Thursday, September 25, 2008

Whizz, grind, whip and pulse, or: I finally acquire a food processor only to discover disappointment and heartache (sort of).

For the longest time I have coveted a food processor. Many are the times I have had to flip on by a recipe in Veganomicon because it called for an item of kitchen electronica that I simply didn't possess. But no longer! I finally got sick of my own dithering, marched on down to Myer and chose one that just 'did' - a Breville Overhead Drive Wizz with blender and processor combined. Bliss! I even lugged the enormous box to an after-work meeting such was my desire to Just Get It Done.

On its first outing the blender performed bee-yoo-ti-fully, blending me both a chocolate *and* peanut butter & chocolate soyshake with ease. I experimented with pulsing, different speeds and times - and all were pretty darn drinkable.

Below: peanut butter, chocolate So Good soycream and VitaSoy Soy Milky Lite ... it was lite peanut butter damn you! Don't judge me!


Delighted and excited I took out the food processor. Dah-doowwww.

It's a big bowl, 2L, and I realised that I'd need to scrape
down the edges regularly to make sure that all the contents got an even go at the blades. After a disastrous first attempt at Veganomicon's basil pesto (let me tell you that golden syrup is under no circumstances an acceptable substitute for maple syrup), I tried a beetroot and walnut creation of my own ... it looked very purdy in the bowl:

But I didn't expect this:


...or this:


(The beetroot and walnut dip with garlic was delish, and got garlickier over the days. The avocado whip was great, but I don't think the whippiness outshines a simple lumpy fork mashing).

Being my first ever food processor, I'm willing to accept that I've not necessarily done everything correctly, perfect though I am in every other way of course.
But really - two massive beetroot slices escaped the merest whisper of all four blades, and this after more than ten minutes of processing with at least five readjustments of the contents. If it can mulch up walnuts surely it can slice'n'dice some thin soft pink beetroot. I was cross! And I sulked! So there!

In fact, I was so cross that I even gave Breville more of my money to buy a MiniWiz, which is (apparently) better for dips - and the pinenut pesto I made processed without issue.

So what's the story Morning Glory? Must I be condemned to a life of soyshakes forever? And is that a bad thing?


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