the magic bullet

i know you've all seen the infomercial about the magic bullet. it's a great party item, and you can make virtually anything using it...and it's so easy to clean! well, i received said magic bullet as a gift and this blog will chronicle how well the bullet lives up to its reputation.

3.26.2006

garlic

the bullet did a magic job chopping up garlic- in just three pulses!

here you can see it in the pan.

thumbs up to the magic bullet when it comes to chopping garlic fast.

3.17.2006

the salsa attempt

upon receiving the bullet, i had virtually no experience with it being amazing or magic. however, i did know that the bullet made some damn good "adult" blender drinks that i experienced one night last summer, and on new year's eve a few months ago. both times, i can say that the drinks tasted amazing and things began to seem quite magical as the night progressed.

the informercial was in high rotation around xmas time, go figure. the happy, bubbly couple that were behind the immense counter in a huge kitchen made numerous dishes and drinks that looked too good to be true! and their eclectic group of friends that sat on the other side of the counter watching in awe seemed equally impressed with the bullet.

at one point in the infomercial, the two people made homemade salsa and jalapeno cheese for nachos. wow! healthy, homemade salsa that was easy to make without getting a knife dirty! i was sold. the jalapeno cheese dip was also a key point in the demonstration, because you could pulse, and then pop the cup in the microwave for melting! brilliant! my partner and i thought we'd try these two dishes first. it looked easy.

as you can see from the above picture, you still need to use a knife for the salsa ingredients- my little onions needed to be peeled.

the salsa attempt















i tossed in the little onions once they were peeled, added 9-10 tomatoes, garlic, and some jalapeno pepper, and then twisted on the base.

the salsa attempt

and pulse...one - two - three!
(as an aside...the bullet is much louder than on tv)


the salsa attempt

well, as you can see, i was a little skeptical about the salsa. i was careful not to pulse too much, lest the veggies turned into mush. the bullet guide book recommended 7 quick pulses to make salsa.

the salsa attempt

the final result: it didn't look like salsa. and it vaguely tasted like salsa.
as well, you can see that my counter was still a bit of a mess afterward.

the cheese dip



our hopes were high for the jalapeno cheese dip. maybe this would make that salsa palatable!
we cut up some cubes of cheddar, threw in some jalapeno pepper, and pulsed away until the cheese was all grated up. the bullet did its magic. we then put the "steamer/shaker" lid on the cup and placed this in the microwave for just over a minute.

well, it melted the cheese, but not as nicely as ordinary cheese whiz would have. next time, i may use the bullet to grate the cheese in a jiffy, but won't be using the cup to "pour" it on the nachos. what a mess.

slicing the green onion was a bit of a letdown too- as you can see. not quite chopped, but shredded.

so, the nacho attempt didn't go so well, but i'm looking forward to trying other things with the bullet now that i have some experience.

performance:
salsa: no
jalapeno cheese dip: no
grating cheese: yes!
chopping green onion: no