Let me start out by saying, no one is paying me* to tell you about how awesome the Power Pressure Cooker XL is. I saw you all got one for Christmas, or maybe you got it's friend Instant Pot. Either way they are both awesome and I use mine almost every single day. I thought I would start a simple, easy recipe series to let you know how I use my pressure cooker.
Let me dispel a couple of myths. You do not have to be making a "large meal" when you use your pressure cooker. This pot was made to cook things quickly and with a delicious effect with lots of flavor. It is kind of like the opposite of a crock pot, which I have seen people compare this too. They are not the same at all, but in the end, each give a delicious result using only one pot. So there you have it. If you don't have one yet, I highly suggest you get one, and do yourself a favor and get the XL, you will be grateful you did.
My favorite thing to make in my pressure cooker is rice. I have had the worst luck with rice. Being married to a Brasilian I need to have consistently good rice and since using the pressure cooker I do.
Here is how I roll when it comes to rice.
I plug in the pressure cooker and hit the rice button, 6 minutes pops up in the timing window, followed by "thinking lines" as I like to call them. I then put 1/4 cup olive oil into the bottom of the pan. I then add 3 teaspoons of salt and 3 cloves of pressed garlic. I sautee the garlic until it is fragrant and then I add 3 cups Basmati rice to the olive oil mixture. I continue to sautee the rice, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes giving a nice coating of olive oil. The rice almost turns white at this point. I then add 6 cups of water into the pot and I put the pressure cooker lid on. I make sure the valve is off so that it can start pressurizing. It takes about 5 minutes for the pot to fully pressurize, which is when you will see the the timer come back on to the window saying 6 minutes. Once the 6 minutes are up, the timer goes off, and I move the valve to depressurize the pressure cooker. Voila! Perfect rice every time. (If you like your rice a little less al dente, you can always push the Cook Time Selector after selecting rice, this lets you choose to cook the rice longer.)
*Please see disclosure at the bottom of the page
