Here’s a new book about an old machine being used in our contemporary and hopefully healthier kitchen environment. Rebecca Miller Ffrench [yes, two letter f’s] has been using blenders for over 30 years. She readily admits to college use for grinding up ice cubes with alcohol. But that was generations ago, and she’s evolved along with our culinary world.
Along the way, Rebecca has discovered how her blender companions — she always has more than one — have let her participate in the healthy revolution we should all join in. Fresh and local ingredients, new ingredients including seeds and nuts, and new ways to use the blender to get more of the fruit, fiber and veggies that we all should eat but few of us consume in the recommended proportions.
The blender makes it all easy. Like Suzen and me, Rebecca has a Vitamix and is lush in her praise of its power. There are blenders and there are the Mercedes beasts, like a Vitamix, that have the true power to easily, quickly fashion a recipe. So much power that Rebecca has a phrase of caution: don’t over blend. You want to follow her recipes carefully, so that you have a dish with character and not just a uniform blend that is, well, mush.
After a survey of Blender Basics to really educate you about the best techniques for the new generation of blenders and about the new types of ingredients you can use, there are eleven chapters of recipes, from nuts and soups all the way to desserts. Here are some highlight chapters and representative recipes:
Nut Milk and Flours lets you leverage the power of your blender to fashion your own nut milks or to create flour on the spot, fresh and ideal for your baking needs:
Almond Milk
Coconut Milk
Coconut Flour
White Cornmeal
Healthy Drinks lets you indulge in the smoothie revolution but with recipes here that are both distinctive and really, really healthy:
Cool Mint Slush
Beet and Carrot Juice Tonic
Cranberry Orange Frappe
Watermelon Cucumber Agua Fresca
As I write this post, I’m sipping on the first of those drinks, the Cool Mint Slush. I’ll post the recipe next week. It’s tart, minty, delicious and not sweet. And, still, still I love it.
Nut Butters and Fruit Spreads lets you craft old favorites at home and introduces the idea of immediate and healthy fruit partners for your breakfast.
Creamy Cashew Butter
Maple Pecan Butter
Quick Strawberry Spread
Cardamom Peach Spread
You can make her Buckwheat Waffles and then top them with these butters and spreads. The fruit spreads are an excellent replacement for jam: just fruit and little sugar and lemon juice. Much less sugar and instantly made with your blender. When it comes to taste, fresh can be better than sweet.
Dip and Salsas are part of our food culture. We all seem to snack and graze endlessly. When did we become sheep anyway? Here though are ideas that making grazing a healthy endeavor:
Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip
Cooling Cucumber Tzatziki
Smoky Hummus with Artichokes
Soups are a pillar of blender cuisine and the choices here are excellent and seasonal:
Verdant Spring Pea Soup
Autumn Squash and Pear Soup
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Green Gazpacho
Salads show off the additional power a blender provides. Instead of a simple oil+vinegar or — God forbid — opening a bottle, you can fashion very complex and most satisfying dressings in just a few pulses:
Spinach Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette
Bibb Lettuce with Grapefruit Shallot Vinaigrette
French Lentil Salad with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette
Blender Burgers is Rebecca’s personal contribution to blender lore. Rather than mix by hand, she gets a smoother mix in shorter time and can use a variety of foundations, both meat and veggie:
Pork Burger Sliders with Tangy Barbecue Sauce
Herbed Goat Cheese Turkey Burgers
Zesty Black Bean Burgers
Quinoa and Butternut Squash Burgers
Those are ideas that simply beckon any foodie. Burgers beyond beef is actually feasible and intriguing.
Her Main Dishes span the globe:
Chicken Tikka Masala
Artichoke Ricotta Manicotti with Sneak-It-In Veggie Sauce
Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Here the utility of the blender is on full display. I love Indian food. If I want it, I walk three blocks in Manhattan because how could I possibly assemble everything for my Chicken Tikka Masala. Now you and I can, at home, and quickly.
Desserts are the final chapter but surely among the best bites in the book:
Lime Tartlets with Coconut Crusts
Wholesome Chocolate Mousse
Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream
Sweet Peach Ice Cream with Glaze Pecans
It’s those adornment, like the Glazed Pecans, that display the care and imagination on display in this book. Rebecca doesn’t slough off. The blender buys time and she uses that time to add touches to the recipes so they are not just quick but complete. You’ll find satisfaction on every page. The ideas are excellent templates. Feel free to change, to improvise and to find new ways to let your blender rip. That whirring sound should become familiar in your kitchen. All you need is The Ultimate Blender Cookbook.