How to Use a Food Processor

It slices, it dices, it juliennes - in the '70s, everyone rushed out to buy a food processor. But the miracle machine for the kitchen ended up being just another handy appliance. Get the most from yours by knowing how to use it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Broths
• Cabbages
• Cheddar Cheese
• Fresh Fruit
• Fresh Vegetables
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Shelled Nuts
• Fresh Fruit
• Food Processors

1. Select the blade you wish to use and put it into the food processor.

2. Latch the lid and the bowl onto the processor, enabling the machine to operate.

3. Trim leaves or other unwanted parts from the food you wish to chop and drop it into the machine's feed tube. Fill the bowl only up to the recommended level (usually marked on the bowl), or it will leak.

4. Use the plastic pusher to help move the food if needed.

5. Use your food processor for chopping vegetables, making graham cracker crusts, smoothing sauces or pureeing baby food.

6. Make soup fixings by adding 2 c. broth to about 2 1/2 c. vegetable chunks ' potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. Put these in for 30 seconds using the S-shaped blade.

7. Chop food, without pureeing it, using the S-shaped blade. Use the Pulse button instead of turning the processor on and keep an eye on the consistency.

8. Put nuts (shelled) into the processor with the grinding blade. Turn it on and watch the nuts go from chopped to a ball shape, and then to thick, then thin butter. Almonds and peanuts work well; walnuts and pecans are a bit tougher but still workable.

9. Shred cheese by putting a block of the appropriate size in the processor and using the Pulse setting and the shredding blade. Mozzarella will shred easily if you freeze it for about 20 minutes first.

10. Make coleslaw with the shredding disk rather than the slicing one, which will make the pieces too short.

Tips & Warnings

• Whip cream with a hand mixer. Most food processors don't have the speed to make good peaks.
• This was written with the assumption that the food processor has On, Off and Pulse settings. Some machines have more speeds, so consult your owner's manual for the best use.
• Be very careful when handling food processor blades - they can be extremely sharp.

[itzsold2me]

on 10/17/2007 Slightly freeze mozzarella cheese & pepperonia for easy great, uniform slices

on 11/22/2005 When you're chopping nuts for recipe use, put in a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar. You can chop them fine and not have them turn into nut butter.