"food processor" news and stories

The food processor revolutionized home cooking, and the cry of its pitchmen would resound in the cultural memory of an entire generation: "It slices! It dices!"

This year the kitchen gadget that changed the way we make everything from coleslaw to pie crust is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The Chicago Sun-Times has put together a glowing tribute to this icon of the modern kitchen. Who knew that such a cold little machine whose main feature is the blind, lethal whirling of a devilishly sharp blade could inspire so much love?

When it comes to eggplant, my tastes are fairly simple. I like it salted, brushed with olive oil and grilled, or cut into rounds and broiled. However, once in a while, I want something a bit more sophisticated and showy from my eggplant. Over the weekend, I found myself confronted with two firm, fresh eggplants and so decided to make a dip. I split the eggplants in half, rubbed them with olive oil and roasted them on a parchment lined baking sheet (I also threw a foil-wrapped head of garlic in with them as well).

After half an hour, when the flesh put up no resistance to the tines of a fork, they were done. I let them sit until they were cool enough to handle and then I peeled them into the bowl of a food processor. The roasted garlic went in, along with salt, pepper and some lemon juice. I drizzled in some olive oil while the motor ran. After a minute it was done. It was wonderful just then, still warm and creamy. It's also delicious cold, straight out of the fridge with a tortilla chip. Because the garlic is roasted, the flavor is fairly mild, so it could even be something your kids might dig on. It would also make a good potluck contribution (with a bowl of cut up veggies or crackers) A more organized recipe is after the jump.

Trader Joe's is sometimes criticized for the way that they package their produce. Much of it, with the exception of apples, is packed in little plastic containers that protect the fruit from being damaged or bruised and, in general, make it easy to grab a pre-set amount of tomatoes or other fruits and veggies. The pre-set amount is usually four or five items, depending on size, and can be inconvenient if you either need a lot of things or just want one. One of Trader Joe's newest offerings appeared in stores just this week and takes advantage of the grab-n-go nature of this packaging. It is a little kit containing all the ingredients you need to make fresh salsa: three tomatoes, a jalapeno pepper, a large shallot, garlic cloves and a lime. The instructions are printed right on the label and simply direct you to five up all the ingredients, combine and stir with lime juice.

I opted to make mine in the food processor, mincing the garlic, shallot and most of the jalapeno, then pulsing in the tomatoes and extra pepper. I used everything that was included and added a little bit of salt and pepper, too.