IMPORTANT: Never try to process cheese that is too hard to cut with a knife. You may damage the blade or the machine.
To chop parsley and other fresh herbs
The herbs, the work bowl and the metal blade must all be thoroughly clean and dry. Remove stems from herbs. Add leaves to bowl and process until they are chopped as fine as you want. The more herbs you chop at a time, the finer chop you can obtain. If com- pletely dry when chopped, parsley and other herbs will keep for at least 10 days, stored in an airtight bag in the refrigerator. They may be frozen for months, stored in an airtight container or bag.
To chop peel from citrus fruit or to chop sticky fruit like dates or raisins
For citrus, remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, leaving on the white pith, which is bitter tasting. Cut the peel into lengths of 2 inches or less and process with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until finely chopped. This may take 2 minutes or longer.
For sticky fruit like dates, raisins, prunes and candied fruit, first freeze the fruit for about 10 minutes. Add to it some of the flour called for in the recipe. Use no more than 1 cup of flour for each cup of fruit.
To chop meat, poultry, fish and seafood
The food should be very cold, but not frozen. Cut it into 1-inch pieces to ensure an even chop. Process no more than the recommended amount at a time (see table inside front cover). Press the OFF/PULSE lever 3 or 4 times at a rate of 1 second on, 1 second off. If the food is not chopped fine enough, let the processor run continuously for a few seconds. Check the texture often to avoid overprocessing. Use a spatula to scrape food from the sides of the bowl as necessary.
To purée meat, poultry, fish and seafood
Prepare the food as described above. Pulse until it is evenly chopped, then process continuously to the desired texture. Scrape the bowl with a spatula as needed.
Leave the purée in the work bowl and add eggs, cream and seasonings as called for by the recipe. Process to combine thoroughly.
Remember you control texture by the length of time you process. By varying the processing time, you can get a range of textures suitable for hamburgers, hash, stuffed peppers, rough patés or smooth mousses.
To chop nuts
Chop no more than the recommended amount at one time. Press and release the OFF/PULSE lever and check frequently to avoid letting powdered nuts clump together in a nut butter.
When a recipe calls for flour or sugar, add some to the nuts before you chop them – about 1/2 cup for each cup of nuts. This allows you to chop the nuts
as tiny as you want without turning them into a nut butter.
You can also chop nuts with a shredding disc. The optional Fine Shredding Disc is particularly good.
To make peanut butter and other nut butters
Process up to the recommended amount of nuts. Let the machine run continuously. After 2 or 3 min- utes, the ground nuts will form a ball that will gradual- ly smooth out. Scrape the sides of the bowl and continue processing until drops of oil are visible. Taste for consistency. The longer you process, the softer the butter will be. For chunk style, add a hand- ful of nuts just after the ball of nut butter begins to smooth out. To make cashew butter, add a little bland vegetable oil. Processor nut butters contain no preservatives. Store in the refrigerator to keep them without separating.
To make flavored butters, spreads and dips
Cut room-temperature butter into tablespoon size pieces. Chop flavoring ingredients – anchovies, cheese, herbs, etc. – fine, then process. Be sure the work bowl is clean and dry. Add small, hard ingredients like garlic and hard cheese through the feed tube while the machine is running. Next, add the butter and process until smooth. Add any liquid ingredients last, while the processor is running, and process just long enough to blend. Process ingredients for spreads and dips in the same way. They should be at room temperature and cut into 1-inch cubes, or added by tablespoonfuls.
To make mayonnaise
The work bowl and metal blade must be clean and dry. Use one whole large egg, or the yolks from two large eggs. Mayonnaise made from yolks will be almost as thick as butter. You should be able to add 2/3 cup of oil for each yolk or 1-1/4 cups for a whole egg.
Process the yolks or egg with with salt, mustard and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil for at least
30 seconds. Then, while the machine is running, pour 1/4 cup of oil into the small pusher. After it dribbles through the pinhole at the bottom, remove the small pusher and slowly add the remaining oil while the machine runs. See the recipe at the back of this book.
To beat egg whites
Use this method only for recipes that can be done almost entirely by food processor.
The work bowl and metal blade must be absolutely clean. Add 3 or more egg whites and press the ON lever. Add about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar for every egg white. Vinegar makes stiffer whites; its flavor is hardly detectable in cakes, soufflés or ice creams. Continue processing until the egg whites hold their shape – about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 minutes.
