Wednesday, December 17, 2008


Sliced Fruit Plate

    2 apples
    2 firm pears
    2 kiwi fruit, peeled
    3 tablespoons lemon juice
    Strawberries or mint leaves for garnish

    DRESSING:
    6 tablespoons olive oil
    2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
    1 tablespoon honey
    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Select very firm textured apples and pears in season. Red Boscs and Angons of winter, to the late summer Bartlett pears. Rhode Island Greening and other firm textured apples are fine. If apples and pears are not firm, peel them. Also peel the kiwi fruit. Halve and core apples and pears. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone. Place cut side against feed tube wall of SaladShooter slicer/shredder and slice directly into bowl with 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Toss to retain color. Slice whole kiwi crossways in SaladShooter slicer/shredder. Arrange overlapping slices on plate and garnish with leaves or strawberries sliced in SaladShooter slicer/shredder. Spoon dressing over each arrangement.

DRESSING: Stir or whisk all ingredients together to blend.

Delicious Fruit Slaw


Delicious Fruit Slaw

    1/2 red cabbage
    2 teaspoons lemon juice
    2 apples
    2 tablespoons crushed pineapple
    1/3 cup raisins
    1/3 cup salted peanuts

    DRESSING:
    2/3 cup mayonnaise
    3 tablespoons pineapple juice
    1 teaspoon clear honey
    Salt and pepper to taste

Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and slice cabbage into large bowl. Place lemon juice in small bowl. Halve apples and core. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Shredding Cone and shred 3 of the apple halves into lemon juice. Toss to retain color. Drain and add apple shreds to bowl with cabbage, pineapple, raisins, and peanuts. Stir or whisk all dressing ingredients. Blend, pour over cabbage and apple mixture. Toss well. With Slicing Cone in place, slice last apple half into remaining lemon juice. Spoon slaw onto lettuce leaves on individual plates. Garnish with sliced apples.

Marinated Mushroom Salad


Marinated Mushroom Salad

    1 pound mushrooms
    1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
    Salt and pepper to taste
    3/4 cup olive oil
    Spinach or lettuce leaves

Wipe mushrooms clean with damp cloth. Mix mustard,
vinegar, and seasonings in large bowl. Whisk continually as you add olive oil drop by drop until vinaigrette is thick and smooth. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and slice mushrooms right into bowl. Toss to cover with vinaigrette. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour in refrigerator. Prepare individual salad plates with spinach or lettuce leaves. Heap mushrooms in center.

Vegetable Mold


Vegetable Mold

    3/4 cup water
    1 cup tomato juice
    1 envelope unflavored gelatin
    (1 tablespoon)
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
    1/4 cup olive oil
    Mushrooms or snow peas
    1 medium carrot
    2 medium zucchini

Bring water and tomato juice to a boil. In medium bowl mix gelatin and hot liquid. Stir until completely dissolved. Add lemon juice and chill. Make dressing in 2-quart bowl. Mix mustard and vinegar. While whisking, slowly add olive oil drop by drop until smooth and thick. Chill. When gelatin is consistency of uncooked egg white, put 2 tablespoons into bottom of each of 4 tea cups. If using mushrooms, fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and slice mushrooms. Arrange one or two sliced mushrooms or whole snow peas for color. Add 2 more tablespoons gelatin over mushrooms and snow peas. Chill to set. Meanwhile, fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Shredding Cone and shred carrot. Put 1/4 of the carrots into each tea cup. Fill with remaining gelatin. Refrigerate to chill. With Shredding Cone in place, shred zucchini in bowl with dressing. Toss to coat. Divide zucchini between serving plates. Unmold gelatin from tea cups onto each mound of zucchini.


Orange Carrot Salad

1 pound (5 medium) carrots
2 large oranges
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar

Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Shredding
Cone and shred carrots into bowl. Peel oranges and use knife to remove pith from each section, cut into thirds, and add to carrots. Add raisins. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and sliver almonds over carrots. With knife, slice four thin slices of lime for garnish. Squeeze 2 tablespoons juice for dressing.

DRESSING: Stir together oil, lime juice, cumin, cinnamon, and sugar. Pour over salad and mix. Refrigerate about 1 hour. Spoon carrot salad onto lettuce leaves and garnish each plate with lime slices.


Veggie Pizza

    PIZZA CRUST:
    1 package active dry yeast (2 tablespoons)
    1 cup warm water (105° F)
    1/2 teaspoon honey
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    2
    1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/4 cup corn meal

    TOPPING:
    Olive oil
    Chili oil
    1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
    Red pepper flakes
    6 medium mushrooms
    1/2 green pepper
    1/2 red pepper
    6 to 8 pitted black olives
    1/3 cup crumpled blue cheese

Stir yeast, water, and honey together. Let stand until foamy (5 minutes). Stir in oil, add flour a cup at a time. Stir in salt. Mix until lumps are gone. Knead for 10 minutes until satiny and elastic. Place dough in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450° F. Divide dough into two equal balls. Roll or stretch each to about 8 inches. Pinch up edge slightly. Sprinkle cookie sheet with corn meal. Place pizzas on cookie sheet. Brush olive oil or chili oil (spicy) on surface of dough up to one inch of edge. Place pizzas in oven and bake 8 minutes until firm. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Shredding Cone and shred mozzarella cheese on top. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and slice vegetables over cheese. Divide blue cheese, and dot each pizza. Return to oven for 4 to 5 minutes until cheese bubbles.

Potatoes Anna


Potatoes Anna


    6 medium potatoes
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    Pepper to taste
    8 tablespoons butter or margarine
    Parsley

Peel potatoes. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone and thinly slice potatoes right into bowl of cold water (enough to cover). Drain and dry potatoes with towel. Add salt and
pepper. Lightly butter a 3 inch deep metal mold,
a baking dish or a 9 to 10 inch non-stick fry pan with oven proof handle. Arrange larger potato slices in a circular pattern starting at center of pan, overlapping slices. Continue up edges of pan. Save ends to fill in center. Dot each layer with 1 tablespoon butter as you continue to build circle after circle to fill the pan. About 8 tablespoons butter or margarine should be used. Bake in preheated, 425°F oven 40 to 50 minutes. Carefully take skillet from oven. Place serving dish face down on top of potatoes, invert quickly being careful of hot melted butter. Garnish and serve.

Easy Minestrone


Easy Minestrone

    4 teaspoons olive oil
    2 medium onions
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 medium carrots, peeled
    1 medium potato, peeled
    1 medium zucchini
    1/4 cup minced fresh basil or
    1 tablespoon dried basil
    1 teaspoons dried oregano
    2 large bay leaves
    1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in juice
    4 101/2-ounce cans beef broth
    1/4 pound green beans, cut to 1" pieces
    1 4-ounce package small pasta (bows, shells, rotelle)
    1 15-ounce can drained pinto or kidney beans
    1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    3 tablespoons minced parsley

In large kettle, heat olive oil over low heat. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Slicing Cone. Slice onion into kettle and add garlic. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes until soft. Increase heat to moderate. Slice carrots and zucchini into kettle. Fit SaladShooter slicer/shredder with Shredding Cone and shred potato into kettle. Add basil, oregano, and bay leaves. Cook uncovered 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add can of tomatoes and beef broth. Bring to easy boil and adjust heat to bubble gently cooking uncovered 20 minutes. Add green beans and pasta. Cook 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Add beans and cook 5 minutes. With Shredding Cone in place, grate cheese into soup. Add parsley.

Pasta Primavera


Pasta Primavera

    1 8-ounce package small shells or other pasta
    1/4 cup olive oil
    3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
    1 clove garlic, chopped
    1 small zucchini
    1 small yellow zucchini
    1/2 sweet red pepper
    1 cup small broccoli florets

    VINAIGRETTE:
    1/2 cup olive oil
    2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
    1/4 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped (1 tablespoon dry)
    1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
    Fresh ground black pepper

Cook and drain pasta. Combine olive oil, tarragon vinegar, and garlic with pasta. Fit Slicing Cone on SaladShooter slicer/shredder and slice both zucchini and red pepper into bowl with pasta. Add broccoli. Cover and marinate 2 hours in refrigerator. Stir together ingredients for vinaigrette and spoon over salad before serving.

TIPS AND TRICKS

TIPS AND TRICKS

"Like the frosting on the cake…"
What tops a cake, or even a cookie or a sundae, is what makes it extra delicious. And, with the SaladShooter® electric slicer/shredder, topping your favorite dessert is quick and easy! Surprise your family and friends with great eye appeal, texture, and flavor the next time you serve cake, cookies, or ice cream. There are many "ready-to-go" treats you can use as toppings. Just pop them in your SaladShooter slicer/shredder. Here are just a few ideas...

Go a little nuts! Nuts add a great finishing touch to almost any dessert. SaladShooter slicer/shredder makes it so easy you'll want to add the toasty flavor of nuts to everything.

Just toss a handful of nuts into your SaladShooter slicer/shredder with the Shredding Cone in place and shoot away. Shoot into a bowl and spoon nuts over dessert (so you can save the extra nuts for another time). Or shoot right onto the dessert for a fast, delicious treat. Here is a "starter list" of great nutty flavors:

  • Peanuts, Peanuts with Candy Coating, and Macadamia Nuts
  • Almonds, Walnuts, and Cashews
  • Pecans, Filberts, and Pistachios

Here's a SaladShooter slicer/shredder trick! For a delightful just-roasted flavor, chop the nuts in the SaladShooter slicer/shredder and then put them in a 250°F oven, turning every few minutes. In about five minutes, you'll have toasty, aromatic, chopped nuts to top just about anything.


Colorful, creative, candy toppings! Dress it up right and everyone will say, "How’d you do that?" The SaladShooter slicer/shredder is the answer. Imagine colorful bits of topping over the white frosting on your party cake. It's easy! Just drop a handful of colorful M&M’s into your SaladShooter slicer/shredder and shoot away.

Experiment with both the slicing and shredding cones. Both work great and each gives a little different look. Here are a few starters for topping desserts and ice cream:

  • Peanut Brittle
  • M&M's
  • Heath English Toffee Bars
  • KitKat Bars
  • Butterfinger Bars
  • Macaroons
  • Sweet or Semi-sweet Chocolate
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Ginger Snaps
  • Coconut
  • Candied Citrus Peel

Fresh is best...and costs less! It's always better to grate your own cheese. It's fresher and the flavor is much stronger than packaged products. And, if you shop smart, you can even save money! For example, we found a 16 oz. bag of whole, shelled walnuts for $3.89 while, in the same store, a 16 oz. package of chopped walnuts cost $5.57. You can apply this same trick to cabbage, lettuce, cheese, and even coconut with similar savings. Here's a list of some of the prices we found:
Approximate cost per 16 oz. of selected food items*
Pre-Packaged
Processed with
SaladShooter
You Save
Shredded Mozzarella
$3.97
$3.17
$ .80
Hash Browns
$ .96
$ .19
$ .77
Shredded Cabbage
$1.38
$ .59
$ .79
Chopped Lettuce
$3.49
$ .93
$2.56
Chopped Walnuts
$5.57
$3.89
$1.68
Shredded Coconut
$2.05
$ .99
$1.06
*Based on a random check of supermarkets, October 1999

Cheese to please! The SaladShooter slicer/shredder grates and shreds cheese faster, easier, and better than any other kind of kitchen device, including a food processor. Some cheeses, like Parmesan, are so hard that if you try to grate them in a food processor, they just bounce around on top of the blades. The SaladShooter slicer/shredder shreds Parmesan in seconds. And if you want powdery grated cheese, just run it through the SaladShooter slicer/shredder a second time. It takes just an extra moment but you'll be rewarded with great, fresh flavor.

Parmesan, romano, mozzarella, and cheddar are terrific grated or shredded and the SaladShooter slicer/shredder does it quickly and without mess. It's faster than old fashioned four-sided kitchen graters and much easier on your knuckles!


A trick with soft cheese! With this special SaladShooter slicer/shredder trick you can enjoy soft cheeses in new and different ways. For instance, add the delicate, creamy flavor of shredded Brie to a fresh salad. Yes, Brie! Just place a wedge in the freezer for an hour or two, then pop it into the SaladShooter slicer/shredder. Shoot right onto a fresh salad. By the time you serve the salad, the shreds will be creamy and soft.

Make a pie crust! Chopped graham crackers make perfect crusts for homemade pies and other desserts! Use cinnamon or chocolate flavored graham crackers for a richer flavor.

Add a cup of bread crumbs! Those are words that can bring any food preparation session to a dead halt unless you have a Presto® SaladShooter electric slicer/shredder at hand. Just pop two or three slices of bread into the SaladShooter slicer/shredder and shred right into your recipe. Presto, it's done!

    About bread crumbs...
    "Au gratin" is a term that Americans associate with cheese. But it often merely refers to a light but thorough coating of finely chopped fresh or dried bread crumbs placed on top of scalloped or sauced dishes. They are then browned in the oven or under the broiler to form a crisp, golden crust.

    There is confusion among some cooks about the difference between "fresh bread crumbs" and "dry bread crumbs," but both can be made with the SaladShooter slicer/shredder. Fresh bread crumbs are made from bread that is slightly dried out, two to four days old is generally satisfactory. If the bread is too fresh, the crumbs may be gummy. Don't use stale bread, however, because it will give you stale-tasting crumbs. For dry bread crumbs, shred the bread first and then crisp the crumbs on a baking sheet in a 250°F oven. Some or all of the crusts may be used for either fresh or dry crumbs. Whole slices of bread can be fed through the SaladShooter slicer/shredder. An average slice of white bread will yield about 1/3 cup of bread crumbs.

    Use the Shredding Cone and process the bread until fine. Store the crumbs in a tightly closed plastic bag or covered container in the refrigerator. If you must keep them for more than a short period of time, store them in the freezer to prevent mold.

    Cracker crumbs, corn flakes, or potato chips can also be crumbled with the SaladShooter slicer/shredder and used in place of bread crumbs for a different flavor or texture.

    Buttered bread crumbs are used as a garnish for game and au gratin dishes. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet, add 2 cups fresh white bread crumbs, and sauté over moderate heat until the crumbs are evenly browned and golden. For vegetables, sauté 1 cup dry bread crumbs in 3 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle over cauliflower, broccoli, or asparagus.


THINGS TO DO

THINGS TO DO


Here are some of our favorite ways to save time and money by using the SaladShooter® electric slicer/shredder...


1.

Shred vegetables and cheese right onto eggs for a quick and delicious omelet!
2.

Chop nuts right into the batter and bake up the crunchiest brownies ever!
3.

Slice beets for a beautiful salad!
4.

All the vegetables for a hearty minestrone sliced right into the pot!
5.

Shred mozzarella cheese right onto your pizza!
6.

Make a quick, nutty topping for your next bundt cake!
7.

Wake up to magic as you shred potatoes for hash browns, right onto the griddle!
8.

Grate real Parmesan cheese to top your spaghetti!
9.

Slice apples right into a pie crust!
10.

Shred fresh cabbage for quick coleslaw!
11.

Slice potatoes then deep fry for delicious homemade potato chips!
12.

Shred carrots for an easy carrot cake!
13.

Take advantage of the fresh produce available at harvest time. Slice carrots, celery, beets, sweet potatoes, peppers, zucchini and more, then bag 'em and freeze 'em for year-round savings!
14.

Be creative with your salads! Surround turkey, beef, chicken, tuna or shrimp with slices or shreds of cucumbers, carrots, radishes, hard boiled eggs, red or green peppers, mushrooms, or olives.
15.

Slice and shred fresh vegetables for easy stir-fry!