What is a Cook Expert?
55 years of kitchen innovation have gone into the creation of the powerful and easy to use Cook Expert, a multi-functional food preparation and cooking appliance, combining the functions of a food processor alongside more than twelve other kitchen appliances. This is good news for your kitchen cupboards as you can ditch some of your smaller appliances and use the Cook Expert solely.
Hugely popular in Europe, the Cook Expert has been a little slower to catch on in the UK and we want to show you why you should consider investing in this useful machine that’s revolutionising the way we can cook at home. What’s more, with all the negative noise around ready-made meals and the hidden sugars they contain, home-cooking is taking on ever greater importance. This is where the Cook Expert can help, taking the hassle out of many of the chores that are required to get great food on to the kitchen table.
What can it do?
One of the problems today is that families are strapped for time when it comes to home cooking, perhaps eating at slightly different times. The Cook Expert helps you cook from scratch, literally from chopping and searing to heating and stirring, enabling you to create delicious meals. With a cookery book, plus app, both full of delicious recipes, there is always something to pique the appetites of your family, whether young or old, catering from two to twelve people.
The Cook Expert is a machine of many functions: a stand mixer, food processor, blender, two-layered steamer, slow- cooker, soup maker, warming oven, whisk and sous vide machine. In the package, you’ll also receive digital scales. This all-in-one appliance can chop, slice, grate, steam, sear, brown, simmer and stir, blend, prove and knead.
In a nutshell, Cook Expert will save you time and reduce the amount of washing up, as you’ll ultimately use less equipment. The auto-rinse programme makes light work of washing up too.
The Cook Expert comes with a 30-year motor guarantee, so rest assured, it’s going to be at your side for the long haul. The stainless steel dual walled Thermo Bowl is never too hot to handle and will cook and keep food warm for up to two hours. The safety glass lid lets you see what's happening and of course, the top of the range Sabatier blades and discs make light work of what you chuck into the bowls.
Why you should invest in a Cook Expert
The Cook Expert takes the guess work out of cooking and for beginners, it builds confidence. For experts, it’ll let you refine your repertoire, perhaps trying slightly trickier recipes. It’ll save you time: you can set the recipe, press the button and the Cook Expert will take over. Delicious risottos can be cooked, and it’ll do the stirring for you, leaving you free to prepare a salad or just enjoy a glass of wine. And the results are the creamiest of risottos you can possibly imagine.
The Cook Expert, available in three colours, satin, black and red, has a hefty price tag, at £1,195 but when you factor in all the appliances that it replaces and the time saved, it’s cost per use is 100% worthwhile. Find out more here.
Why I like it
The Cook Expert takes the guesswork out of cooking. Want to cook hollandaise? You can do so with the Cook Expert and don’t need to worry about curdling as the temperatures and timings are so precise. In a hurry and don’t have time to watch over your cooking? The Cook Expert takes care of it. Feel like making bread? The Cook Expert will mix, knead and prove the dough, ready for you to bake in an oven. Plus given the Cook Expert does the work of multiple bits of kit, there’s less washing up to do.
Recipes tried and tested
The app and cookery book are full of inspiration, tried and tested by the Magimix team. The lively Facebook group is the place to share recipes and tips of your own and this is truly a global community.
Here are some recipes that have got me off the Cook Expert starting blocks and are already firm favourites.
Sabayon
Ingredients:
50 ml orange juice
4 egg yolks
75 g caster sugar
2 tbsp Cointreau® (I used Marsala or a sweet wine would work too)
Fit the metal bowl with the whisk. Put the ingredients into the metal bowl, remove the cap and run the program. EXPERT | 08:00 / 4 / 68°C
If necessary, scrape down the wall of the bowl then rerun the program. Add the Cointreau® through the opening while the program is running. EXPERT | 02:00 / 4 / 68°C
Pour the sabayon over strawberries or fresh fruit or serve on its own in cups or small glass containers with small biscuits.
Pea & Tahini Dip
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
500g peas (defrosted)
65g tahini
40g parsley
20g mint leaves (larger stalks removed)
3 tbsp za’atar
Zest of 2 lemons
3 tbsp lemon juice
Olive oil
4 radishes
2 spring onions
Salt and black pepper
Slice the radishes using the small feed tube, 2mm slicing disc and middle bowl in place. Slice the spring onions length ways using the XL feed tube, 2mm slicing disc and middle bowl in place. (Tip: press very lightly on the pusher and tap the large pusher a few times to reduce any waste and the end of slicing). Remove the middle bowl and put to one side.
Set aside 50g of peas with the sliced radish and spring onion. Then place the remaining 450g of peas, tahini, herbs, 2 tbsp za’atar, lemon zest and juice, 3 tablespoons of oil, 1 ¼ tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper and process on AUTO for 2 mins, scraping down the sides after 30 secs.
In the meantime, dress the peas and sliced radish and spring onion with 1 tbsp of oil and 1/8 tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper. Then in a ramekin mix 1 tbsp za’atar with 3 tablespoons oil.
Spread out the pea dip onto a large plate making a well in the centre for the vegetables and then drizzle over the za’atar oil. Serve with crudites or pitta bread.
Pitta bread
Ingredients:
7g of dried yeast
120ml of warm water
200g of plain flour
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of olive oil
Add all the ingredients into the metal bowl, run BREAD/BRIOCHE programme. The programme will pause halfway through, giving you the option of add herbs/spices at this point if desired. Press AUTO to resume.
Let the dough prove inside the metal bowl, run EXPERT | 30 mins/ 0 / 30°C
Remove the dough from the metal bowl, place onto a floured surface and portion into 6 equal portions. Stretch or roll out into 5mm thick pittas and place on a lined baking tray.
Bake at 250C for 3-5 mins, ideally on a pre-heated baking stone or heavy-duty oven tray.
Serve immediately.
What's next
Over the next few months, we're lining up some great content from Magimix brand ambassadors. We'll also be sharing some delicious recipes too for the sunny summer days ahead. Bon appetit.
By Arabella Dymoke
June 2023
