Vitamix Appreciation Post

Happy Monday, all. It was an absolutely lovely weekend, sunny and warm. I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy it (safely), at least for a bit. Today is looking a little gloomy, though.

I really let the weather dictate what I cook, and although it’s a bit muggy, I couldn’t wait to bust out my brand-new Vitamix and make a supremely smooth puréed soup. So, that’s what I did. First, some background.

I’m in no way sponsored by Vitamix, nor do I receive any kind of compensation for my words here, but I can’t talk about blending, or puréeing, or soup-making without expressing my love for Vitamix blenders. I love soup, but if it’s a cream or puréed soup, I’m a stickler for texture. I hate soups that are too thick and chunky, as though you could spread them on a plate. It’s disgusting when they’re not blended smoothly enough and are still fibrous. Such a turn off. You get a Vitamix, however, and those concerns are a thing of the past.

I first fell in love with these machines some years ago in I’m not sure which professional kitchen. I was amazed at how well they worked, how finely they could blend, and all the things you could do in them. We’re a two-person household, so the 5200 model we got serves our needs perfectly. This is the model that I’m most familiar with from various restaurants and they hold up relatively well under the stresses of daily restaurant abuse. Although, there was the one time one of the cooks at Fauna dropped ours down the stairs. It never really was the same after that. As long as you’re not a raging moron, though, these machines should last you a long, long time. Especially for at-home use.

Yes, they’re pricy, no doubt. You’re getting a professional-quality piece of equipment that gives you unparalleled results. Look at how smooth the soups are! You can do smoothies, luxurious vegetable purées, frozen drinks, nut milks, emulsified vinaigrettes and more, all in one machine, all to pro kitchen standards.

The machines aren’t perfect, don’t get me wrong. Some of the things Vitamix advertises they can do… well, they technically CAN DO, but not as well as I’d like. When it comes to blending really tough, weighty and thick purées, like nut butters or hummus, the motor can suffer a bit. Preparations like this usually benefit from being started first in a food processor to break them down so they can be finished in the Vitamix in smaller batches. They also claim you can make doughs in the blender. I humbly disagree.

Another small annoyance is in how purées be a bit tricky to get out of the jug, as it’s so tall and narrow. You need a long spatula or spoonula to really scrape under those blades.

These minor points don’t change my tune, though. A Vitamix is a great investment and is one of the four most important countertop appliances you can have in your kitchen. It is the blender of all blenders. Smart-looking, powerful, easy to use and easy to clean, you can even make a soup start to finish for two people right in the jug with the hot soup setting. This thing spins so fast it’ll cook your soup as it blends. What more could you want?

There’s nothing like soup and a sandwich for lunch on a grey day, and the all-time best combo (especially if the weather, or the pandemic has you down) is a grilled cheese with cream of tomato soup. Here’s how I do it, using the Vitamix to make the soup perfectly textured and smooth:

Grilled Cheese With Bacon and Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients

For the soup:

• 3-4 yellow onions, peeled and sliced thinly
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced very thinly
• ¼ TSP crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 TSP dried oregano
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• 2 796mL cans of peeled Roma tomatoes
• 500mL 35% cream
• 2 sprigs of fresh basil
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the sandwich

• 2 strips of thick-cut, dry-cured bacon
• 2 pieces of white or whole wheat sandwich bread
• Roughly 1 TBSP mayonnaise
• 452g old cheddar, sliced thinly
• Butter, as needed

Method

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat a film of canola oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and a large pinch of salt. Sweat the onions, without allowing them to colour, until they are translucent and quite soft, 10-12 minutes. Lower the heat if necessary.
2. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, tomato paste and oregano to the onions. Stir to combine and let sweat and soften 3-4 minutes more.
3. Add the two cans of tomatoes and their liquid to the pot. Stir to combine, and break the tomatoes up roughly with a wooden spoon. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a bare simmer.
4. Stir in the cream and allow the pot to reach a simmer. Add the basil and let simmer in the pot for 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove the pot from the heat, and set on a sturdy, heatproof surface next to the blender. Discard the basil sprigs. Ladle the soup into the jug until it is no more than half full. This is important, as blending hot liquids can cause them to explode out of the top if the jug is too full. Snap the jug top into place, ensure the steam plug is secure and place the jug on the blender base.
6. Begin blending at the lowest speed. Once everything has been broken down, gradually increase the speed to maximum, while holding the lid down with a kitchen towel. This is just a precaution, but we always do it in restaurants. After blending on maximum speed for 1-1.5 minutes, turn the blender back down to off and pour the blended soup into a new pot, optionally straining through a fine-mesh strainer.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all the soup has been blended and transferred to the new pot.
8. Place the new pot over medium-low heat and gently warm the soup to service temperature, tasting and adjusting seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
9. Meanwhile, make the sandwich. Place the bacon in a cold cast-iron pan and place over medium heat. Render the fat out of the bacon, flipping and turning it so it crisps evenly. You want it sandwich crispy. When you feel it’s done, remove it from the pan and blot on paper towels.
10. Add a pat of butter to the bacon fat in the pan. As it melts and foams, spread mayonnaise on both sides of the two pieces of bread. Place them in the pan, adjusting the heat if necessary, to attain a golden-brown colour on one side.
11. Flip the bread, placing the cheese on the already cooked side of one piece to start it melting. Snap the bacon into sandwich-sized pieces and place atop the cheese.
12. Once the other sides of the bread are golden-brown, flip the unadorned slice onto the bacon-and-cheese slice to close the sandwich. Press down gently with a spatula to seal the sandwich closed, cook until the cheese is melted and gooey, flipping often. Blot the sandwich on paper towels when cooked to your liking.
13. Ladle the soup into a bowl, cut the sandwich on the diagonal and welcome to souptown.

This wasn’t so much a post about a recipe as it is a love-letter to one of my favorite pieces of cooking equipment. Until you try a Vitamix, you may think it’s “just a blender”, but it really is more than that. There’s a reason why these machines are staples in every restaurant kitchen that takes food seriously. So, if you take your food seriously too, then consider saving up for the last blender you’ll ever buy.