So having this iPhone hasn't made me the blogging diva I imagined. Turns out that by the end of the day, when I can actually use both thumbs and the small portion of my brain that is still awake, I'm mostly too tired to come up with anything interesting. I blame it on Facebook. FB is pretty mindless, and that is what fits the bill most evenings. I make my mothering situation sound rough, but I actually have the best baby you could ask for. Still....
But, I did want to share this one tidbit that I've been strangely exuberant over the past few weeks: how to cook split peas in a pressure cooked!
We have a dried bean soup mix that was billed as being perfect for busy days. Quick cooking lentils, split peas, barley, etc. Seemed like the perfect job for a pressure cooker. However, my pressure cooker manual warned me in bold, capitalized font "DO NOT COOK SPLIT PEAS". That's it, no explanation, just a stern order. So, I'll cook in the old fashioned way, no problem. Well , after having crunchy split peas after hours and hours of simmering away on a woodstove over two different days, I decided in the future Wed find away around the pressure cooker ban.
I found this very helpful site:
http://www.atlasbooks.com/pressurecooking/splitpeas.pdf
I'll summarize for you. Basically split peas are dangerous because they have a proclivity for exploding under pressure and gumming up the works. The trick is to let your pressure cooker vent steam for 30 sec or so, then let it come to pressure. As soon as it does, turn it off and let it sit. By the time the pressure drops off again, the peas should be cooked. If the pressure drops right away, just turn on the heat for a minute or two and repressurize. Works like a charm!! And I love the "retained heat cooking" aspect of it, something we're big fans of around here.
So, there you have it...and good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment