Cooking with Steam

Pressure Cooking

075 Sounds like an anomaly and out of keeping with an off-grid life where the whole foundation is based on no pressure so in the interest of full disclosure it is now admitted that almost all cooking on Pentargon is done with a Hawkins Pressure Cooker, which is mentioned elsewhere but now is the time to include it in these pages as it is used for inventive cooking including a cabbage dish believed to be unique to the boat.

Also unique to the boat is one of the earliest books published by Delia Smith. In 1976 inflation in England was running at almost 20%as a result of disastrous financial policies pursued by a conservative government which wiki has captured. Delia found it necessary to help households eat on a serious budget and maybe the book will be reprinted for 2025.

"Frugal Food" had a recipe for 'Irish Potatoes' which is basically colcannon Dublin style and produces a nutritious dinner for six to eight people using potatoes, cabbage, a couple of onions, some beef dripping and garlic. Well I have a version of Irish Potatoes which works without the spuds and is sometimes a staple for days when money is really tight.

A head of York cabbage finely chopped stalks and all
two good onions peeled and finely chopped
Cloves of garlic finely chopped ... Beef dripping
A pressure cooker and a gas ring

A good blob of dripping is gently melted in the cooker with the lid off. The fat when melted is swirled around to grease the whole inside of the pot before adding all the veg. and putting on the lid and the weight. The pot is then out on a very low gas setting and given about twenty minutes to raise a head of steam and let it off. You'll know when it hits high dough as it will tell you. The gas is then turned off and the pot left to cool down for a minimum of twenty minutes. I use a kitchamajig to serve out portions into hot bowls and serve it with buttered sourdough.