Soups, Sauces and Marinades

Appears in

The New Food Processor Bible

By Norene Gilletz

Published 2011

About

I usually have chicken soup in my freezer. However, if you don’t have homemade broth on hand, use canned soup, instant powdered soup mix or bouillon cubes dissolved in water. Look for low-sodium or salt-free brands. You can also use the cooking water from vegetables.
Quick Vegetable Broth is very simple to make. Or cut 1 onion, 2 stalks celery and 2 carrots in chunks. Place in a saucepan with a few parsley stems, green onion tops and 1 or 2 garlic cloves. Add water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, then strain. Use immediately, refrigerate or freeze.
BROTH IN A BOX: Good-quality brands of vegetable broth are available in most supermarkets and are handy in a pinch. You can use Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth, which is kosher, vegetarian and fat-free. One box contains about 4 cups and it doesn’t require refrigeration until it has been opened. One cup contains 10 calories, 2 g carbohydrates and 470 mg sodium, so it’s lower in sodium than canned broth but higher than homemade.
To add extra flavor to broths or soups, save the soaking water from dried mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes. Freeze in ice cube trays until needed. One cube equals 2 Tbsp.
To prepare vegetables, peel and/or trim them, and rinse well. Cut into chunks if chopping or mincing with the Steel Blade. Cut to fit the feed tube if slicing or shredding/grating.
Use leftover cooked vegetables to thicken soups. Strain vegetables, then purée on the Steel Blade until smooth, about 10 seconds. For thick purées (vegetables only), process 3 to 3½ cups at a time in a standard (7-cup) processor. For thin purées (vegetables and liquid), process 2½ cups at a time. The food processor produces a slightly more rustic texture than a blender. Approximately 1 cup of puréed vegetables or legumes will thicken 3 to 4 cups of broth.
Larger and newer models of food processors can process bigger batches at a time. Processors are classified according to their dry ingredient capacity, ranging from 3 to 20 cups. As a general guideline, the liquid capacity is about half the dry ingredient capacity. Work in batches if necessary. Always check your manual for capacity guidelines.
The Cuisinart Elite food processor is excellent because it can process up to 10 cups of soup in 1 batch in the 14-cup bowl and 8 cups in the 11-cup bowl. Also, the Steel Blade locks into place and doesn’t fall out when you pour liquid out of the bowl after processing. The higher center post in the work bowl and the special rubber seal around the inside of the lid (SealTight Advantage) prevent leaking when processing liquids.
Note: The chopping/mixing blades should not be removed if liquid contents in the bowl are above the hub of the blade or it will leak.
NESTED WORK BOWLS: Choose the appropriate bowl and blade or disc for the task. Use the mini-bowl and mini-blade to mince garlic, chop herbs and make marinades. Use the medium or large bowl and appropriate disc to slice or shred/grate veggies, cheese, etc. Use the large bowl and Steel Blade to chop/mince veggies and to purée soups and sauces. (You can also use the Steel Blade in the medium bowl on Cuisinart Elite models.)
Add meat or chicken bones to soups for a heartier flavor.
Barley, beans, lentils and split peas add vitamins and fiber to soups.
Add chopped fresh herbs (e.g., basil, dill) to soups in the last few minutes of cooking. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice also improves the taste.
Don’t throw out those celery tops. Chop with the Steel Blade and add them to soups for a fresh flavor.
When freezing soups, leave 2 inches at the top of the container to allow for expansion. To defrost, place the container in hot water for a few seconds, then transfer the soup to a microwavable bowl. One cup of frozen soup takes 4 minutes on High to defrost, plus 2 to 3 minutes to reheat. Stir often.
SLOW COOKERS: Soups are a cinch to make in the slow cooker, especially those made with lentils, beans, split peas, barley or root vegetables. Puréed vegetable soups and long-simmered meat soups also work well. There is less evaporation, so start with less liquid than when cooking on the stovetop-the liquid should barely cover the solid ingredients. Additional liquid will release from the vegetables during the long, slow cooking time.
SLOW COOKER CONVERSION TIMES: If your regular recipe calls for 15 to 30 minutes of cooking, cook it for 4 to 8 hours on Low or 1½ to 2 hours on High. If it calls for 30 to 60 minutes, cook it for 6 to 8 hours on Low or 3 to 4 hours on High. If it calls for 2 to 3 hours, cook it for 8 to 12 hours on Low or 4 to 6 hours on High. No peeking! Every time you lift the lid, it prolongs the cooking time by an additional 20 minutes. Late for dinner? Timing isn’t crucial. An extra hour of cooking in the slow cooker usually won’t affect soup recipes.
Refrigerate soups and gravies overnight. Discard congealed fat and say goodbye to unwanted calories and cholesterol!
Thicken sauces and gravies with leftover cooked vegetables (e.g., potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, squash). Purée the vegetables, then add hot broth or pan juices through the feed tube until the desired texture is reached. Season to taste.
Dump those lumps! Make sauces smooth by processing them for a few seconds on the Steel Blade.
Marinades enhance flavor and increase tenderness; they also prevent harmful carcinogens from forming during grilling. Raw meats and poultry can be marinated for 24 to 48 hours in the refrigerator. Fish only needs to be marinated for 1 hour. Even 10 or 15 minutes of marinating will add flavor. Never marinate foods at room temperature for longer than an hour-transfer them to the refrigerator.
Marinades used for meat, poultry or fish can be brushed on cooked food or used as a sauce, but they must first be boiled for 5 minutes to kill any harmful bacteria.
To prevent cross-contamination, don’t serve cooked food on the same plate that was used to carry raw marinated meat, poultry or fish from the kitchen to the grill. Use separate plates and utensils for raw foods and cooked foods.