My family is good to me. I’ve enjoyed two father’s days and each of those two has brought something special into my life. 2008, my little smoker arrived of which I’ve spent many an hour rendering flesh into succulent morsels of salty love. From salmon to duck, and pork to brisket, the smoker has been my BFF for over a year. Sadly, like all good relationships, we are on the rocks. It isn’t because he hasn’t been there for me…he has. He’s there to listen, to smoke, and to remind me that life is about living. Unfortunately, there is someone new in my life. My Fagor Pressure Cooker.
I’ve been thinking about a pressure cooker for some time now. Finally, it arrives from the kitchen fairy and let me tell you, she is pretty. The first thing I did was hit the cookbook that came with it. As I digested the pages, I got more and more angry. This frigging company was making claims that it could cook things amazingly fast (i.e Risotto in 7 minutes). BULLSHIT. I don’t believe it. As my aggression grew more and more, I decided to take the most boisterous recipie and test it. You want a piece of my cookware liars, then here I am.
I went to the butchen and got a 3lb pork shoulder. You tell me that I can make a pulled pork sandwich from pressure to pull in less then 45 minutes. I spend at least 3-4 hours roasting low and slow in the over to get pulled pork. DO NOT TELL ME THIS CAN BE DONE IN UNDER 4 HOURS! Following the instructions, I added 2 cups of fluid (in this case Strongbow Cider…Don’t judge me!) I then put the trivet in the bottom of the pot, placed the basket on top, and the pork in the basket. I had a second thought, pulled the pork out of the basket and gave it a loving massage with some of my dry rub I used in the smoker. Might as well have flavour if I’m going to end up sticking it in the smoker to finish it after the pressure cooked unfulfilled its promise.
I sealed the lid, brought it up to pressure, turned down the heat, and let it sit for 45 minutes. It released a very small stream of steam over the 45 minutes. It made the house smell like heaven. Imagine if Fabreeze had a ‘pork scent’. ..wait a second…why the hell don’t they have a pork scent? All their shit smells like flowers (vegetarians think this shit is catnip.). I digress.
After 45 minutes, I took the pot off the heat and let it naturally release pressure. It took about 10 minutes and I opened up the lid to see what I had. The roast looked good and I stuck my finger into it to see if it would give. I buried a knuckle. The meat was falling apart right in front of me. I panicked. Like a school girl wondering if the cool guy is going to ask her to prom, I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. Why me? Had the god of pork finally looked down on me and said, “Son, I have seen the love you have shown the pig. This is the WAY.” I didn’t know what to do so I tented the meat in a tin foil envelope to buy myself some time to get it together. A self directed ‘time out’ of sorts.
When I finally felt grounded I peaked into the envelope. I found 3lbs of meat so succulent and tender, I cried, my tears adding to the already salty dry rub. I quickly took the cider/rendered pork fat/pork juice/tears concoction out of the pressure cooker and added a cup of basmati rice, two cups of the stock, and sealed the pressure cooker again. In 5 minutes i had perfectly cooked basmati rice.
Finally, I reduced the sauce until it became gravy and topped the pulled pork and rice with the delicious sauce. Delicious! Now every time I look into the eyes of my pressure cooker, Queen starts playing in my head….”Under Pressure”.