Pressure cookers are the bees knees. My mum had one that used to frighten the life out of me, but the new designs are totally safe so long as you replace the gasket when required. I bought a set of two with one lid but really I wish I had two lids for them, they're so useful. Meat is a total shock when you have it from a pressure cooker for the first time: I expected it to be stringy and not very appealing, but it comes out as tender as could be. I regard a slow cooker as a gadget and a pressure cooker as a kitchen essential!
My go-to chicken stew goes like this:
Brown some floured skinless chicken joints (bone in) in a pan (you can use the pressure cooker, but I try and keep the fat content down by doing it in a separate pan). Sweat an onion and a leek or two in the pressure cooker while peeling some carrots and potatoes. When the chicken is browned all over to your liking, add 250 ml (the minimum for my pressure cooker) of water and a stock cube to the pressure cooker, stir and then add carrots and potatoes. Rest the chicken on top of the vegetables. Bring to high pressure and cook for six minutes. Move the pan to a cool place and leave the pressure to release naturally for ten minutes or so. When released, open pan, add a bit of mustard to the gravy if you like it and stir in. Stir in some peas (cooked or even tinned) if wanted. Serve. All told, 25 mins or so from from opening the fridge to picking up your knife and fork!
There are loads of really good websites for pressure cooker recipes but here's one I use a lot:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/This is what we're having for lunch today:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/hasselback-pork-roast-with-apples-coppa-sage/(I use thin-cut streaky bacon cut in half instead of the coppa and rather than wine I use a mixture of water and apple juice.)