Previous Features

How did you get interested in cooking?

My husband was a lawyer with a go-go Wall Street firm, and as a competitive law wife I found myself cooking a lot. Instead of just giving dinner parties, I decided I wanted to make a living, so I started to make my living by cooking.

What was your first book?

Growing Up On The Chocolate Diet: A Memoir With Recipes. Some call me the Rocky Horror of Cookbook Writers because this book has a cult following. It started a trend as one of the first books to combine essays and recipes. Some people started cooking after reading the book, and some stopped.

How has your cooking style changed over the years?

My life changed about ten years ago when I got breast cancer. Although I haven't turned into a health nut, I do take a long look at what I'm eating. I've cut back on fat, and I now usually choose fruit or sorbet for dessert. I love butter, but I'm much more judicious about it.

What other cooking trends do you see today?

People don't give "dinner parties" like they used to. Today everyone's in the kitchen, not sitting in the dining room waiting to be served. It's more fun.

How were you introduced to pressure cookers?

My Mom had the old-fashioned kind, and I was not tempted to try pressure cooking myself. Finally someone said to me, "Don't be so unadventuresome. Borrow mine." So I took home a KUHN RIKON Duromatic Pressure Cooker and made the world's best chicken soup in twelve minutes. I was hooked. I probably use a pressure cooker three times a week, and if we didn't eat out, it would be more.

What else do you like to make in the pressure cooker?

Artichokes, asparagus, corn, pea soup, borscht that makes my husband happy, so many different things. Risotto is a show-stopper. Once when we were having drinks at the deck at about 9 PM, I mentioned we were having risotto for dinner and saw panic on my guests' faces. They thought it would take forever and they'd starve in the meantime. Then I tossed everything into the pressure cooker, and we were eating risotto minutes later. I love knocking the socks off non-believers.

What else do you like about your pressure cookers?

They're beautiful, and they keep their shine over the years. The one piece of cookware I keep out on the stove is a pressure cooker. When I let my parrot out of her cage (only when I'm not cooking, of course), she flies over to the pressure cooker because it's so shiny she can see herself.

Do you have any tips for pressure cooking?

To me there's a perfect marriage between the pressure cooker and a hand-held blender (which I call "Help Me Wanda"). Soup recipes sometimes tell you to cook the soup and then pour it into a food processor or blender. Instead I puree right in the pot. It's an incredible time saver.

Any special tips for people trying a pressure cooker for the first time?

First, take it out of the box. Second, don't use it. Instead, sit down and read the book. The KUHN RIKON recipe book that's enclosed with the product is excellent. Also, the pressure cooker cookbooks by Lorna Sass are excellent.

I understand your children have followed you into the culinary world.

Yes, my oldest son and his wife operate a Mexican restaurant in Taipei. My middle son, Max, has cooked his way around the world and is now studying at the Culinary Institute of America. Max and I co-authored a new book, Stuff It, coming out in July, 1998. We have very different styles of kitchen management, so he tested recipes at night and I tested recipes in the day.

Tell us more about Stuff It.

It's the first cookbook devoted to the wonderful category of stuffed foods. Max and I have a ten week book tour this summer to teach classes and talk about the book. (See Lora Brody's tour schedule to find out if she will appear near you.)