The Thermomix or what?

 Crisp polenta & chunky pesto - easily helped by the Thermomix

Someone has asked about the Thermomix, (wondering why, I presume, I didn’t call on its services when I was “without stove” for five days?)
 
A few years ago, after an extremely busy time at the restaurant leading up to the end of the year, I felt I needed a personal present and bought a Thermomix.  I love it, but wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.  Here are my pros and cons.
 
In case you don’t know, the Thermomix is a combination food-processor – blender with built-in cooking ability.  In restaurants you would need a bank of them. (The erstwhile El Bulli had six, I believe.)  They are definitely for home use.
 
There have been claims against Thermomix for accidents while using.  This I put down to the fact that it’s very powerful and needs to be sold only to sensible, intelligent people who will treat its power with respect.
 
It’s large and takes up lots of bench space.  It’s quite noisy in operation.
You can have faith in its German engineering.
 
I’ve heard raves and sighs at how good it is for baby food. It makes marvelous baby food but then again, babies grow up. All the food prepared in it is “sloppy” food.
 
My uses

• Soups – marvelous for velvety, smooth soups. Once emptied, you wash it, half fill with water and detergent, turn it on and it washes itself.
• Hollandaise & Béairnaise sauce – as people are sitting down and getting settled, turn it on and hollandaise is ready just as they try their first sip of wine.  No curdling and no messy splashes on the frock for this essentially last minute preparation.
• Proper egg custard (and thus good for crème brûlée) – beautiful and no chance of curdling.
• Quince paste – just cut quinces in half and core.  The machine does the rest with no dangerous volcanic splutters to burn you.
• Polenta – I’ve really got into polenta now. As with quince paste, no bubbling volcanic burps.
• Pâté (or parfait) of chicken or duck livers – the sort that is like a custard and then baked. (For pâté with cooked livers and butter, the food processor does an easier job.)
• Brioche – which is a long, tedious process of kneading and waiting, this can be easy.  You still have to hang around, but.
• Pesto - easy - and for anything else mashed up.

 
Frankly I could love it for the polenta and hollandaise alone but is the price tag worth it to you?  Perhaps I haven't explored the suggestions of the on-line "community" enough.

• It’s an excellent and very powerful vitamiser but some things are more convenient in the food processor (and here I’m assuming you have “the good one”).
• It won’t make you a better cook or teach you to cook. Doesn’t teach you how to use it away from their recipes.
• No, you can’t really see it as one-pot cooking – too small a capacity. A stew will only feed four.
• Won’t really soften onions or brown meat so “stews” miss this essential flavour development.
• There are lots of fun website forums to browse through for recipes, but once again it’s all sloppy.  To save time, I tried the apricot chutney recipe.  Easy but it was more like a sauce.
• Bread making is restricted to a small loaf.  A food processor is better for the mixing.
• The steamer is very small and must be filled with hot water or it takes ages to steam. It can handle Chawan-mushi for two. (Post 5th October, 2017)
• It does lots of things you don't need.

 
I’m told about someone who knows someone whose niece knows someone else who uses it all the time. Not sure what that means but it does tell me that, all the time, they’re eating sloppy food.
 
If you’ve got the bench space, can blow a couple of thousand or are simply bored, you might look forward to the polenta.  I’d recommend an ice-cream making machine or an upgrade on your Breville Whiz if you don’t have “the really good food processor”.

Thermomix Polenta  (4 -6 depending on how you use it)
This works very quickly so have all ingredients ready to hand.

• 1 cup polenta
• 3 cups water

Cook at 100˚, 12 minutes, speed 4
Add

• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup  Parmesan that you have "flaked"
• 20 gm butter

Cook for 2 minutes, speed 3
Pour immediately into a bowl and serve or better still, pour into a dish approx. 150cm x 270cm.  Cool, cut into squares or slices, brown in butter and serve.
*Polenta can be "enriched" by using part water part stock or part water part milk.
**There is no salt because the Parmesan is salty.  For next time, season with a little salt if you think it's needed.  Nutmeg is also nice.

​Thermomix Pesto
Throw into the Thermomix bowl...

• 60gm fresh basil leaves
• 40gm pinenuts
• 40gm Parmesan (that you have "flaked")
• 60ml olive oil, minimum

Grind at speed 5.  Stop machine and scrape down.  Grind again, lower speed, until you have your preferred consistency.  Add more oil if necessary.
Scrape into a bowl.  Wonderful fresh but will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

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