Favorite blender recipes

[bmwrtmike]

I recently picked up a new Blendtec and have made a few smoothies. While that is fine, I want to try some soups and dips. Something to put this thing through its paces. I have searched here and did a google search, but didn't come up with much.

So I ask, what are your favorite blender recipes?

Thanks,

Mike

[Darienne]

My blender is simply a Hamilton-Beach. However, I makes lots of smoothies in it and my own special Orange Julep which we have for supper along with popcorn once a week. Also Road's End Coffees which my DH invented when we first moved to the farm...hot in the winter or at night and cold in the summer. Plus I make basil pesto in the blender. And then it purees this and that.

I guess I'm not really a big blender user so this topic will be of interest to me. Inexpensive blenders have their limitations for sure and I find myself using a food processor for other procedures.

[andiesenji]

I routinely prepare several different soups in my Vita-Mix and I really have no recipe for many of them because I use what I have available.

My recipe for Carrot/Sorrel soup can be made entirely in the Vita-Mix or similar blender or cooked on the stove and finished in a blender.

This site has some basic simple blender soup basics and some specific recipes that you can use as a guide.

There are numerous sites with smoothie recipes and several cookbooks that have recipes that range from the sublime to the ridiculous (in my opinion).

[Lapin d'Argent]

This is a good time of year to be thinking about gazpacho; there's an article about the creamier style (=more pureed)in this month's Cooks Illustrated. Try making it in small batches with different types of tomatoes and peppers and bread to find what you like best.

Wow, that sounds like a tasty project, doesn't it?

[merstar]

Three of my favorite soups:

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH CORIANDER CHUTNEY

(I puree half the soup and leave the other half chunky.)

http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies.blogspot.com/2008/09/curried-cauliflower-soup-with-coriander.html

CARROT SOUP WITH SPINACH CHIFFONADE

(I increase the amounts of ground ginger and fresh ginger, plus I add some ground cardamom and curry powder).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/248

YELLOW PEPPER SOUP

http://www.recipezaar.com/22104

[merstar]

ICED BANANA LATTE

(I use strong brewed espresso, chilled, omit the ice cubes, and add somewhat less than 1/2 cup of lowfat milk for a very deep coffee taste. I also add about a tsp of sugar).

http://www.recipezaar.com/67433

[Lisa Shock]

I like to make flavored mayonnaise in my blender.

[eldereno]

I like making blender salsa. The recipe I use is similar to this one.

[Corinna]

Three of my favorite soups:

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH CORIANDER CHUTNEY

(I puree half the soup and leave the other half chunky.)

http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies.blogspot.com/2008/09/curried-cauliflower-soup-with-coriander.html

This soup is also in my regular rotation. It's wonderful!

[andiesenji]

My local Mexican supermarket had a special this past week on mangoes (5 for a dollar) so I bought some and last evening made mango lassi for myself and a visiting neighbor.

This week they have Haas avocados (5 for a dollar) and yesterday I bought five.

This morning I made a mango/avocado lassi with homemade yogurt. I divided the batch and made half sweet (with agave syrup and lemon) and half salty (with cumin and lemon juice).

Had a large glass of the sweet for breakfast and will have the salty for lunch.

The Indian people have contributed an enormous amount to the cuisine of the world but I think the lassi is one of the greatest.

[bmwrtmike]

Thanks for the tips. I saw a video on how to make a green smoothie and decided to make one yesterday. A blender stuffed full of kale, some garlic, onion, and veg stock. WoW!!! that was the worst thing I have ever tasted, it literaly made me not hungry. There is a learning curve as to what and how much to put in there.

[djyee100]

A blender stuffed full of kale, some garlic, onion, and veg stock. WoW!!! that was the worst thing I have ever tasted, it literaly made me not hungry.

Was the kale raw? That could be bitter! Blanching kale helps, but really, that's a vegetable that needs cooking and some fat to tone it down.

More suggestions for you. My fave, the Sgroppino, is no kind of health food, but so what.

>>Basil oil--best made in a blender, compared to a food processor, and this is the time to buy fresh basil.

>>A summer soup of yogurt, cucumbers and mint. In the winter, pureed winter squash soups.

>>Sgroppino, made with limoncello and vanilla ice cream. I found them addictive. Combine 2 cups softened vanilla ice cream, 6 TB fresh lemon juice, and 1/3 cup Limoncello in a blender; blend until thick and smooth. My adaptation of a recipe in Lemon Zest by Lori Longbotham.

[Jaymes]

For about forty years, everybody in my family has been making this basic salsa by the bucketful.

I've posted it on eGullet before, but as you do make it in a blender, thought I'd put it here, too:

Salsa

This is a very basic recipe for a very basic salsa, most likely the number one type of salsa used in Mexican cooking. This is actually an exceedingly simple method of preparing a cooked salsa (it's just long because I'm so wordy).

Canned whole tomatoes - look on label to be positive nothing has been added other than tomatoes and salt. No vegetables, not even "Mexican style." Don't use fresh tomatoes. This is a shortcut recipe for producing a "cooked salsa." If you've "put up" your own tomatoes, and used nothing but salt, then fine, use them. But NOT fresh tomatoes.

Fresh jalapeños - find fat, bright green ones

Garlic salt - again, look on label to be certain nothing has been added but garlic and salt. Be careful not to get "California Blend" which has other things in it. (Or, you can roast fresh garlic cloves, and add them and salt; see below.)

BASIC RECIPE:

Wash and dry whole jalapeños. On hot, non-greased surface (I just use a skillet) blister whole jalapeños, turning often, and watching to be sure they don't burn. You want nice dark brown spots, and the entire pepper to have lost its shiny green color, instead being a dull avocado color (like kitchen appliances from the 70's). You can also do this in an oven or (best of all) on a barbecue grill or over other wood fire. I rarely bother. I make a lot of this, and don't always have time to fire up the grill. If I want a smoky flavor for some reason, I add it later (see bottom notes).

Drain cans of tomatoes (you can reserve liquid for another use; for example, if you add a little salt and lemon juice, you can drink it just like regular tomato juice) and place tomatoes into blender or food processor. Pulse until desired consistency (I like mine kind of chunky, so don't process until it's too smooth) and pour into large mixing bowl. Continue doing this until you reach the amount of salsa you want.

Take some of your pulsed tomatoes and return it to the blender/processor. Cut the stems from your cooked jalapeños and add. You can, obviously, add as many as you want for desired picante. I usually add about three whole jalapeños per blender-full of salsa, but this is entirely subjective depending on who's going to be doing the eating. (Note - if you want more flavor but less heat, you can remove the seeds and, most important, the veins, which are the source of the capsicum oil in the peppers that causes the heat. My friend didn't drain her tomatoes, and she added probably twenty jalapenos per blender, so her salsa was much runnier, and much hotter than mine. It was like liquid fire. But on the other hand, she was pleasing a houseful of Mexicans, whereas I had to please a houseful of gringos.) Now, pulse to chop the jalapeños, stopping before you pulverize the seeds, which makes it bitter.

Pour your chopped jalapeños in with your tomatoes. Add garlic salt "to taste" and I know this is subjective, but I "eyeball it" and all I can tell you is that if your salsa does not taste "right" it is undoubtedly because you haven't added enough, so add more and taste it again. Remember that salsa is a garnish so you want it a little salty, plus the flavor of salt decreases when the dish is cold (like cold soups, and salsa), so don't stint.

(Note - if you don't like or want to add garlic salt, you can always roast some fresh garlic when you're charring your jalapenos. Do about two or three fat garlic cloves per blenderful of tomatoes. And then add salt to taste.)

This is your basic salsa. Do it like this FIRST and get the flavors right before you branch out.

Okay.

Now, you're ready to branch out.

In addition to what I've already described, I always add: 1.) a little oil; can be any type of vegetable oil - I usually add olive oil; say a tablespoon per blender load, I guess. 2.) a little acid -- vinegar works just fine and is what I usually use, but also lemon or lime juice, or a mixture of all three -- again, sorry, "to taste," probably a tablespoon or so per blender load. 3.) cilantro - I like it and add it, usually right before the jalapeños and using the same method -- put a little of the tomatoes back into the blender/processor and add the cilantro and process, being very careful not to over-process.

This is all I usually do, and my salsa is wonderful.

Trust me on this and just make it like this a time or two. Don't immediately think to yourself, "I can make it better. I can add onions. I wonder why Jaymes didn't add onions. Maybe Jaymes has never heard of onions."

I have heard of onions. But I do not usually add them. Nor anything else other than the tomatoes, garlic salt, jalapenos, oil, vinegar, cilantro.

But sometimes, if I am going to use it for a dip, I will occasionally chop up and add: a fresh tomato (especially in the summer when the tomatoes are so wonderful); chopped onions (any kind will do -- green onions, whatever) and cubed avocado -- that makes a nice dip. But MOST of the time I don't!

Other things you can eventually experiment with adding (only AFTER you've fixed it enough times to have the hang of it): liquid smoke, oregano, other kinds of peppers (habañeros, serranos, etc.), chile powder, cumin, sugar (yes, some people like a sweet salsa), Tapatío or other bottled Mexican hot sauce, or whatever else hits your imagination to try. But the secret is to first master the basic sauce and resist the urge to start adding stuff in order to "improve" it. Just wait a while before you try to get fancy, or you'll add so much stuff that you mess it up. (Remember that if you add a lot of chopped fresh tomatoes or avocados, you'll need to add more garlic salt as well.)

Now that you've got your salsa all jarred up and waiting for you in the fridge, take a flour tortilla and lay some sliced mild cheddar onto half of it, fold the other half over to make a half-moon shape, zap it in the microwave a minute or two until the cheese melts, pour your cold salsa all over it and eat it. With some sliced avocados alongside, of course.

This salsa is also wonderful with plain cheese omelets. And everything else that is good with salsa. Which in our house pretty much is everything else.

____________________

Edited June 21, 2010 by Jaymes (log)

[ojisan]

I always have a jar of Jaymes' salsa in the fridge - it's versatile, easy and cheap. And everybody loves it.

- canned organic tomatoes

- chipotle en adobo, or roasted jalapeño, or roasted habanero

- garlic salt (1:3 garlic:salt, by weight) - Costco granulated garlic

- lemon juice

- olive oil

- cilantro

[Fat Guy]

For most of what I do in the blender (I have a Blendtec as well) it's not so much a question of having a recipe as it is of achieving the right balance of liquid and solid, frozen and unfrozen, etc. So it's more about ratios and technique. I mean, I suppose it would be possible to follow a smoothie recipe that says X ounces of strawberries, Y ounces of banana, and Z ounces of ice cubes. But what I really need to know is how much ice to add for a given amount of fruit, because on any given day my supply of available fruit (not to mention what I feel like having) can vary so much. I've learned to eyeball it but it would be nice to know and understand the most workable ratios.

[kayb]

While I have used my blender to make cheese dip (Velveeta, tomatos, chiles, cumin and garlic), mole sauce (more ingredients than I care to list), hollandaise (the lazy way) and assorted other stuff, I have come to recognize the highest and best use of the blender is for a watermelon mojito.

1/4 cup light rum

1/4 cup simple syrup

2 cups watermelon chunks

4-5 sprigs mint

juice of one or two limes, depending on how juicy they are

Whiz it until it's all nice and frothy, pour it over ice in two tall glasses, and top with club soda and a sprig of mint. Make a second blender-full before you drink the first ones, because you WILL want them.

[nakji]

For about forty years, everybody in my family has been making this basic salsa by the bucketful.

I've posted it on eGullet before, but as you do make it in a blender, thought I'd put it here, too:

Salsa

This is a very basic recipe for a very basic salsa, most likely the number one type of salsa used in Mexican cooking. This is actually an exceedingly simple method of preparing a cooked salsa (it's just long because I'm so wordy)...[snip]

I have made this salsa numerous times, and can testify to its excellence. I also (after having made it correctly first) now add the suggested garlic clove (one) and a handful of cilantro along with a squeeze of half a lemon (my canned tomatoes are quite sweet). I don't have any jalapenos available, so I use the long red chilies that are common in Asia.

I will never go back to jarred salsa.

[Jaymes]

Nakji & Ojisan -

Thank you so much for letting me know! That really cheers my heart. I know folks that won't share recipes and I always wonder why. After all, it's not like sharing a recipe with someone else makes it any less delicious for you.

So I'm thrilled and pleased to know that y'all are enjoying it.

[Lapin d'Argent]

I have a blender jar with pureed strawberries in the fridge right now cooling down so it can go into the ice cream machine for sorbet. The recipe is from a 2002 Cook's Illustrated, but it's really very simple -- here's how I make it:

3 cups strawberries, pureed (strain the seeds if you want; I don't bother)

Add:

1 cup sugar

1 tbls lemon juice

1 tbls vodka or liqueur (I like Campari)

Blend, gently, until the sugar more-or-less dissolves.

Throw the blender jar into the fridge to chill until the mixture is at least 40o cool; then pour into your ice cream maker and finish.

BTW, I made this several times, following the original instructions exactly, transferring from blender to mixing bowl to storage bowl, until it finally dawned on me to use the blender from start to finish. Duh.

The CI article does have a nice table with proportions for lots of other fruits and flavors, for those of you with back issues or an online subscription.

[Chris Hennes]

I have heard tell that you can make hummus in one of these monster blenders starting from sesame seeds. Can anyone share a recipe and some technique advice?

[Darienne]

For about forty years, everybody in my family has been making this basic salsa by the bucketful.

I've posted it on eGullet before, but as you do make it in a blender, thought I'd put it here, too:

____________________

Jaymes posted this salsa last June and I just found it yesterday.

Made it this afternoon and now report back. Point #1: I had no idea how difficult it is now to find canned tomatoes without sugar and a lot of other stuff in them. Jaymes said canned tomatoes with tomatoes and salt only. In a large local supermarket I could find only one brand with the requisite tomatoes and salt only.

Point number 2...which I already knew...just a fact of life for chiles. Some of the same type of chile are much hotter than another. I could not imagine getting fresh Jalapenos in Peterpatch, ON, so hot that I had to add another can of tomatoes to the salsa just to be able to use it at all. DH, Ed, still thinks it's too hot. It probably would have been safer under the circumstances to either use canned or to add the chiles one at a time.

Still, all in all, a good experience. Thanks, Jaymes

[Jaymes]

For about forty years, everybody in my family has been making this basic salsa by the bucketful.

I've posted it on eGullet before, but as you do make it in a blender, thought I'd put it here, too:

____________________

Jaymes posted this salsa last June and I just found it yesterday.

Made it this afternoon and now report back. Point #1: I had no idea how difficult it is now to find canned tomatoes without sugar and a lot of other stuff in them. Jaymes said canned tomatoes with tomatoes and salt only. In a large local supermarket I could find only one brand with the requisite tomatoes and salt only.

Point number 2...which I already knew...just a fact of life for chiles. Some of the same type of chile are much hotter than another. I could not imagine getting fresh Jalapenos in Peterpatch, ON, so hot that I had to add another can of tomatoes to the salsa just to be able to use it at all. DH, Ed, still thinks it's too hot. It probably would have been safer under the circumstances to either use canned or to add the chiles one at a time.

Still, all in all, a good experience. Thanks, Jaymes

Glad you wound up you post by saying that it was, all in all, a good experience.

About half-way through, I'll admit I was beginning to worry!

And you're right, of course, that getting the salsa to have the right amount of "heat" for all the family members is always going to be through trial and error.

I usually wound up making at least three batches - one for the kids, one for me, and a third, that would take off the roof of your mouth, for my chile-pepper-loving husband.

[Darienne]

Lunch today was leftover beef enchiladas with a recipe called Southwestern Potatoes that I culled from somewhere, with crema, guacamole, and with tortilla chips and Jaymes' salsa. DH loved it. Can't do better than that.

ps. Ed put salsa on his enchiladas and potatoes too.

Edited February 3, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[qrn]

I just finished a batch of Butternut squash soup using my Sears Kenmore blender that is 48 years old...

Still works well,,Amazing...(something about"they don't make em like that any more")

Bud

[nakji]

For about forty years, everybody in my family has been making this basic salsa by the bucketful.

I've posted it on eGullet before, but as you do make it in a blender, thought I'd put it here, too:

____________________

Jaymes posted this salsa last June and I just found it yesterday.

Made it this afternoon and now report back. Point #1: I had no idea how difficult it is now to find canned tomatoes without sugar and a lot of other stuff in them. Jaymes said canned tomatoes with tomatoes and salt only. In a large local supermarket I could find only one brand with the requisite tomatoes and salt only.

Point number 2...which I already knew...just a fact of life for chiles. Some of the same type of chile are much hotter than another. I could not imagine getting fresh Jalapenos in Peterpatch, ON, so hot that I had to add another can of tomatoes to the salsa just to be able to use it at all. DH, Ed, still thinks it's too hot. It probably would have been safer under the circumstances to either use canned or to add the chiles one at a time.

Still, all in all, a good experience. Thanks, Jaymes

I love this salsa! But I've never seen a jalapeno in Asia. I use Holland chilis, (the long, thin red ones) and the heat is perfect.