Week Four: The Immersion Blender

Side note: In the spirit of transparency, I should mention that I only actually ate two bowls of the detox soup I posted last week.  Sure, it was super healthy, but after more than one serving, I got a little queasy just looking at it. So yeah. 

On to this week... Since I don't have what most people would consider a real or functional kitchen, I have to be really careful about what electronics will take up the least amount of counter area and use the least amount of power (since space and voltage are both at a premium). The immersion blender is, in my humble opinion, the perfect handheld appliance. (Trust me, I have given several as gifts and when I accidentally melted mine about six months ago in the great toaster oven fire of 2012, I was Amazon and ordering a new one before the smoke alarm could simmer down.) To that end, both recipes this week (yes, there are two!) feature an immersion blender. If you have a full size blender, go for it. All it will mean is that the blending process will probably take you half the time.

Broccoli and Leek Soup (Adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking Magazine)

The bacon garnish really makes it.

Fresh Ingredients:
Two large leeks (washed and cut into small rings)
Half a medium onion (cut into thin slices)
One large bunch of broccoli (1.5 to 1.75 lbs.) **
Two cloves of garlic (minced)
1/4 cup Light cream
Squeeze of lemon juice
Crumbled bacon (optional, but delicious)

Pantry Ingredients:
2.5 cups of chicken stock
A quick pour of white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

** The florets of the broccoli should be roughly chopped, but the thicker and more fibrous stems should be cut into thin slices.

1. Heat a few turns of olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot and add the leeks, onions, garlic with a pinch of salt. Cover and sweat the vegetables, stirring often, until softened (about eight minutes or so).

2. Add the cut up broccoli, stock, white wine, and 2.5 cups of water to the mixture. Cover and bring to a low boil. Remove the lid and simmer until all the vegetables are very tender.

3. Working in small batches, blend veggies and stock and pour into another bowl. (Note: be careful, to only fill blending containers about half way. Hot liquid will splatter and burn!) 

4. Rinse the soup pot and pour the puree back in. Slowly reheat and add the cream, the juice of half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and garnish with crumbled bacon (if you like that kind of thing, which I do).

** This soup could easily made vegetarian. Skip the bacon and sub in veggie stock.



Mango Lhassi
(downsized from a Fine Cooking Magazine recipe)

Whenever I go to Indian restaurants, I ALWAYS want a mango lhassi. Sometimes I indulge. Sometimes the cheapskate in me can't bring myself to spend the four dollars on a beverage that I will slurp down in under thirty seconds. Over the last few summers, I have made a lot of mango smoothies, but they never quite tasted the same. Five minutes under guidance of a recipe by Susan Feniger (a frequent TV chef face and Top Chef Masters competitor) showed me the error of my ways. I was missing a key ingredient: Kesar Mango Pulp. I had to take a trip to West Philly (don't worry, I had GPS) to find an Indian grocer who stocked it, but one whiff of the magical mango nectar inside this beat up can, and I knew I was on my way to lhassi heaven.

Best $2 I ever spent.

Fresh Ingredients:
One ripe mango diced
One quart of plain yogurt

Pantry Ingredients:
1.75 cups of Kesar Mango Pulp
Pinch of salt

1.) Puree the diced mango, pulp, salt and 1.5 cups of cold water. 

2.) Whisk the mixture with the yogurt, pour into a pitcher and chill for at least one hour.

I'm not kidding. That's is.  The restaurant version of this drink is usually served somewhat sweeter, which could easily be achieved by continuing to add the pulp until it has reached the desired sugar level.