Kitchen Tools; Mini Prep Food Processor

March 11, 1:00 PMSan Diego Cooking ExaminerLaurie Vengoechea

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I have another kitchen tool to share with you today; it’s my Mini Prep Food Processor.  This little gadget is a time saver in the kitchen. It’s small enough to leave on the counter if you have the room and with the color and finish varieties they now sell it can even blend in with your kitchen décor.

Mini preps are just that, “mini”. Not to be confused with a medium to large capacity food processor with blades specifically designed to shred, chop, slice or blend, this is a helpmate in the kitchen intended for smaller scale jobs.  I have read reviews about this particular Cuisinart® model that I own, some people love it and some have higher expectations of what a “mini prep” should do. If you purchase a mini prep with the intention to finely grind coffee or evenly chop nuts you may be disappointed. A coffee grinder has a much smaller bowl with the blade lower to the base; in that way it has the ability to finely grind coffee the way it’s meant to be ground. A tool for a specific job! I find that my grinder chops nuts nicely. Especially pistachios for a creamy “Pistachio Pesto Sauce”. When I use my mini prep I use shorter pulses. It is not a blender with a switch that leaves a long running rotation, which they are known for; the mini prep is not that kind of blender.

What I can tell you about the mini prep is that, it blends mayonnaise and salsa’s, it purees small amounts of nuts with oil, Pesto’s prepare pronto style and a Beurre Manie is as easy as a quick flick of the switch. If your careful not to over pulse, it minces garlic and chops small cuts of onions. If you want to further your adventure, add basil, parsley, olives, capers, olive oil and a little wine and you have a quick Bruschetta or Tapenade. I do have to say, as often as I have tried chopping tomatoes with it, I don’t recommend the Mini Prep for this. Tomatoes have so much water content that they just turn into a mess. I have made tomato butter in my mini prep before. Tomato butter is made with paste and the blending ability the Mini Prep affords works great for this application.

Can you tell I love this tool? It really is my little wonder in the kitchen. I purchased my Cuisinart® Mini Prep a few years ago at Costco for under $30.00. Since then, my kids purchased a bullet type counter blender for me thinking I might want to pulverize concrete. My hopes were deferred after the interior rubber burnt out within the first two months of owning it. I’ll stick with my convenient kitchen counter tool that is still blending strong. I did find a link for replacement parts on the Cuisinart® web site though.  It’s good to know they are there when or if I need them!

Till next time I hope you enjoy a couple of quick recipes that were created using my Mini Prep.

Buon Appetito!
Laurie
 

Beurre Manie

Beurre Manié, French for "kneaded butter" is a dough consisting
of equal parts of butter and flour used to thicken soups and sauces.
By blending the flour and butter together, the flour particles are
coated in butter. When the beurre manié is whisked into a hot or warm
liquid, the butter melts, releasing the flour particles without creating
lumps.

I always have a crock of this on hand in the refrigerator as well as
stock in the freezer.

Beurre manié is the cousin to Ruex, which also has equal parts
of flour and butter cooked on heat to which hot liquids are then added
to create a smooth sauce.


Ingredients
1 Stick unsalted butter
½  Cup Pastry Flour

Directions
Cut butter into chunks. Add to 1/2 cup flour and blend in food processor with short pulses not to over whip or knead by hand.
 

Pistachio Pesto

I love Pistachios and try to create as many recipes as I can utilizing this tender and slightly sweet nut. Pesto is a condiment I use often in my cooking. Whether used for a pasta topper or imparting flavor into a cream sauce, I find that it adds so much taste and texture when blended with appropriate ingredients. Blending Pistachios into a Pesto seemed like a natural combination and it worked so well. This is a base for a Pistachio Cream sauce I use in other recipes with lamb and in a Pistachio Baked Ziti.
(The ingredient quantities are approximate)

Ingredients
2 cups raw Pistachios
1/2 cup raw almonds halved or slivered
1/4 cup Walnut oil
1/2 Olive oil
½ cup of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley chopped
4 tbs. White wine
½ cup Parmagiano Reggiano Cheese
Sea Salt
Fresh Black Pepper

Directions
Roast Pistachios and Almonds in a dry skillet or cast iron pan on medium heat for around 8 minutes. Tossing continually so as not to burn. When cool to touch, rub them together within your hands releasing them from their outer skins as much as possible. Separate the nuts from the skins.

In Food Processor add pistachios and almonds, olive and walnut oil. Pulse till nuts are finely ground to a thick paste. Add wine and parsley. Continue with a pulse. Add seasonings. Always taste in between pulses so as not to add too much salt and pepper. Add Parmesan cheese. Add more olive oil and white wine if needed to suit your desired consistency and taste.


Roasted Garlic & Basil Mayonnaise

Creating the mayonnaise is as simple as roasting garlic and pulsing them with a few turns of the food processor. To roast garlic I take a whole head of garlic, slice of the top so the cloves are exposed. Then I place in tin foil and drizzle with olive oil. Tent the foil so the tin isn't touching the garlic and seal. Cook in a pre heated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove foil wrapped garlic from oven, open the tin and insert some basil leaves on top of the garlic. Re-seal and let the heat from the cooked garlic steam the basil leaves. It makes for a beautiful smelling roasted garlic. Let sit for around 15 - 20 more minutes, till cool to the touch. The garlic will be soft like butter. Squeeze out the cloves from their papers into the processor. Add five to six basil leaves, 2 cups mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1-teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon. Process till smooth. Always do a taste test and adjust seasonings if necessary.