Hello my Foodie Friends. My mother-in-law’s most-used kitchen appliance is her food processor. She’s a serious home cook and uses the food processor daily for chopping vegetables, making sauces, grating cheese, and just about every other food prep task.
They’re the ultimate partner in meal-making. From pestos to pie doughs, the mighty food processors really up my kitchen game. Here are the top five ways that they can be used every day to help save Mom time in the kitchen.
1. KNIFE WORK
A food processor can be used for knife work – use it on ingredients that are not so obvious. Chop nuts, grind toast and heels into breadcrumbs, and pulse crunchy cookies into crumbly sprinkles for ice cream sundaes. Mince fresh garlic in the processor. It’s the first layer of flavor that can be used in favorite savory suppers, and the food processor preps it in no time. Use the same S-blade to chop all the fresh herbs.
2. BLENDING
Smoothies for breakfast, soups for lunch, sauces for supper – any time of day, fresh, frozen, and roasted produce blend together beautifully in the food processor. The key is to pulse together the chunky fruits and vegetables, and then thin them out as they whip around the bowl by pouring liquid through the spout. Spoon Greek yogurt, squeeze some honey, and pour milk into blended strawberries, bananas, and spinach or kale in the morning. Transform leftover veggies, or roasted ones that were just past their prime, into a satisfying soup with a pour of broth through the spout. And deliciously finish hot-off-the-grill chicken with a simple sauce made of some combination of fresh herbs, toasted nuts, hard cheese, and olive oil.
3. BAKING
That’s right, for baking. A food processor can be used for homemade pie dough that wows. The sharpness of the S-blade is perfect for cutting ice cold butter into flour without melting it at all (which is strategic for achieving buttery pockets and flaky layers in the final product). Shortbread cookie dough, crepe batter, and cake batters also mix together magically in the food processor.
4. SHREDDING
Food processors make easy work of homemade slaws, chopped salads, quick breads, and pizzas too. From cabbage to Brussels sprouts to carrots and zucchinis for cake, sturdy veggies that are time-consuming to break down, evenly and effortlessly shred in seconds when pushed through the processor. And, in moments, hunks of cheese are made over into fluffy mounds for melting onto homemade pizzas, casseroles, and anything Mexican.
5. SORBET
Here’s a sweet surprise for you! Freeze strawberries in resealable containers and pull them out just before you’re ready to serve dessert. Using the S-blade, then, blend the fruit to a fine consistency, add a dash of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a tear of fresh basil, and you will have made the healthiest, yummiest berry-basil sorbet in town. Spoon it out of the processor bowl to enjoy right away, and be sure to transfer leftovers to an airtight container to freeze for later.
These are a fraction of the benefits of using a Food Processor. At Compliments to the Chef, we carry the Magimix Food Processor. This beautiful product is produced and manufactured by Robot-Coupe which is a French company that has been making food processors for over 40 years. Recently, a customer came in and told us that her mother, who lives in France, has had this Food Processor for years! The founder of the Magimix Food Processor invented one of the very first food processors, the electric model which very much set the style for food processors from then until now. Their tools have a reputation for being solid and well-built; you’ll find Robot-Coupe processors in many restaurant kitchens.
Robot-Coupe’s original idea was to create a single machine that could perform a variety of tasks for professional chefs (such as chopping, grinding, kneading, shredding). Invented by Magimix and manufactured entirely in France, the multifunction food processor has become an invaluable help for everyday cooking and special gourmet occasions. The Magimix Food Processor was once acclaimed by The New York Times as: “The culinary revolution of the 20th Century.”
Facts about the Magimix Food Processor: The motor automatically adjusts its power depending on what’s in the mixing bowl; there are 3 buttons to access all functions; it includes an accessory box for compact and safe storage; all accessories are dishwasher safe as well as the Main bowl; includes Midi and Mini bowls. Each bowl functions independently allowing you to carry out several tasks in succession. The main bowl: for all preparations of large quantity. Midi bowl: for all types of slicing and grating; Mini bowl: with specific mini blade for small quantities. The Magimix has a powerful and efficient ultra-quiet induction, direct drive equals better output (no belt, no gears, no parts that wear out) motor with a 30 year guarantee. All parts and accessories are also made in France and come with a 3 year guarantee.
The components include stainless steel blades and discs made in Thiers (the world-renowned French cutlery capital) and Sabatier seal of approval (the reference in high-class kitchen knives).
Favorite details: This food processor, compared to others feels solid. Even when making heavy doughs, it doesn’t hop and skip across the counter. The motor is very powerful, and very quiet. It just does its job; you don’t even have to scrape the bowl down between adding ingredients. The bowls stack inside each other, too. When you are using the smallest bowl to process something (herbs, nuts, pesto, for instance), you stack it right inside the large bowl. This makes changing out bowls very quick, and it lets the processor work without an extra spindle; it just works with any bowl that’s on at the moment.
Also, there are only three buttons: Off, On, Pulse. If you turn it on the motor runs until you hit off. Pulse just pulses the blade while you’re holding the button down. The bowl washes out easily, without too many nooks and crannies for food to get stuck in.
Think Mom. Mother’s Day is next weekend. Stop by Compliments to the Chef located at 33 Railroad Place, as you are looking for “Cool tools” to help save Mom time in the kitchen. We all look forward to those incredible dishes that create and bring back memories that Moms make. Remember Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care,
John & Paula
