Being on a puréed diet is no reason to be left out of holiday gatherings , bbq’s and your favorite summer foods. Nothing says summer or a 4th of July BBQ more than grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and a potato salad with a strawberry shortcake for dessert! All of these menu items are very easy to purée and taste fantastic. Most of the them can easily be prepared a day or two ahead of the gathering so everyone can relax and enjoy family and friends at the get together!
Looking forward to the holidays, their traditions and associated foods are such an important part of our most cherished and shared memories with our family and friend groups. We use food to mark the occasions. Give these summer time favorite foods a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy they are to purée and how wonderful they taste!
Classic Potato Salad
Puréeing potato salad is surprisingly easy and the results are a velvety smooth texture with a blend of many different puréed ingredients. Each ingredient is puréed separately and then added and mixed with mayonnaise. This allows attention to each ingredient to process it appropriately to a smooth puréed texture.
TIPS: 1.Purée potatoes after cooking and chilled in the refrigerator. 2. After puréeing the onion, celery and relish individually, drain them in a strainer lined with cheese cloth to squeeze out all the liquid. Inspect closely to remove any pieces that did not get puréed before adding to the potato. These ingredients need to be processed until a smooth consistency. 3. You may need to add a larger amount of ingredients to the food processor in order for the processor to have enough contents to blend. You can add water to the processor as well to give more liquid and this will aid in getting a puréed consistency. Use a small size food processor for best results. (2-3 cup size). 4. Garnish top of salad with paprika if desired for a pretty presentation.
Canned baked beans
A side of baked beans is a must on the bbq menu. It’s as quick and simple as opening a can, blending in a processor and adding a thickening agent. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat. Heat up in microwave before serving. Adjust thickness if necessary after heated. Puréed beans may not look too appetizing but they are a tasty puréed food.
Grilled Hot Dog
Nothing says summer like a grilled hot dog topped with your favorite condiments! Top your hot dog with mustard and ketchup as desired. Add puréed onion and puréed relish per your liking and stir in to blend right before serving.
Grilled Hamburger
Hamburgers on the grill is always a favorite. Top your hamburger with mustard and ketchup as desired and the puréed onions and relish per your liking and blend in right before serving.
TIPS: 1. I added a hamburger spice blend to both sides of my burger when cooking to give an extra strong burger flavor to the meat. 2. I added canned beans to soften the meat mixture and use as a binder. The beans gave a very nice soft texture when the burger was heated in the microwave just before eating. The beans did not alter the taste of the hamburger.
Strawberry Shortcake
This is a simple a quick dessert to whip up. Instead of using the traditional biscuit, I opted for slices of pound cake. Angel food cake would also be nice to use for this recipe. The sweeter cake choices make the base layer more palatable and pleasing after being slurried vs more solid breads like biscuits. Strawberries blend easily and into a smooth creamy layer. Cool whip is a quick topping or make homemade whip cream quickly in your food processor for a very fresh topping. Using cornstarch stabilizes the whip cream so it won’t melt. It holds up beautifully for several days in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Great to have on hand to top off puddings, ice cream and other desserts as needed. Garnish with a dash of cinnamon.
Conclusion
I hope this blog will give you inspiration for your own 4th of July celebration and other summer time gatherings. I hope you are encouraged to try the puréed meats. In future recipes I will try other foods to blend with the burger as a binder but I really liked the canned beans for the grilled burger in giving it a soft texture in this recipe. I think cooked mushrooms and/or caramelized onions may work as a great binder when processing cooked hamburger and am eager to try those in future posts.
I intentionally did not purée hot dog or hamburger buns. I have been experimenting with puréeing breads and have not been satisfied with the results. I would rather omit certain foods based on their flavor and taste and concentrate my efforts on foods that are going to be tasty and palatable to serve to your loved ones. If I can’t eat the food that I purée then I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending it in a recipe or making it and serving it.
All the recipes in this post that required a food thickener, I used Simply Thick gel as the thickening agent. This is my favorite thickener for a smooth texture, ease of use and for how quick it sets up in liquids or solids and remains stable at the desired thickness without thinning down. You can get additional information on this food thickener. on the Simply Thick website and/or order by using this link: https://shrsl.com/4kqd1
A divider plate is so beneficial for keeping puréed food items separated on a plate (depicted in the picture at top of post). Even properly puréed foods can spread and settle. The divider plate also makes for a nice presentation. The raised dividers make it easier to use these walls to push the spoon against when scooping food onto the spoon. These plates are especially beneficial for individuals that have use of only one hand when feeding themselves. The particular partition plate comes with a suction pad base. The divider plate I used in the picture at the top of this post can be ordered by using this link:https://shrsl.com/4kqd6
View my video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lsUk20HsO9A