for other things - and loved the results of your suggestion to pressure steam meat, with the concentrated stock that results. I never know whether to cover the inside pot or not. I have a set of three stacking SS Indian pots that fit inside my largest pressure cooker and a much larger pot that fits in as a single piece. The same flat lid fits both the stack and the single pot. So to cover or not inside the pressure cooker? I'd like to be able to successfully cook small amounts of rice this way. Getting back to the fruit, I'm not sure if there would be an overall advantage to the pot in pan method here because once you cook the peel you add all the sugar and bring it to a boil until it reaches 212 degrees, so you would still have the stickiest part in the PC. My pressure cookers have very thick laminated bottoms and burning food is not an issue. Teresa, I don't know! I used very differently shaped containers for my lemon slices and for the sugar so I'm not at all sure how the volume compares. I can tell you that a cup of white sugar weighs a little over 7 ounces so if you weighed your oranges and lemons together at the market and took off a little for the cut off ends of the fruit you would have an idea. Or if you have a scale at home and want to try this, just post the weight of the fruit and I can estimate the sugar for you. The method here is that you cook the fruit, and start with something close to double the weight of sugar, stir it in and taste, adding more sugar if you think it is not sweet enough. I was happy with just a little less than twice the weight of sugar to fruit, the recipe suggest twice the weight as a starting point. This recipe is so fast and easy that if it isn't right with a small quantity of fruit, the worst that can happen is that you end up with a syrup with pieces of peel which would certainly be good for lots of things. When I us the recipe again I'll pay more attention and let you know. Annie, you may know if most fruit preserve recipes use an equal volume of sugar and fruit. The amount that I did definitely took less than thirty minutes from washing the lemons to putting the filled jars in a HWB so not a lot time is involved to experiment. And the results are good! Lee

If you are referring to this Teresa, that isn't my blog, but the recipe is similar to what I made recently. Excellent recipes on that web site! CF member Teresa

Maybe the cut. With commercial grade being sold at a lot of supermarkets you may get a particularly tough piece. I thought I was safe buying rib eye steak. Ugh! Tough as a boot.