Under Pressure: The Joys Of Pressure Cooking! Guest Post from the Original Diva!

The Original Diva a/k/a my mother has written a wonderful guest post about why she loves pressure cooking, a technique that has long been in her kitchen repertoire. Not only can pressure cooking save you time and money, but it preserves food's vitamin and mineral content.

In this post, she explains how she used her pressure cooker to can local peaches to preserve them for the winter. Now that's thinking ahead! 

The Joys of Pressure Cooking

Now that the summertime is upon us and we have a bounty of wonderful organic fruits arriving, I decided to use my Durotherm Pressure Cooker to store up for the winter months ahead.  These pots come from a Swiss company and I have used them for over 30 years now.  They make sense for several reasons;  the flavor, vitamins and color are sealed in by a unique flavor seal that keeps oxygen out and moisture in and are heat-efficient using 60% less cooking energy.  This is good for you, as well as the planet!

Kuhn Rikon, the parent company that manufactures the Durotherm Pressure cookers has done studies on the amount of time-savings that translates into real savings in energy.  How would you like to cook a risotto in in 7 minutes?  On their website, they break down the real savings for you by looking at different recipes and calculating the energy savings.  For instance, a roast pork or pot roast would take about l hour and 30 minutes in the electric oven (including preheating) verses cooking the roast in a pressure cooker on a gas stove.  You would save .82 cents every time you cooked the roast.  This may not seem like much, but remember the time as well as the energy expelled.

By their calculations, a family could save $325.00 a year using pressure cooking.  At that rate, you would pay for a pressure cooker in 6 months!  Probating over a 20 year life of a pressure cooker, that savings comes to $6500.00.

So, rather than spend my time canning a bounty of Floyd peaches, I decided to use my pressure cooker to cook the peaches for the freezing.  I cut my time down dramatically by just halving the peaches, removing the pit and not taking the skin off until after I removed them from the cooker.  By doing this, the skins just rolled off the fruit.

I cooked the peaches for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on the size of the fruit.  Within an hour I had prepared, cooked and stored the fruit in freezer bags ready to be frozen.  Now I saved money and time, stored fruit for the cold winter months when we don't have fresh local fruit available and with the time I saved, I have more time to play!

Happy eating!  Jeri (The Original Diva)

Meatless Monday: Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Goat Feta and Lemon Olive Oil

Tomato season is here!

If you're a Domestic Diva like me, then this is reason to rejoice. Many of us were raised on tasteless, picked when they were green and ripened artificially in transit, grocery store tomatoes. A culinary travesty, if you ask me.

Tomatoes are one of my top five desert island foods, however, I don't eat them out of season. Instead, I go on a self-imposed tomato fast, waiting for the moment, in the peak of summer, when the heirloom tomatoes roll into my farmers market like chubby, cherubic invaders.

Fortunately, I don't have to wait any longer because the heirloom tomatoes are here. These tomatoes come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, from purple, to yellow, to green and everything in between. For this reason, they weren't chosen for large scale agriculture, but instead have been raised by smaller farmers.

At the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday, I was thrilled to discover that my favorite heirloom tomato vendor was selling imperfect heirloom tomatoes (sunburned, or slightly damaged) for one dollar a pound. Let me repeat that. One dollar a pound. That's an incredible bargain. I scooped up a pound of these castoff beauties and whisked them home, prepared to turn them into gazpacho, a chilled soup made out of fresh vegetables.

I pureed the tomatoes with cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeno and red onion, adding some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt. Then, I served this lovely, golden yellow soup with a drizzle of lemon olive oil and a crumbling of fresh goat feta.

The heirloom tomatoes really added a level of sweetness and freshness to this  gazpacho. It tasted so purely of summer - bold, fresh, ripe, sweet - that I'll be making it every week until the end of tomato season. Gazpacho is great served for lunch with toasted garlic bread or as an appetizer at dinner.

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Goat Feta and Lemon Olive Oil
Serves 4 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Print Recipe

Ingredients
4 cups heirloom tomatoes, quartered
1 cup cucumbers, roughly chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
1 medium red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons good olive oil
salt and pepper

for garnishing:
meyer lemon olive oil (regular olive oil works if you can't find lemon)
goat feta cheese
fresh cracked pepper

Directions
Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, jalapeno, red onion and garli in a blender and puree together until combined but still a little chunky. Add the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil and mix together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill the soup for at least an hour in the refrigerator (may be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge).

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls. Crumble some feta cheese on top and drizzle with the lemon olive oil. Top with a little fresh cracked pepper. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno, red onion and garlic from the Hollywood Farmers Market

Redwood Hill Farm raw milk goat feta and meyer lemon olive oil from Whole Foods

Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Peach-Jalapeno Salsa

Grill baby, grill!

That's right, summer continues to rock and roll across the country. While record temperatures have been assaulting much of the east coast, so far we've had a mild summer in California (knock on wood!).

I made this little gem of a recipe the other week. First, I skewered and grilled shrimp and corn tortillas. Then, I layered the shrimp in the tortillas over shredded cabbage and topped with with a Peach-Jalapeno Salsa. The twist? I added a little plain Greek yogurt to the salsa for a refreshing, cooling effect. This was an easy to make, tasty dish perfect for any hot summer night!

Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Peach-Jalapeno Salsa
Serves 4 people
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Print Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
10 corn tortillas
2 cups cabbage, shredded

peach-jalapeno salsa
2 peaches, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the grill.

To make the salsa (while the grill is heating), toss all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside. If making the salsa in advance, keep it chilled in the refrigerator. 

Skewer the shrimp, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once the grill is hot, quickly cook the shrimp, turning once (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, heat the tortillas on the grill.

Chop the shrimp into bit-sized pieces (removing the tails). To assemble the tacos, layer some cabbage and top with pieces of shrimp. Spoon the salsa over the top. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
frozen wild caught shrimp, organic white peaches, and smoked paprika from Whole Foods

organic Greek yogurt (plain), shredded cabbage, corn tortillas, jalapenos and organic lemons from Trader Joe's

New Issue of the Hawaii Women's Journal Coming Soon!

Are you divas excited?

New issue of the Hawaii Women's Journal = New Domestic Diva Column!

This time it's "Don't Rush the Risotto."

Coming soon. Stay tuned...

Meatless Monday: Morel Mushroom Risotto

I love making risotto so much that sometimes I think I should change my name to Risotto Diva.

Lately, I've been on a veggie risotto kick. I love hitting up the farmers market for the best local produce and then transforming it into a creamy (without any cream), sumptuous rice dish made with homemade vegetable stock. I find that risotto really showcases its ingredients, making it an ideal vessel for foodie deliciousness. In fact, my upcoming "Domestic Diva" column for the Hawaii Women's Journal is all about risotto (stay tuned for the publication).

Last week, at Kuzak's urging, I hit up LA's FungHi booth at the Hollywood Farmers Market for some morel mushrooms. The tables were loaded up with baby shitakes, chanterelles, and oyster mushroom, but I couldn't let myself be distracted by the treasure chest of funghi. I was on a morel mission. These mushrooms are prized by French cooks and contain a small amount of toxins that are removed by cooking (they should never be consumed raw). I scooped up a prized $10 paper bag of morels, ogling their honeycomb shape, and brought them home.

After some contemplation, I decided to make a morel mushroom risotto. My goal was to showcase as much morel flavor as possible. First, I made a quick vegetable risotto by simmering onions, carrots, celery, peppercorns and the morel mushroom stems in filtered water for an hour.  I love using homemade vegetable stocks when making risotto. I find that it gives the dish a delicate, subtle flavor that doesn't overshadow the ingredients. Next, I made a very basic risotto with the mushrooms. I finished the dish with grated Parmesan Reggiano, extra virgin olive oil and fresh cracked pepper.

Kuzak and I settled down at the table to feast, the Adorable Monster curled up in a ball at our feet, and dug into the dish. The delicate, creamy risotto let the morel mushrooms shine. We savored their flavor down to the very last bite.

Note: this risotto recipe would work for any type of mushrooms.

Morel Mushroom Risotto
Serves 2 people
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Print Recipe

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup shallots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup morel mushrooms, stems removed and halved
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable broth, preferably homemade
1/2 cup Parmesan Reggiano, grated
salt and pepper

Directions
Add the vegetable stock to a sauce pan and warm over medium low heat.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Next, add the mushrooms and saute until they soften and their juices release. Add the rice and stir to combine. Cook for another one to two minutes. Pour in the white wine and cook until absorbed, stirring occasionally.

Once the wine has been absorbed, add the vegetable stock 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring until absorbed before adding more stock. Continue cooking the rice in the stock until it's cooked al dente (you may not use all of the stock). When the rice is cooked, finish the risotto by stirring in the parmesan and a little more olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
morel mushrooms from LA FungHi (Hollywood Farmers Market)

organic carrots, organic celery and organic onions from Hollywood Farmers Market

extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan Reggiano, organic shallots and Arborio rice from Trader Joe's