As an aside, I saw a sneaky camera shot of the Thermomix on Masterchef Australia again a couple of nights ago - it was a cooking challenge against a chef and the chef was using it!! I would guess either the lemon curd or lemon granita that he served for dessert - or both!! How great is that!!
But back to the point of this post!! Some think that you have to use the Thermomix for everything if you spend that amount of money on it. It simply isn't true- there are so many different elements you can prepare with the Thermomix, but you are still ALLOWED to use traditional methods if you choose for certain dishes!! You will still use the Thermomix everyday for something... And say for example a dishwasher... You don't think too much about spending $1000 -$2000 for a dishwasher. Yet mine only gets used once or twice a week. It doesn't improve my health, save me time on food prep or save money on my grocery bill!! And I definitely don't use it multiple times a day like I use the Thermomix. Some people might see it as an extra appliance that is unnecessary - but I think more and more, it will become just another staple in your kitchen, like your dishwasher, fridge and microwave. And you can sell the rest of your small appliance! So there's a little comparison for you on cost of appliances and use and benefits!
Anyway, back to the point again.. take the other night for example... One of the few nights I didn't use the Thermomix for our whole dinner. I felt like a "surf and turf"!!! We don't usually eat whole steak that much, we usually mince it. So I used the frypan to cook our steak and prawns, while the Thermomix was busy preparing our perfectly smooth mashed potato and steaming our vegies at the same time! Energy saving and I didn't even pay attention to it once I set the timer - it was taking care of it all for me!! I also did not have to get out a colander or a masher and mash it by hand - 45 seconds and the thermomix does the work for you. Apart from that, we also used the thermomix to make us a yummy mushroom sauce from scratch... Something I wouldn't have ever bothered to do before.
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| Yes they are frozen veggies.. Yes, the mushrooms are too chopped - hubby was in charge of the mushroom sauce!! |
There you have it! A quick easy meat and veg dinner that still saves time, energy (yours and the power company's!!) and dishes!!! And seriously delicious.... Again, a pleasure to work with the Thermomix in the kitchen!
PS. I had already made breakfast in Thermomix, fresh wholegrain bread rolls for lunch in Thermomix (just before we went out for a big walk), juice, smoothies, and dessert that day as well.... and we had a busy weekend day!
TIPS!
Mashed Potato -
1. If you want to steam veggies at the same time, you need to cook your mashed potato at Varoma temperature instead of 100 degrees as stated in your cookbook. If you use all full cream milk, you will burn the milk because of the fat content and it will stick to the bottom of the bowl - you must use at least half water to prevent this. If you are using a rice milk etc, it should be fine anyway. Varoma Temp for 20 - 25 will also break down the potatoes altogether. I don't mind because once I whip it, there's no difference - it simply gives the convenience of being able to steam your veggies at the same time.
2. I don't bother adding parmesan cheese, some people find it too "gluey". So just add some salt.
3. You can easily use a little oil to make it dairy free (with rice milk/alternate milk) instead of butter, and just make sure you add a little salt for flavour.
4. If you find it too runny for your liking, just lessen the liquid content a little - I don't even measure now, I just use the amount of potatoes I would usually use for our family and then go by "eye" as to how much milk I add - somehow I get it right!
