<p>You can always add other ingredients after pureeing…cooked sausage, leftover chicken, etc. My favorite is chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that that comes packed in liquid.)</p>
<p>One of my fave shows on the Cooking Channel is Two Fat Ladies. On one show Jennifer waved an immersion blender at Clarissa and exclaimed “Look dear! A kitchen vibrator.”</p>
<p>Thank you all for your helpful posts! I have decided to give my new kitchen gadget a try and it was a complete success. On my first try, I made the butternut squash soup featured in the W-S December flyer. DH licked the bowl clean (I did not have pork belly, but the Ukrainian style bacon worked well). Today we had a fabulous eggplant soup for dinner. Here is the recipe which I followed somewhat loosely:</p>
<p>2 eggplants
2 Tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, chopped
1 quart chicken broth (I used TJ’s)
2 potatoes, diced
2 cans evaporated milk (I splashed some half and half in the soup instead of the milk)
1 tsp salt (I used more)
1 tsp white pepper (I did not have any, so used black pepper)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (DH can’t have spice, I did not use any)
1/4 tsp ground coriander (I used the full teaspoon!)</p>
<p>Dicections:</p>
<ol>
<li>Cut the eggplants in half horizontally. Place on cookie sheet and roast in the 350 degree oven for 30 min or until soft. Remove and cool to be able to handle with your hands.</li>
<li>In a soup pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the shallots, garlic and leek until soft.</li>
<li>Scoop out the meat of the eggplants and add to the pot.</li>
<li>Add the broth and potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil.</li>
<li>Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 min (or until the potatoes are soft).</li>
<li>Process in a blender OR better yet puree with your trusted immersion blender (yipee! no clean up!).</li>
<li>Add the milk (I used a splash of half and half), salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and coriander and heat through without boiling.</li>
</ol>
<p>I served this with rye bread and a dash of Parmesan cheese. Yummo!</p>
<p>Too late to edit, but somehow “2 shallots” went missing from the list of the ingredients. My apologies. I had to tell the cashier at the grocery store what the “strange-looking onions” really were. :)</p>
<p>“One of my fave shows on the Cooking Channel is Two Fat Ladies. On one show Jennifer waved an immersion blender at Clarissa and exclaimed “Look dear! A kitchen vibrator.””</p>
<p>Oh, how I loved the Two Fat Ladies! I adore Keith Floyd’s shows, too. When he got out a giant immersion blender for his commercial-size pot of soup or sauce, he always called it the “outboard motor.”</p>