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What attracted you to a career in food and cooking?

I was not so much "attracted to" as "compelled by" a career in food and cooking (and writing). During my senior year in college, and then in graduate school, I often wished I were working with food instead of writing philosophy essays. I eventually lay down my pen to escape the Ivory Tower and join the marketplace in pursuit of what was more immediate for me: food and cooking. Ironically, a decade and a half later, I once again put pen to paper, this time to write my first cookbook, Recipes From Pig-by-the-Tail (Viking/Penguin, 1985). It was a perfect coming together of my experiences and passions. Now, twelve cookbooks later, I'm still turning out cookbooks with innovative recipes and new techniques, but most important, I want my books to show people they really can do it, meaning, cook at home in a manageable way. Plain or fancy, feeding your family, your friends, or just yourself with food you've made is one of life's joys.

What trends do you see in home cooking today?

I see a yearning to return to home cooking coupled with a sad lack of experience in the kitchen. As American women untied their apron strings and entered the market place (believe me, I did so, too, and am glad of it), there was a gap: What's for dinner? Who's cooking? were questions answered with unsatisfactory trips to the freezer or fast-food eateries. The solution to this modern dilemma is to involve more men in the kitchen making dinner; more everyone (including kids) in the family helping with the process from prepping, to cooking, to setting the table and cleaning up afterwards. On a different note, I see that the continually burgeoning number of ingredients and tastes that we have come to know from immigrant cultures--so widely written about in media articles and ever more stocked in local supermarkets--has opened a world of curiosity, and, with it, an energy to try. Practically speaking, olive oil, soy sauce, fresh ginger, cilantro, yogurt, coconut milk, celery root, to name but a few, if not part of the cupboard are available and no longer considered exotic ingredients. This is exciting, and eye-opening.

Please tell us about your new cookbook.

I immensely enjoyed writing The Pressure Cooker Gourmet for two reasons: I am a lover of kitchen tools and appliances, and it was an opportunity to explore a cooking technique I was not familiar with. Second, I am avid about streamlining wherever possible without sacrificing quality. My intent was to show all the ways a modern pressure cooker could be used not only to expedite home cooking, but beyond that, what it could do on its own. European cooks, from France, Spain, and Italy to India have long used pressure cookers for family meals. Going from there, I created many multi-ethnic dishes that showcase the pressure cooker's advantages and capabilities for delicious home cooking.

What do you like about the technique of pressure cooking?

What I love about pressure cooking, and what I have focused on in my book, is that it's useful for so much more than its out of date image. It can do quick dishes as well as long-simmered dishes in a way that is welcome and efficient for modern home cooking. The new, state-of-the-art pressure cookers allow clean, low-fat cooking with densely flavored sauces in short time, and that suits with my dedication to home cooking in a way that is feasible for time pressured cooks.

What are your favorite recipes for the pressure cooker?

I have so many, it's hard to name them all, but see a representative selection of six recipes I've chosen below.

Do you have any tips for someone using a pressure cooker for the first time?

First off, learn how to use the pot, meaning how to lock on the lid. For the mechanically challenged, as I am, this involves a few minutes practice, but after that, there's no rocket science involved. Second, it's important to realize that you need to attend the pot. If necessary, adjust the heat to maintain the pressure and adjust the timing for total in-the-pot time. Your stove btu's and your brand and size pressure cooker all affect the heat level and cooking time. Especially important is to keep track of the total cook time from beginning to end: if things are taking longer than described in my recipes to come to pressure, cook, and naturally cool down, use the pressure release mechanism to hasten the cool down.

You have a passion for gardening as well as cooking. How does this affect your cooking style?

My cooking and recipes are driven by my love of fresh ingredients. As much as I can, and for the pleasure of gardening, I grow herbs; lettuces; greens, from broccoli and cabbage to pole beans; root crops such as beets, carrots, and turnips; tomatoes; and when summer weather in my Bay Area garden permits, peppers, summer squashes, and cucumbers. But, I'm perfectly happy to let someone else grow them, so I regularly shop at farmers' markets and the excellent produce stores in my area. The point is to focus on what's seasonal.

What projects are you working on for the future?

I am working on a cookbook of Armenian food seen from the perspective of my California-Armenian heritage, coupled with my modern sensibility for multi-ethnic flavors. I am also working on a handbook of sauces for the sauce-challenged, to teach how easy and simple it is to have a relaxed and rewarding time at your own table, with lots of flavor.