The Pragmatic Foodie
An online community for cooking and eating enthusiasts, with a realistic bent.
NOTE: Revised to fix typos, minor grammatical and formatting edits.

Our manifesto

Food is an important part of life, but it’s not all there is to life.
We love to cook, we love to eat, but we don’t live to do these things. Our lives are full and complex, and like everything else, we have to balance our cooking/eating priorities.

There’s no excuse for not eating well, often.
Eating well does not have to be expensive. Nor does it require huge investments in time or massive knowledge of the culinary arts. If you can read, you can cook. This community will guide, teach and encourage novices.

Economics matter.
That’s why Pragmatic Foodie contributors make every effort to provide actual costs of their ingredients, as well as pointers on making food dollars go farther. Since this is a noncommercial community, we aren’t afraid to name names and give actual prices. Transparency like this can only help all of us.

This is a community of sharing and teaching.
Everyone is invited to submit ideas, articles and recipes. Their publication and prominence will depend on votes and recommendations of others in the community. As in every democracy, this is likely to be a messy, sometimes unfair process. Thus, we recommend that nothing be taken too seriously or too personally. We ask that everyone use civility, respect and restraint at all times.

Weeknight Special
Home for recipes, techniques and ideas that are fast, economical and flexible.

Chicken and leek soup with steel-cut oatmeal

The inspiration
Wolfgang Puck chicken stock on sale for $2.00 per quart. This is outstanding stock, and a great price.

The ingredients
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
3 large leeks, white part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed thoroughly and cut into half-inch pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
1 tablespoon sherry
2 quarts Wolfgang Puck or homemade chicken stock
2 tablespoons steel-cut (Irish) oatmeal
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 chicken breast halves, cooked, or 1-1/2 cups leftover, cooked chicken, diced
1 cup cream, half and half, or milk
salt and pepper

In stockpot or large saucepan, sauté leeks, carrots and celery in oil for five minutes over medium high heat, until soft. Add sherry, allow to evaporate. Add two quarts stock, bay leaf, and thyme to pot. Stir in oatmeal. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes, until oatmeal is tender, but not soft.

Add chicken and cream, heat through. Season with salt, pepper and additional thyme or sherry, to taste. Serve with crusty bread and a medium-bodied red wine.

Improvisations and substitutions
• For steel-cut oats: a half-cup quick-cooking pearled barley or small pasta.
• For leeks: a medium onion, diced.
• For chicken: for a meatless version, bump up the oats to three tablespoons.
• Cook three strips of bacon until crisp, then saute the vegetables in the bacon fat. Crumble the cooked bacon in just before serving.

PF ratings
(1-3 stars, with 3 highest)
*** Cost $10-12 total, or $2 per serving
*** Speed 35 minutes total
*** NDA Every day can be ‘Take a Thermos® to Work Day’
*** Kid Appeal Great way to introduce the fabulous leek.

Cost: Estimated, based on local prices.
Speed: Preparation time by segment and total required.
NDA: Next Day Appeal – will it make good leftovers?
Kid Appeal: Will the typical kid like it?



PF Essay
Eclectic writings on anything and everything food-related.

In praise of the 20-dollar pressure cooker



Pity the pressure cooker. It’s gotten a reputation similar to the one developing around John McCain – old, low-tech, and prone to explosive behavior if not handled just right.

But unlike the Arizona senator, pressure cookers are winning more converts every day. I’m one of them.

Pressure cookers were part of some of my earliest memories. The gentle rhythm of the ticking regulator emanating from the kitchen in my parent’s house meant that something good – usually beef and noodles – was on the way. At my grandma’s house, just a few hundred feet away, it meant that she was cooking liver for her poodle, Andre. Since the aroma of cooking liver was not high on my list (nor was Andre, who was a snarling, petulant little beast), hearing the pressure cooker there usually cut my visit down to little more than “thanks for the cookie, Grandma, but I gotta run and uhh, do some homework.”

Despite my feminine forebears’ devotion to the pressure cooker, I did not own one until just a few months ago. The modern models I had seen were simply too pricey for something I figured would sit on the shelf 362 days a year. Then, a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond revealed a $20 model. Cavalierly ignoring the rule of thumb that suggests anything that cheap which also happens to be explosive should be considered ‘fireworks,’ I bit.

While I wouldn’t call what has ensued a love affair, the pressure cooker and I are definitely ‘in like,' because I can now make family favorites faster. To wit:
• Swiss steak: 40 minutes (120 minutes in the oven)
• Brown rice: 22 minutes (50 minutes conventional)
• Artichoke: 15 minutes (45 minutes conventional)

These stovetop miracles are due to the pressure the cooker builds up by containing steam. The resulting pressure actually increases the boiling point of water to about 250 degrees, which means that moisture in the food cooks more before it boils away. Obviously, a pressure cooker must have water in order to work, but the food need not be immersed in water.

Which brings me back to the artichoke, and a simple technique for perfect ‘chokes every time. With artichokes going for as little as $2.50 each on sale locally, this is a fast, low-cost appetizer or even light dinner.

PF Technique: Pressure Cooker Artichoke

• 1 large or 2 medium artichokes
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Steamer basket

1. Place steamer basket in pressure cooker and add water to level of steamer bottom. Add lemon juice.
2. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
3. Put artichoke on rack, and close pressure cooker according to instructions.
4. Set timer for 15 minutes.
5. When regulator starts to rock (check instructions) turn heat to medium.
6. Pour a glass of wine and drink it now; it won’t taste right after you’ve eaten artichokes.
7. Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a small bowl.
8. In a small bowl, mix two tablespoons of mayonnaise with about a teaspoon of dry sherry.
9. When timer goes off, shut off heat under cooker and cool off according to instructions.
10. Plate up the artichoke(s) and enjoy: dip into butter or mayo, scrape, repeat.