Immersion Blenders: Dixie Gets Respect


Momcation  is when I take a week to immerse myself in house reorganization and reading and think about my creative goals for the year.  I do this in September and January.  So I AM working, it's just in my head.  Actually, I'm avoiding cleaning out my creativity zone (yes, again). 

It's January, so I've been reading a lot of soup recipes lately.  I bought the book New England Soup Factory after Christmas.  It got 5 star ratings at Amazon, and it's available in a Kindle format.  A lot of soup recipes talk about pureeing the soups with an immersion blender.  For those of you climbing out of the 80's or 90's with me, an immersion blender is blender on a stick which you stick into the soup to puree in the pan.   Very helpful when you're trying to make "creamy" soups without an actual cream.  So I bought my Ninja Warrior through Amazon.  Here's a video demonstration at Youtube. The by-line of this particular maker is that you can "Rule the Kitchen."  

I unpacked this baby on New Year's Day when friends came over and you should have seen the sense of expectation in the eyes of the guys who like tools.  After I crushed some ice into snow-cone consistency, I was shown some serious respect.  

I'll close this post with one of my old favorite soup recipes - and no, you don't need a blender for this one:

Tortellini Stew



Group 1 Ingredients:

1 pound Italian Sausage sliced (I cook this in oven then slice)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced

Group 2 Ingredients:

5 cups beef broth (or chicken)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cooking wine (I use red wine)
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
(OR a can of your favorite stewed tomatoes)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 green pepper chopped
1 or 2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped.


Group 3 Ingredients


8 oz. tortellini (your choice)
3 T fresh parsley, chopped

1. Brown Group 1 ingredients until onions are translucent.
2. Add Group 2 ingredients to onion/sausage/garlic mixture.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. I usually add the zucchini and green pepper at this point.
4. Add group 3 ingredients to stew, simmer until tortellini is done.
5. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and bread.


Don't try to stick your camera into the hot pot for a closeup.

2 comments:

Hill Top Post said...

Yummy...the soup looks delicious! Thanks for the info on the blender. Jan. is a good time to press the reset button...think mine is stuck!

Dixie Redmond said...

I know, Mary, me, too! I kept blaming the tightness of my jeans on other things...but we know what it's from! ;-)


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden