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I used to think that spring was definitely my favorite season of the year. New life starts to emerge and plants that you didn't even know were there pop their heads out of the earth. The days become warmer, and you can open your windows again to let in the fresh air. But every year, leaves start to drop, and I change my mind—fall becomes my favorite season. Well, until spring comes back. It's September now, and autumn has come around again, and I realize that what I really like is the change of seasons—winter into spring and summer into fall.

Part of the reason the change of seasons is so appealing to me is because of how we suddenly change the way we cook. We've been grilling foods for a few months now, enjoying cold salads and relishing in ripe tomatoes. But now the weather is about to change and so are our meals. I can't wait to fill the house with the rich aromas of braises and stews, of chilies and soups. The only challenge to the change in the way we cook is time. All these autumnal meals take more time—and that takes away from the things we enjoy (other than cooking), and the chores and schedules that we must stick to.

That's why I'm so excited about the brand-new Technique pressure cooker that I'm launching on Sunday at midnight. THIS is the way to enjoy the change of the season in our kitchen. With a pressure cooker, you can make all those delicious braises, stews, chilies, and soups in a third of the time it'd normally take. I say, "Bring it on!"

Last winter I started the project of writing my second cookbook: Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable Under Pressure. It's entirely devoted to pressure cooking, and I spent every day of the winter and part of the spring cooking with the very pressure cooker that you'll see on Sunday. I used it at least once a day, and sometimes had two cookers going at once, making as many as 7 dishes in one day. As you can imagine, after my intense book-writing project was over, I took a little break from pressure cooking, but now that the cooker's back on the counter, I'm loving it. Even with my experience cooking with it all winter, it still surprises me that I can come home late and put a great meal on the table in no time—even if I've forgotten to defrost something. Amazing!

Let me tell you a few great features of the brand-new Technique pressure cooker that'll be featured on Sunday:

First: It's an electric pressure cooker. I love electric pressure cookers because they take all the guesswork out of pressure cooking. With a stovetop cooker, you have to regulate the heat under the pot in order to keep the pressure constant, but electric pressure cookers do all of that for you, maintaining the perfect amount of pressure without you doing a thing!

Second: This electric pressure cooker has an oval shape. I really like that shape because it makes it so much easier to brown foods first since you have a better surface area to work with. Did I mention the cooker has a browning function? ;-)

Third: The interior part of this cooker has a fantastic nonstick surface inside and out. That makes browning even easier. And of course, the removable insert is a snap to clean up.

Fourth: This cooker comes in not one, not two, not five, but SEVEN great colors! The color on the outside of the cooker was important to me because I'm a firm believer that appliances kept out on the counter are the ones that get used. Having a pop of color makes this pressure cooker so attractive, it can really sit on the counter and be a part of any kitchen design. For those of you who don't like color intruding into the design of your kitchen, fear not, because this cooker also comes in a standard brushed stainless steel as well as a black. With those two colors plus copper, red, green, blue, and eggplant, we've got you covered. (My personal favorites are copper and green.)

Fifth: It's extremely safe and easy to use. Along with the 8 safety features built into this pressure cooker, it also comes with a voice-guided feature. That means that every time you press a button on the cooker, it tells you what to do next. You never have to worry if you lose the manual and can't remember how to work the machine—it'll tell you what to do. Now, if you don't like being told what to do (I can relate!), you can turn this voice command feature off. And after you've used the cooker once or twice, you might want to have a little peace and quiet in the kitchen. I know that when I had two cookers working at the same time, I needed them to stop the chatter!

Still not convinced? Well, this pressure cooker has other features as well. It can also be used as a slow cooker or steamer, and as I’ve mentioned, it has a browning function too. It's really three appliances in one. With this one machine, you can have three pretty appliances sitting on your counter ready to use and to save you time.

What to cook in the pressure cooker? I thought of that for you, too! There's a recipe booklet included in the cooker with 20 recipes, each with its own photo and ingredient listings for three different serving sizes.

Plus, that's where my new cookbook comes in. Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable under Pressure will also be available at a very special price on Sunday and is being featured in David's Cookbook Corner on In the Kitchen with David at Noon ET. The book has 125 pressure cooker recipes (different from those in the booklet), 102 tips, and 100 color photographs. It offers you some basic pressure cooker recipes as well as some others that'll broaden your repertoire.

Here's a sample list of recipes and their respective cooking times.

Corn and Potato Chowder (6 minutes)

BBQ Pulled Chicken (10 minutes)

Jerk Chicken Legs (8 minutes),

Greek Meatballs with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce (5 minutes)

Polenta with Parmesan Cheese & Pancetta (5 minutes)

Ratatouille (4 minutes)

 Caramel Pot de Crème (20 minutes), and so much more.

 

 

Once you've made a couple of delicious items in the pressure cooker, you'll get the hang of it, and that's my goal—to make you as "comfortable under pressure" as you are in the kitchen in general (or more so!). You spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so you might as well get comfortable, and cut that time in half while you're at it!

See you Sunday,
—Meredith Laurence