Double Delicious (29 page)

FOR

Pureeing

• Blender, food processor, or immersion blender
  
• Rice steamer, collapsible steamer, or pasta pot with a drainer basket
  
• Strainer or colander
  
• Cutting board
  
• Vegetable peeler
  
• Large (10-inch) chef’s knife
  
• Small paring knife
  
• 1-and 2-quart saucepans
  
• 6-and 8-quart pots
  
• Kitchen timer
  
• Wooden spoons: small, medium, large
  
• Measuring cups and spoons
  
• Food storage bags
  
• Black permanent markers to label puree bags
  
• Optional: ice cube trays or muffin tins for purees
  

HELPFUL

Tools

• Plastic storage bins
  
• Scissors (to snip open zipper-lock plastic bags of puree)
  
• Box grater
  
• Waxed paper, aluminum foil, and cooking parchment
  
• Potato ricer or potato masher
  
• Large (12-inch) nonstick skillet and large ovenproof nonstick skillet
  
• Baking dishes
  
• Ice-pop mold (2-ounce pops)
  
• 9 x 5-inch loaf pan
  
• Immersion blender
  
• Citrus zester or grater
  

FOR

Baking

• Heatproof silicone spatula
  
• Whisk
  
• Mixing bowls
  
• Ice cream scoop for filling muffin cups
  
• 12-cup and 6-cup muffin pan
  
• Large baking sheets
  
• Baking pans (8 x 8-inch and 9 x 12-inch)
  
• Cooling rack
  
• 9-inch cake pan
  
• 9-inch pie plate
  
• Electric mixer (optional, but great to have)
  
• Paper baking cups
  

The Purees:
How To

I
’m committed, as always, to the virtues of purees. So here’s a refresher course on the A–B–Cs of what I think is one of the most beneficial parts of my recipes.

If you are brand-new to pureeing and don’t know what will work best for your family, I recommend starting with nongreen veggies—cauliflower, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash. They are harder to see, and many people feel they don’t have as distinctive a taste either. Start with a pound of each veggie or a head of cauliflower.

As before, I do still try to make all my purees for the week in one kitchen session. You can do this even without a meal plan—just keep a healthy stock of all purees in your freezer at all times. I’ll say it again: It takes only an hour to make a ton of purees, and it’s such easy work that you can do other things while you are pureeing—pay some bills, answer e-mails, or catch up with your friends or spouse. If you plan ahead, there are some vegetables you can cook any time you have the oven on. Sweet potatoes or squash can be roasted while you are making roast chicken, for example. You can store the cooked veggies in the fridge until you are ready to puree or puree them right away. Spinach puree takes barely 5 minutes to make, so consider it a quickie option when you are especially short on time.

1

Prep and Cook the Vegetables

Cooking is where you need to be careful, because too much time on the stove will evaporate precious nutrients and too little time will make the pureeing difficult and the results a little grainy. As with equipment, it’s important to choose the method that’s easiest and most effective for you—experiment! Here’s a review of the different ways I cook my veggies for purees.

STEAMING
(all veggies)

• 1.
  Wash the vegetables and drain them in a colander.
  
• 2.
  Peel, trim, and cut up the vegetables as recommended “Vegetable Purees: How To”.
  
• 3.
  Put about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the pot. Add a steamer basket (without the vegetables), cover, and bring the water to a boil. (Or follow the instructions that come with your rice steamer.)
  If you don’t have any other type of steamer, you also can steam in a saucepan. Bring ½ inch of water to a boil, add the veggies, cover, and steam. But be careful—the water evaporates quickly. If it does, the vegetables (and pan!) may burn.
  
• 4.
  Place the vegetables in the steamer—up to a double layer of veggies will steam well—cover, and steam the number of minutes recommended “Vegetable Purees: How To”.
  
• 5.
  Drain the vegetables in a colander.
  If you’re steaming several different batches of vegetables, start each batch with fresh water. Particularly with green vegetables, the steaming water gets bitter, and it will turn the vegetables bitter too.
  

ROASTING
(sweet potatoes and butternut squash)

• 1.
  Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  
• 2.
  Wash the vegetables and drain them in a colander.
  
• 3.
  Prepare the vegetables as indicated, unpeeled, and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast until tender.
  
• 4.
  Set the vegetables aside until cool enough to handle. Then scoop sweet potato or squash out of the peel with a tablespoon.
  

MICROWAVING
(all veggies)

• 1.
  Wash the vegetables and drain them in a colander.
  
• 2.
  Peel, trim, and cut up the vegetables.
  
• 3.
  Put the vegetables in a glass or ceramic container. (No metal!) Add 2 tablespoons of water. Loosely cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap, a microwave-safe lid, or waxed paper.
  
• 4.
  Microwave in one-minute increments until the vegetables are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.
  

2

Puree

• 1.
  Put the veggies into a food processor or blender, secure the lid, press the “on” button (“grind” on a mini-food processor), and puree until smooth and creamy. Generally, this takes about two minutes.
  Puree large quantities in a standard-sized food processor; a mini-chopper works best for small quantities.
  
• 2.
  You may need to add a teaspoon or so of water to cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli to make a smooth, creamy puree.
  

3