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Pressure Perfect: Two Hour Taste in Twenty Minutes Using Your Pressure Cooker – The Authority's Comprehensive Guide with 200+ Weeknight Recipes
Under pressure to get a tasty, nutritious dinner on the table in a flash? Like the idea of preparing fork-tender beef stew in thirty minutes and pot roast in under an hour? All this and more is made possible by the pressure cooker, a magical appliance that produces soul-satisfying, homemade food in one-third (or less) the standard cooking time. In Pressure Perfect , Lorna Sass, the country's leading authority on pressure cooking, distills her two decades of experience into one comprehensive volume. First learn everything you need to know about buying and using today's 100% safe cookers. Then enjoy more than 200 recipes for preparing soups, meats, poultry, grains, beans, vegetables, and desserts in record time. How about whipping up a savory risotto in 4 minutes, chicken cacciatore in 12 minutes, or a delectable chocolate cheesecake in 25 minutes? Because the pressure cooker tenderizes tough cuts of meat quickly, you can prepare fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs or lamb shanks on weekday nights instead of waiting for a special occasion. The pressure cooker also allows you to make delectable one-pot meals in minutes. Among the many innovative recipes and techniques, you'll learn to cook meatloaf and potatoes simultaneously in 10 minutes, and meatballs, pasta, and sauce at the same time in only 5 minutes. Many recipes also suggest Cook-Along ideas for preparing vegetables and grains along with the entre. To further help those cooking under pressure (and who isn't nowadays?), each chapter contains timing charts for quick reference. Tips and Pressure Points in every recipe ensure optimum results. This ultimate guide to pressure cooking is a must for all busy cooks, boaters, brides, college students, and anyone looking for a great way to make irresistible, healthy, home-made food fast.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
168 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Lorna J. Sass
23 books7 followersLorna Sass is fondly known as "the Queen of Pressure Cooking." She is also a widely published food writer and an award-winning cookbook author. Check out her new blog: www.pressurecookingwithlornasass.word...
Lorna became interested in pressure cooking during the mid-eighties when most Americans had either never heard of this magical appliance or were afraid of it! Her COOKING UNDER PRESSURE, published in 1989, became a best-seller with over 250,000 copies in print. The 20th-Anniversary revised edition of COOKING UNDER PRESSURE came out on November 3,2009.
Lorna followed COOKING UNDER PRESSURE with 3 other pressure cooker books: GREAT VEGETARIAN COOKING UNDER PRESSURE (VEGAN!), THE PRESSURED COOK, and PRESSURE PERFECT.
During the nineties, Lorna wrote numerous vegan cookbooks, recognizing that a vegan approach to food created a much smaller carbon footprint. This was decades before cookbook authors were writing about the connection between food and sustainability. Her RECIPES FROM AN ECOLOGICAL KITCHEN was published in 1992! Her NEW VEGAN COOKBOOK was nominated for an IACP Award and her latest title in this category is SHORT-CUT VEGAN.
Her fourteenth cookbook, WHOLE GRAINS EVERY DAY, EVERY WAY, published in 2006, was awarded the prestigious James Beard Award in the "healthy focus" category. Her latest cookbook, WHOLE GRAINS FOR BUSY PEOPLE, focuses on quick-cooking recipes for cooks on the go.
Lorna has often found herself ahead of her time. While studying for her PhD in medieval literature at Columbia University, she wrote four historical cookbooks that were published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art--decades before anyone was studying food history!
Lorna's food articles have been published in dozens of prominent newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit. In addition to her own blogs, she has blogged for The Huffington Post and Green Fork, and wrote a monthly recipe column for localharvest.org.
She is a member of Slow Food, The Author's Guild, and the Women's Culinary Alliance and an alumna of Les Dames des Escoffier, an organization of the top women in the food industry.
Lorna's current passion is to make healthy food available to all, and she is especially eager to help people grow their own food on rooftops and in community gardens in NYC.
Lorna became interested in pressure cooking during the mid-eighties when most Americans had either never heard of this magical appliance or were afraid of it! Her COOKING UNDER PRESSURE, published in 1989, became a best-seller with over 250,000 copies in print. The 20th-Anniversary revised edition of COOKING UNDER PRESSURE came out on November 3,2009.
Lorna followed COOKING UNDER PRESSURE with 3 other pressure cooker books: GREAT VEGETARIAN COOKING UNDER PRESSURE (VEGAN!), THE PRESSURED COOK, and PRESSURE PERFECT.
During the nineties, Lorna wrote numerous vegan cookbooks, recognizing that a vegan approach to food created a much smaller carbon footprint. This was decades before cookbook authors were writing about the connection between food and sustainability. Her RECIPES FROM AN ECOLOGICAL KITCHEN was published in 1992! Her NEW VEGAN COOKBOOK was nominated for an IACP Award and her latest title in this category is SHORT-CUT VEGAN.
Her fourteenth cookbook, WHOLE GRAINS EVERY DAY, EVERY WAY, published in 2006, was awarded the prestigious James Beard Award in the "healthy focus" category. Her latest cookbook, WHOLE GRAINS FOR BUSY PEOPLE, focuses on quick-cooking recipes for cooks on the go.
Lorna has often found herself ahead of her time. While studying for her PhD in medieval literature at Columbia University, she wrote four historical cookbooks that were published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art--decades before anyone was studying food history!
Lorna's food articles have been published in dozens of prominent newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit. In addition to her own blogs, she has blogged for The Huffington Post and Green Fork, and wrote a monthly recipe column for localharvest.org.
She is a member of Slow Food, The Author's Guild, and the Women's Culinary Alliance and an alumna of Les Dames des Escoffier, an organization of the top women in the food industry.
Lorna's current passion is to make healthy food available to all, and she is especially eager to help people grow their own food on rooftops and in community gardens in NYC.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 13, 2008
My pressure cooker is my new favorite gadget. We are trying to eat more vegetarian dinners and a pressure cooker works wonders with dry beans. I made a tasty black bean soup yesterday in 50 min (25 min at high pressure and 25 min natural release) that normally takes two hours cooking over the stove with poorer results.
Lorna Sass's book is perfect for beginners who are trying to understand the basics of using a pressure cooker. I admit that I was frightened to use a machine that could blow up on my stove. Pressure Perfect walks the reader through every step of using a pressure cooker. There are great time reference tables and many basic dishes that can be expanded to more difficult meals. I have used this book to adapt several of my own recipes. The recipes in the book are good but not out of this world amazing. I mostly use the book as a reference guide.
Lorna Sass's book is perfect for beginners who are trying to understand the basics of using a pressure cooker. I admit that I was frightened to use a machine that could blow up on my stove. Pressure Perfect walks the reader through every step of using a pressure cooker. There are great time reference tables and many basic dishes that can be expanded to more difficult meals. I have used this book to adapt several of my own recipes. The recipes in the book are good but not out of this world amazing. I mostly use the book as a reference guide.
February 24, 2014
I got a pressure cooker this Christmas, and reviews on Amazon steered me away from the ATK cookbook and toward Lorna Sass. After trying many recipes in this book, I haven't made anything that came out better than just okay.
I made myself follow the directions even when my gut told me she was wrong (browning meat not necessary??) and usually ended up disappointed. The best thing to come out of this book was the one-pot pasta dinner, but even so I prefer the other sauce recipes I have; it was nice and quick and only dirtied one pot though. The fig sauce was good, but the meat I served it with would have been much better browned, maybe with sautéed onions as well. We liked the wild mushroom orzo risotto as a side dish, but it could've used a flavor boost.
I don't want to take short cuts when it leads to a blander dish. I'll have to keep looking for a good pressure cooking resource.
I made myself follow the directions even when my gut told me she was wrong (browning meat not necessary??) and usually ended up disappointed. The best thing to come out of this book was the one-pot pasta dinner, but even so I prefer the other sauce recipes I have; it was nice and quick and only dirtied one pot though. The fig sauce was good, but the meat I served it with would have been much better browned, maybe with sautéed onions as well. We liked the wild mushroom orzo risotto as a side dish, but it could've used a flavor boost.
I don't want to take short cuts when it leads to a blander dish. I'll have to keep looking for a good pressure cooking resource.
October 23, 2015
This is a book that is shaped like a book. There are no sleek pictures. But inside you will find treasure. If you only had one book to use with your pressure cooker, this would be the one. All of the recipes come with "transformations" and "cook alongs," giving you endless variety. I checked my library to see if they had anything else by this superb cookbook author, and she also has a lot of vegetarian/vegan/whole grain titles. I think other cookbook writers with similar themes regard her as a queen, and well they should. This particular book had a large chapter on meats, which is fine with me, because pressure cooking can come up with excellent results. So far I have made bone-in chicken breasts that have the best texture and produced the best broth of any method I have ever tried.
December 25, 2015
I'm having a renewed love affair with my pressure cooker. I decided to re-read this cookbook, that I've owned for several years. It's a very thorough cookbook, and ideal for PC beginners. I did learn a few more tricks and tips. I especially liked the information on converting cooking times from stovetop to the newer digital PC. Very helpful. Alas, I find that a lack of photographs is something I find disappointing. I'm so visual. I also didn't find any recipes that jumped out and said "make me!. Back to the lack of photographs... a well done photograph will seduce me into trying a recipe. I don't dislike the book, but am now reading a new publication on Pressure Cooking from Cook's Illustrated-- which has plenty of color photographs.
August 25, 2011
This book was recommended by the seller of my new pressure cooker, now wending its way toward me. I am a complete novice to this type of cooking so I'll need all the help I can get. I am particularly interested in Asian cooking, as I understand that a pressure cooker is found in many more kitchens in Asia that it is here.
The advice and beginner's guide are very good, but the recipes are...I don't want to say "boring", they're not....how about "classic"?
I also think that this book could use a new edition.
The advice and beginner's guide are very good, but the recipes are...I don't want to say "boring", they're not....how about "classic"?
I also think that this book could use a new edition.
January 28, 2016
Do you have a pressure cooker but don't know what you can do with it beyond canning or making soups? This cookbook changes the game. This book contains recipes for all kinds of foods from chicken cacciatore to cheesecake that are delicious and easy to prepare. Most of the recipes take less than 10 minutes of cooking time. With a pressure cooker, you don't have to prepare a lot of things ahead of time. You can cook dried beans to perfection in about 35 minutes and can even cook frozen chicken breasts perfectly. This book has made me fall in love with my pressure cooker.
July 6, 2017
A comprehensive guide to cooking with a pressure cooker.
Numerous recipes provide tasty, tantalizing options and include hearty traditional recipes as well as world flavors.
Beyond meat and stew, this book guides you through desserts, grains, vegetables and more.
Highly recommend!
(The back of the book includes resources and charts for supplies, cooking times and converting recipes for use in the pressure cooker. Excellent!)
Numerous recipes provide tasty, tantalizing options and include hearty traditional recipes as well as world flavors.
Beyond meat and stew, this book guides you through desserts, grains, vegetables and more.
Highly recommend!
(The back of the book includes resources and charts for supplies, cooking times and converting recipes for use in the pressure cooker. Excellent!)
January 23, 2017
Mostly the same info I keep reading. Interesting take on recipe methodology. Sass uses one recipe and then provides variations (cooking sides with mains, changing and/or adding ingredients, etc) and transformations. ( Goulash w/ potatoes becomes Chicken Paprikash w/ potatoes).
January 22, 2020
Very nice cookbook
I learned to cook with a pressure cooker. I still cook in the Presto Mom gave me when I got married in 1970 and a small new one I bought at Tuesday Morning a few years ago. So while I am not a beginner, I can agree with all her tips and it would be great reference for beginners. I found many recipes to try.
I learned to cook with a pressure cooker. I still cook in the Presto Mom gave me when I got married in 1970 and a small new one I bought at Tuesday Morning a few years ago. So while I am not a beginner, I can agree with all her tips and it would be great reference for beginners. I found many recipes to try.
December 31, 2015
I got on a wicked kick of pressure cooking, for no apparent reason. When I was a kid I hated the pressure cooker. It was this squat, hissing, clanking beast that made me fearful of going into the kitchen in case the lid shot off and I died in a bath of steam and green beans, while the lid stuck in the ceiling. I had a very good imagination as a kid, but what I did not have was this amazing cookbook.
If you are new to pressure cooking- this book is great to start. It walks you through all the vocabulary and how to choose a PC. If you are an old hand at PC, then the recipes will delight you with the variations and the transformations. Variations are suggestions that will bring you the same dish only slightly varied, the transformations will bring you an entirely new recipe. It is brilliant how Sass made this so clear.
Pretty much, I am have two PC bibles: anything written by Lorna Sass or Jill Nussinow.
If you are new to pressure cooking- this book is great to start. It walks you through all the vocabulary and how to choose a PC. If you are an old hand at PC, then the recipes will delight you with the variations and the transformations. Variations are suggestions that will bring you the same dish only slightly varied, the transformations will bring you an entirely new recipe. It is brilliant how Sass made this so clear.
Pretty much, I am have two PC bibles: anything written by Lorna Sass or Jill Nussinow.
June 21, 2010
This is a great book for those just figuring out how to use a pressure cooker. I love the tables of cooking times for different meats/vegetables. The recipes I've tried so far are just so-so, but the information on how to use the cooker more than makes up for that! She even gives adjustments for those who have an electric pressure cooker (like me!)
March 1, 2013
This is a really great book to begin pressure cooking which has great cooking charts for everything! I love my pressure cooker!! I am getting better everyday. Thirty minute meals in about 30 minutes with frozen chicken. Yeah!!
January 3, 2014
Entertaining reading and some good recipes. However, the book was published in 2004 and both the technology and directory information is hopelessly out of date. The author invites your comments but asks for a SASE if you want a response. (A SASE is a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)
February 21, 2016
As always, I intend to start cooking more. But, when I get off work I'm STARVING so I'll grab something on the way home or have some cereal when I get home. But now, I hope to try some of these recipes. They sound delicious and FAST! Time to bring out the pressure cooker!
October 21, 2007
Everything I've made in this book -- from Butternut squash soup to risotto to chicken cacciatore -- is outstanding. Clear instructions, delicious outcomes.
March 29, 2010
Best book I have read so far about pressure cooking.
March 29, 2011
my go-to pressure cooker cookbook. beef bourginon in 15 minutes... chicken curry in 6 minutes... love it!
July 29, 2011
This book is the classic text on healthy pressure-cooked meals. The beef barley soup is wonderful and always garners rave reviews. This is a favourite on our bookshelf.
March 2, 2013
my kingdom for a photo, I need a little eye candy in my cookbooks
July 10, 2014
Some good recipes but no nutritional data. It does have organized lists of cooking times. Does not cover electric pressure cookers. I'm still searching for a great pressure cooker book.
April 16, 2016
My go to PC cookbook...
Lots of ideas or transformations as she uses in her cookbook. This is a good read as well as being a cookbook.
Lots of ideas or transformations as she uses in her cookbook. This is a good read as well as being a cookbook.
May 13, 2010
very detailed and SO much more than soups.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews