My two weeks with a Thermomix

WELL, my dodgy oven finally went kaput, and it took the stovetop with it. During the two weeks it took to get a replacement, all meals had to be prepared on the only device left in the kitchen that could cook and boil water: the Thermomix.

In case you haven’t heard, a Thermomix is a food processor that also happens to weigh, cook, chop, crush, steam, emulsify, simmer, whip, blend, knead, grind, grate and mill. Europeans have been using these things in one form or another since the 1960s, but it wasn’t until 2000 that Thermomix in Australia brought the art of homemade turbo tucker to our shores.

Thermomixes are expensive, about $2000 a pop. The idea is that they save you time and hassle by replacing a multitude of specialised tools. They can also be helpful if cooking has become difficult because of lost hand strength or manual dexterity. In theory, they do almost everything for you at super speed and practically clean themselves. There’re a lot of rumours floating around about Thermomix, some true, some exaggerated.

So here’s the experiment: My wife Johanna and I had to make all our meals with this all-in-one gadget for two weeks. Can the Thermomix really replace 10 different appliances? Can anything ever replace an oven and stovetop? Our results were mixed (no pun intended) but the Thermomix definitely lived up to its reputation of being a culinary Swiss Army knife.

At first, the challenge of making all our food in a single thingamajig seemed a bit too ambitious. Especially since Johanna is a strict vegetarian and my diet is closer to the tyrannosaurus rex persuasion. Luckily, the Thermomix proved to have more versatility than you’d expect from something the size of a coffee percolator. So separating vegetarian versions was pretty easy. Here’s how our two weeks of Thermomix dinners unfolded:

Day 1 – Beef rendang with rice and steamed broccoli

This delicious Indonesian dish was already one of our Thermomix favourites so it was a good place for us to start the experiment. We made the rendang paste by blending red chilli, garlic, ginger, onion and turmeric powder and then sautéing in olive oil. We then added cinnamon powder, bay leaves, cloves, coconut milk, grated coconut, sugar, salt and pepper. The meat was tender. We cooked the rice and steamed the broccoli simultaneously using the steaming dish. Both were perfect.

Day 2 – Pasta e fagioli

This was a fantastic winter meal, a traditional Italian pasta dish made with borlotti beans, tomatoes, celery, garlic, onion, and red chilli. This recipe couldn’t be easier to make. The Thermomix did all the chopping and stirring while we folded the washing.

Day 3 – Butter chicken with basmati rice

This is one of my favourite dishes to order at Indian restaurants but we’ve never considered it something we would cook at home. Once again the recipe was foolproof and the results were delicious. I calculated that to make this recipe without a Thermomix, we would have used kitchen scales, two saucepans, a mortar and pestle, and a blender. Washing up took less than five minutes.

Day 4 – Steamed fish, steamed asparagus, mashed potato with a feta cheese, dill and lemon sauce; Brazilian hot chocolate

My first attempt at what Thermomix enthusiasts call “layer cooking”. We made the sauce first and put it aside. The fish and the asparagus steamed while the potatoes were boiling. When the fish and asparagus were finished we removed the steamer and blended the potatoes. For desert we made Brazilian hot chocolates using you know what instead of a saucepan and wooden spoon. They were lovely.

Day 5 – Beetroot and feta salad, spiced Moroccan tomato and red lentil soup

These two quick, healthy and tasty dishes took almost no time to prepare. The beetroot and feta salad took less than a minute to make and we ate it as an entrée while the soup was cooking. A nice mid-week dinner.

Day 6 – Risotto verde

Wednesday night and we were both tired after work. Usually there would be a strong desire to eat out or get take away on nights like these. Instead we made risotto, a notoriously time consuming dish. It took all of six minutes to get the risotto cooking and while the machine did the stirring, we had a glass of wine. For the first time in 20 years, I produced a creamy, restaurant quality risotto and I wasn’t even in the kitchen.

Day 7 – Soft blue cheese polenta with sautéed spinach and mushrooms

Up until this point we had been cooking recipes from the Thermomix cookbook with minor variations. Tonight we decided to cook something off the top of our heads. When the polenta was done we quickly rinsed the bowl and then sautéed some chopped garlic, chopped mushrooms and baby spinach leaves in olive oil for a couple of minutes. The blue cheese polenta was delicious but Johanna said she would have preferred using a fry pan for the mushrooms and spinach.

Day 8 – Thai red prawn curry and steamed rice; pineapple, lime and coconut sorbet

Friday night we would usually go out for dinner but we decided to stay in for the sake of our two-week experiment. Tonight was our first attempt at making a Thai red curry paste instead of using a jarred one. It was a much better curry than the one we make from the jar, although I added a bit too much lime juice to the paste.

Earlier in the day, Johanna had poured coconut milk into an ice cube tray. We put the frozen coconut ice cubes, some sugar, some pieces of fresh pineapple and a squeeze of lime juice into the Thermomix and two minutes later we were eating a delicious sorbet.

Day 9 – Dinner party: Capsicum and sundried tomato dip, tagliatelle with sautéed porcini mushrooms, green salad with a basil and garlic dressing, mixed spice ice cream

On Saturday night we had people over for dinner (a plan made before the oven died). We prepared the dip and salad dressing in advance. We also made a creamy custard mixture which we froze into ice cubes for the ice cream. Ten minutes before the guests arrived, we started the preparation for the tagliatelle main course.

After dinner we put the frozen mixed spice ice cream mixture in the Thermomix and blitzed it for about a minute. Everything was delicious and we got to spend the evening with our guests rather than in the kitchen.

Day 10 – Green pea soup, quinoa and ratatouille

On Sunday we made green pea soup for lunch. We pulverised frozen peas into a kind of pea snow, added vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and cooked it for 20 minutes. It was the most beautiful colour and tasted so fresh. For dinner we made a ratatouille served with quinoa. This was a lovely and warm Sunday night dinner and it took only 10 minutes to prepare.

Day 11 – Curry laksa noodles

Monday we used leftover red curry paste that we had frozen. We added coconut milk and diced chicken and cooked for 20 minutes. We then added chopped vegetables and hokkien noodles and continued cooking for another five minutes. A great meal!

Day 12 – Winter vegetable soup

This lovely, thick soup is made from leek, cabbage, carrot, turnips, onion and kidney beans. We served it with slices of crusty bread and finished off the mixed spice ice cream for desert.

Day 13 – Penne with basil and spinach pesto

This beautiful fresh pesto took less than a minute to make. We tossed the pesto through the pasta and served it with a salad.

Day 14 – Hummus, vegetable tagine, couscous

I will never buy hummus again. The Thermomix makes the most beautiful homemade hummus for a tenth of the price, and in three minutes flat. We had it with crackers and wine while the tagine and couscous were cooking.

What happened during those two weeks?

• We cooked more than usual. Not only did we prepare lots of different dishes, we also made things we would have otherwise bought, especially dips and ice cream
• We saved time and effort
• We spent less money on groceries
• We reduced food wastage
• We didn’t (and couldn’t) fry anything
• We ate healthier meals by cutting out pre-packaged and pre-prepared foods