Just bought myself a Philips HR1372/91 hand blender as seen here: http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/ju...372_90/prd/gb/

I bought it because I saw a dear neighbour of mine use one to make a lovely soup, and I know they are also great for making sauces, to chop veg/herbs for curries etc, and the idea looked too good to pass up. Probably could have got a cheaper one but meh, I wanted an industrial strength one that lasts.

So... to all you hand blender owners/experts I ask the following:

• Got any good soup recipes? I've been thinking of some good ones involving green veg, and found some good ones online, but alway good to know some from you domestic Gods/Goddesses.
• Any good tips for using them to make a good curry paste? Can you literally throw anything in and mash it all together?
• Any other good uses for them in general?

Cheers.

Sloppy cheese?

Biggest tip I can give you is keep your hands away from the blades

One useful tip: Always switch it off BEFORE you take it out of the container of stuff you're blending. If you don't plan on doing that, wear a raincoat and shower cap.

On another note, hey, now you can make superbly smooth soups. For example, leek and potato soup. Saute 1 small chopped onion in a teaspoon of olive oil and add 4 stalks of leek, sliced. Add 2 cups of chicken or veggie stock and 2 cubed potatoes. Boil for 15 minutes. Carefully blend to the consistency preferred. Bring back to a simmer on the stove, adjusting thickness with water if necessary. Add milk or cream and salt n pepper to taste. Serves 2.

Also, try blending frozen blueberries or raspberry (or fresh bananas or other favoured fruit) with a teaspoon of powdered sugar in a tumbler of buttermilk.

As for a curry paste, blend with 100ml of coconut: 1 chopped red onion (or 3 shallots), 1 inch sliced ginger, 2 cloves garlic, 1 de-seeded sliced red chilli, 1 stalk of lemongrass sliced thinly. (When cooking later, add the spices, such as coriander powder, turmeric, fennel and cumin - or your favourite curry powder.)

Pesto - takes 30 seconds.

Lightly toast pine nuts and cool slightly.

Chuck in blender jar with grated parmesan, basil leaves, rocket leaves, sea salt, a twist of pepper and some olive oil.

Whizz.

Mix into cooked pasta.

You'll never buy pesto again!

And hold onto the bowl as well while you are 'plunging away'.

Count me jealous. So far I only have a cheap one (without all those fancy attachments) which is a serious pita to clean so I hardly ever use it.

What I DO use it for though is to make smoothies when we have fresh berries from the garden or for banana-nutella "milkshakes"... but only rarely.

I can offer that you do NOT want to use it to make mashed potatoes, a potato ricer is much better for that... the once I tried with a hand blender it turned out like glue. (My mother uses a hand mixer)


Oooh, a recent use we had for it though was when hubby made pumpkin soup as starter for my birthday dinner.

Here's the recipe:

The soup was a big hit!

Tip:

If you put the soup stuff in the bowl with the lid and the soup ingredients are just off the boil, hold the lid on with one hand when blending.

The pressure build-up can be immense and you can cover your kitchen ceiling in hot soup as the lid blows off!

My favorite (and my toddler's ) vitamine bomb is a super quick brocolli soup.
Take a brocolli and cut up, boil in a bit of water till softish, not mushy (so you don't kill the vitamins, the texture will be more pronouced this way, as oposed to pasty when you cook any veggies till super soft), throw in 2 pieces of Laughing Cow (or any good dairy, cream cheese, 2tbsp of double cream..etc), stir. Add a spoon of basil pesto and a handful or freshly ground parmazan. Salt and pepper. Mush with the blender, eat with fresh crusty bread, salad, etc.

You can also add an onion to fry at first (before you throw the brocolli and water in), garlic, bit of butter or olive oil. I made it yesterday first frying fresh leek and a few lardons, it was good. The spice mix is also up to you, go either italian with pesto or more east - cummin, tiny bit of masala, cardamom, etc. You can also add a potato to add more substance if hungry.

great tags on this thread

My only tip: invite me over for margaritas.

Good for lhassi too (mango pulp, yoghurt, sugar, ice).



---
P.S. Curry paste!?!?!?!?!?!!? I know you're a whitie, but seriously now.

You won't regret this purchase. It has been probably the best buy in my kitchen and I have many gadgets, Kenwood mixer and Magimix to mention just two.

That blender thingy is just the business for those very smooth soups and if you like avocado's, try this drink: 200ml milk (whatever fat content you fancy) half an avocado, 2 or 3 drops of tabasco and a little salt and petter. Blend and enjoy Very healthy... For those who are not big into breakfast, this is a great start to the day.. along with the mandatory latte macchiato of course..

mmmm going to make carrot and pumpkin soup right now with some freshly ground toasted coriander seeds... the business, of course using that there very machine

My slight variation on the broccoli soup (thanks Mr Ramsay):

1. Blend the broccoli boiled in salt water
2. Fry 2 cloves of chopped garlic
3. Add salt / pepper plus the garlic till you're happy with the seasoning
4. Goats cheese
5. Add walnuts, flaked almonds (lightly toasted)
6. Drizzle with olive oil and grind more black pepper on top.

Another great soup recipe is Pea and mint soup with Parma ham

1. Fry parma ham with olive oil and season with black pepper
2. Boil salt water and add mint and peas (about 500g). Blanch for about 3 minutes or when they are just tender and bright green.
3. Drain but keep the liquid.
4. Add mint and peas into blender and add about 500ml of the liquid that you've preserved earlier.
5. Blend it till a smooth puree, then add generous drizzle of olive oil and about 4-5 tbsp of creme fraiche.
6. Add salt / pepper to taste and blend again for about 30 seconds.
7. Serve with another spoon of creme fraiche on top and scatter the crispy parma ham over.

A good smoothie which can substituted for a meal:

Banana and passion fruit smoothie

1. Put 4 bananas with their skins on into the freezer for 1 hour. The skins will blacken but dont freak.
2. Scoop out the passion fruit pulp and press through a sieve into the blender.
3. Peel bananas and add into blender with 500 ml of chilled natural yoghurt, 100 ml milk and about 2 tsp of honey.
4. Whizz the blender.

Yum.

No other tips except never to put any parts of the blender into the dishwasher. Wash everything by hand after.

Thanks guys some awesome tips and suggestions there... i'm really looking forward ot using it just to add a bit of fun and creativity into my meals... cooking the same old stuff the same old way does get a bit meh after a while.

I meant home-made curry paste though by mz own fair hand not a pre-purchased one... is that not good?

Ahh you have the same model, is it a trooper? Any tips on what's best to use the different containers it comes with for ie: are the bg and small mixer bowls on ly good for certain things?

I usually add some garlic too. Also I like to make thai-style pesto with some coriander, lemon grass, lime juice and coconut milk instead of oil. Also very interesting.

Oh, if you want green veg soup, try a mix of zucchini, broccoli and frozen green peas. Will look very, very green

Oh my!

(Sometimes, some things here are simply over the top )

I forgot that bit when I posted -thanks - definitely garlic. But, and here's the caveat - you need a lot less than you think you may need otherwise it over-powers. Probably 1/2 clove for enough pesto for four people.

Curry paste was invented only for convenience out of a jar. If you're going to be making fresh curry, just use the spices directly.

Sorry, RD, was just in the kitchen looking at mine so what I wrote comes accross as meaning yours. Was meaning my personal one. Not much different but without some of the extra bits. I can click off the bottom bit of mine which is great for cleaning when done, means no water gets into the actual motor part of it. You can use the smaller "extra bits" for making the pesto mixes, chopping herbs (e.g. parsley) also pulsing biscuits if you are into making english cheesecake... pulse it though, better crumbly result...

Right, am now in the mood for cooking/baking...

This is what mine is missing... mine doesn't come apart.

Ah well, I wasn't sure how well I'd like it and how often I'd use it so it hadn't made sense to get anything too expensive at the time.

Now I know, I'll add it to my dream list along with a very nice Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Me too!