I love my kitchen appliances as much as I love my shoes!
My recent move has given me the perfect excuse to furnish my new kitchen with the ultimate collection of kitchen appliances. So while I still have my eye on a few gadgets to add to my suite, I was thrilled when Hausmann Communications asked if I wanted to trial the new Braun Multiquick 7 Cordless blender. In fact, I haven't been that excited since my purchase of a Benriner turning slicer last year!
Cordless is clearly the future. Remember when the mobile phone was introduced? I will never forget my brick of a Nokia 5110. Or when internet went wireless?
It is hard to believe that this is the first cordless handblender from Braun as it feels like such a natural progression, and something which I thought would have been manufactured years ago. Regardless, once you go cordless, you'll never go back.
After putting the blender through a series of chopping, mixing and pureeing, I am even more impressed by its mobility and power. It's rather perfect for messy home cooks like me as I tend to move around to wherever there is free kitchen bench space. This is definitely how all handheld blenders should be!
Cauliflower is a vegetable I don't use as often as I'd like to. My favourite way to have it is either pickled or pureed. Pickled cauliflower is crunchy and tangy and makes a luscious side dish. Meanwhile, pureed, it becomes a healthy alternative to mashed potato and has a gorgeous nutty sweetness.
Here are two very different soups which I've recently made, both which feature cauliflower as the main ingredient:
Recipe by Alex Herbert in collaboration with Braun
Serves four
Ingredients
1kg cauliflower florets
375g brown onions
100g unsalted butter
100ml olive oil
8 small oyster mushrooms
1 tsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp butter to fry the mushrooms
Squeeze of lemon juice
10 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
Method
Divide the florets into small pieces. Cook in just enough water to cover them until soft. Drain and set aside the cooked florets and reserve the cooking liquid.
Use the Braun Multiquick Cordless chopper to chop onion and garlic for the base.
Sauté the onions in the oil until soft and translucent.
Season with salt and pepper and add a tied bunch of the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Add the cooked florets and cover with the reserved liquid.
Bring to the boil then turn off heat. Remove herb bundle and blend with the hand held attachment and taste for seasoning.
To serve, reheat the soup. In a separate pan, melt two tablespoons of butter and cook to nut brown, add the oyster mushrooms and sauté over a high heat until just coloured evenly on both sides; add the chopped parsley and lemon juice and remove from the heat.
Ladle soup into warm bowls and top with mushrooms and a drizzle of the parsley butter.
Serves four
Ingredients
3 large sebago or coliban potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
1kg cauliflower florets
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbs hot curry powder
2 garlic cloves
1 medium brown onion
200ml cream
20g butter
Method
Chop onion and garlic using the Braun Multiquick Cordless chopper. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat then add onion and garlic mixture and cook until onion softens. Add curry powder and cook for 30 seconds.
Add potato and cauliflower and coat evenly with mixture. Add stock and bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 - 20 minutes or until potato is tender.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Blend with handheld attachment then return to low heat and add cream, stirring for a few minutes until hot.
Ladle into warm bowls and season with salt and pepper.
These soups don't require many ingredients but taste divine. Plus they're effortless to prepare if you have the blender. Boom - instant dinner!
Multiquick 7 Cordless MR 730cc
RRP $249
For more information, visit www.braun.com/au/hand-blenders/multiquick-7-cordless.html
JENIUS received the Braun Multiquick 7 Cordless Handheld blender and ingredients for the Cauliflower Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms from Hausmann Communications.
I have been wanting a hand blender for a while now - makes pureeing soup so much easier (and cleaner!)
You should totally get this one! Since it is cordless, you kind of use it more often than you normally would because it is just sitting there. The chopper attachment is so handy as well and yes, makes cooking so much cleaner as there's not much mess to make!
Does look cleaner!
And less to wash up too :D
yum! your sauteed mushrooms look so good :) can't live without my hand-blender ~ wish mine was cordless as well
Thanks, the sauteed mushrooms were really crucial to the first soup as the soup was so light without cream or potato and needed that oomph! Yum yum. Hehehe... they should do a trade-in sale!