Welcome to The Gadget Chef

Ok so I'm not really a chef, but I do like to play one in the kitchen. I'm your everyday average guy, who is really into 2 things, food and gadgets! And I love combining the two and experimenting with that.

I've tried many gadgets out there, some with success and some with miserable failures. But my biggest goal is to limit what space I take up with what gadgets. As a person with a less than sizable kitchen, counter top real estate is so important I can't be the type that has several gadgets out all the time, and I'm also the type that if it's not out and handy, I'm likely not to use it.

So through the course of this blog I will give out some info on those items I've gotten over the years and how I use them, and some recipes, and be sure to share yours too, or comment if you've tried them

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

My First Food Processor

Ok, I'm not young, but not old either.  And I've been cooking for ages since I was 10 at the very latest, probably earlier.  And while I've picked up and looked at many a gadgets, for the longest time I saw little to no use for a food processor, and was detracted by the enourmous cost difference of the models out there.   I've learned in other areas you get what you pay for, but I also avoid paying for the best for something I may use the least.   So when looking at food processors online, I was overwhelmed with options and prices.   And let's face it reviews online are only partially helpful.  Who really posts reviews about an item, either those who have had a bad experience or marketing gurus for the company who post the same review on several sites.  I tend to lead toward brands from which I've had good experiences.  So in this instance when I finally decided I wanted to get a food processor, I was slightly lured toward KitchenAid.  So I looked heavily at KitchenAid, but at $100 for the 7 cup, I really wasn't convinced that was the way to go.  I was hard pressed to say if it was large enough for what I wanted and for $100 thats a lot to find out that it wasn't large enough.  But to go up to the larger 12 cup model was a pretty big jump in price.  When I could get a 14 cup Black and Decker for half the price of the KitchenAid 7 cup.  Oh decisions, decisions!!!

Finally my mind was made up for me.   While wondering around Target, as usual I was inexplicably dragged towards to the kitchen section (yes that unknown force of what I really need for my kitchen, well maybe it's want, but as my 2 year old son uses them interchangeably, why can't I?)  The KitchenAid 7 cup was on clearance for $30 off.  Even though it was still $70 and more than the larger Black and Decker, it is after all a KitchenAid, that same brand that makes those powerhouse mixers that we all want to own.

Well I'm happy to say, I couldn't be happier with the end results.   I've managed to fit enough into it for most of my concerned items.  While I did empty it a couple times while slicing potatoes, I think it's a small consolation for the space it saves me and the ability to leave it out, that my wife has afforded to me while I am still in the experimentation phase.

Thus far I have made pie crust (so simple and fast with a food processor), pumpkin cheesecake, sliced up potatoes for a dish, and some homemade ham salad from cold cuts.  This device thus far has earned a place on my counter as something I think i will probably use quite often. 

So for my first recipe I will share my simple ham salad.


Ham Salad:
3-4 medium sliced pieces of your favorite ham.
1 stalk of celery
1 hard boiled egg
2 tablespoons of relish
Mayo or Miracle whip to taste


Place all the ingredients minus the Mayo into the food processor, pulse a few times till it is as chunky or smooth as you like.  You could include the mayo as well, but I was too afraid of over pulverizing the ingredients, so I chopped this up and the combined it with mayo in a seperate bowl. Simple ham salad for appetizers or sandwiches. 

Bon apetit

2 comments:

  1. What receip did you use for a pie crust and how did the processor make it easier?

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    Replies
    1. That recipe will be in an upcoming blog shortly, as I want to try a variation on it first. My first attempt was a butter based crust, I'm going to try another with vegetable shortening first, then post both recipes and the comparisons.

      But the ease came from the speed. Pulsed the dry ingredients first(flour, salt, and sugar), then added very cold butter. Pulsed it together until it was crumbly, then just added a couple table spoons of ice water and pulsed until it was almost a solid mass.

      take it out and knead it into a disc and chill it for a bit. Then all you had to do was roll it out. Worked like a charm.

      My reasoning for wanting to try the other first is that this crust being butter based was more crumbly and crispy than flaky, I'm hoping to find the fine line between the two with using very cold shortening.

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