Do most people use their microwaves often? Or am I just now coming round to what most people know?
I bought my microwave at a sidewalk sale for 10 bucks. I simply asked the sellers if it still worked, and they assured me that it did. That was good enough for me. My previous model had just stopped working a few weeks before and Abby and I had nowhere to make popcorn. Though I used it only rarely, a microwave felt like something one should have.
Fortunately, this one did work and for most of its time in my apartment it has done its job admirably when called upon. Mostly it has provided a decent shelf for all my plastic baggies, foil, and plastic wrap. It's big, loud, and probably takes up too much room on my counter. I'm so embarrased about how it looks, I can't possibly post a picture of it. I've fantasized about living microwave free many times, but there is always the time when I need to quickly melt butter, warm up leftovers, or heat up a single cup of water for tea. Basically, it seems like a bigger pain to get rid of it then it would be to just leave it be.
That was until a few weeks ago. Now it seems like I can't stop punching in numbers and hitting "Start".
It all started with the beginning of asparagus season. It's hard to come home from market without a bundle of asparagus. I usually just roast them in the oven until they get crispy. I have had some incredible luck, including the insanely good Roasted Asparagus with Miso Butter. But I wanted to try something more delicate. Steaming seemed the natural choice, so I pulled out my oft-used Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka to see what she had to say.
I generally cook asparagus in a microwave oven - fast and impeccable.
This shouldn't have surprised me. Kafka wrote a book called Microwave Gourmet, after all. But still, how could this be? I had always assumed that while the microwave might have been the fastest, the cleanest, and even the most convenient method of cooking food, it was far from the perfect way.
The nice thing about asparagus in the microwave oven is that they require no water, ...stay bright green, retain all their vitamins and don't have to be bunched, since they're not floating around.
It's comically easy.
Take a half pound of asparagus. Break off their tough stems by bending them until the hard part breaks off.
Peel the stems, leaving the heads untouched.
Stick them in a microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap. Cook for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Carefully prick the plastic wrap with a knife to let the steam esacpe. Then remove plastic wrap and serve. That's it.
They come out tender, bright green, and not the least bit soggy. It's kind of astonishing. They are perfect for whatever sauce you want to top them with. Homemade mayonnaise or hollandaise would be the classic course. A good vinaigrette wouldn't be bad. Hell, just butter and sea salt would be great.
Obviously, the microwave does a lot of things very poorly. It doesn't brown meat, and is poor at adding flavor. But for some vegetables it works a little too well. Asparagus isn't the only vegetable I've had luck with. Broccoli came out tender and flavorful, as did some bok choy. It's fair to say I've used my microwave more in the past two weeks than in the previous two years.
Do any of you use the microwave to delicious results?
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m going backwards, I think. The only thing I consistently microwave is potatoes, esp on a weekend morning if I feel like hash browns. And I’ve recently taken to roasting frozen cauliflower florets in a hot oven; take it out of the package, plop it in a casserole. give it ten minutes, toss with a fork to evenly distribute (otherwise the edges will cook much faster than the middle) another ten and then then add a few slices of chedder and give it a minute under the broiler or a little salt, pepper and olive oil. You can microwave frozen veg, but the amount of frost is usually such that you get too much water/steam. The hot oven evaporates steam as it goes.
And I’ve taken up popping corn in a pan in a tablespoon of hot oil — takes the same amount of time and you get to use a bit of real butter as opposed to that saffron death powder.
Lovely asparagus
Mike and I haven’t had a microwave in our home since moving in together. We just haven’t had the space for it, and honestly, aside from reheating the odd leftover, we wouldn’t use it much. We tend to defrost things in a water bath, or warm leftovers on the stove or in the oven (the ones I don’t bring to the office for lunch, that is).
To me the sweet potato is incomparable when microwaved. I often have one sans butter or salt. They just taste naturally perfect. Plastic wrap ensures excellence but eschewing wrap works well also.
I steam veggies in the microwave all the time. A glass or pyrex dish, the veggies, and plastic wrap over the top, just as you described. I have done asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, edamame, beans and peas … heck just about anything that needs to be steamed can be done quickly in the microwave.
Could I get along w/out one? Sure. But having one makes eating healthier easier and faster for me.
I use the micowave to make roux for gumbo rather than the laborious method of the stovetop (standing around and stirring for 20 minutes is very tedious). 1 cup of canola oil, 1 cup of all purpose flour, mix in a pyrex dish, and microwave for 45 seconds at a time and stir again. The roux will go from golden to brown to brick red to black, with out burning. The length of time you cook roux depends on the color you need. Check out Prodhomme’s Louisiana Cooking cookbook for the proper roux for any recipe (generally light color roux for red meats and darker roux for poultry).
Thanks, Nick! I have been constantly making soggy asparagus and have had no clue what to do. This will be perfect. Just last night I made some broccoli in the microwave and it was glorious. I hope all is well! I love this site-I just showed it to my boss:-)
I use my microwave to cook corn on the cob and rice. For corn on the cob, just put the whole unpeeled cob(s) in the microwave and nuke on high for 2-3 minutes per cob. Peel afterwards. It’s the best way to cook it by far. And for basmati or jasmine or any other long grain rice, one cup of rice, two cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt in a large bowl. Nuke on high for 16 minutes, stopping it for a stir half way through. Cover, rest for a couple of minutes, then fluff up. Perfect rice, and I can’t figure out why people think they need special machines for it. If you double the rice you double the water, but only add one or two minutes to the cooking time – you are still using the boiling water to cook the rice. Baked potatoes and sweet potatoes I prefer with a crispy skin you can only get in the oven, but you can reduce the baking time by heaps if you microwave them for a bit first. Popcorn I’d still rather do in a pot – it’s more fun.
P.S. Why do you peel off most of your asparagus? You’ve already broken off the tough bits of stem. You’re throwing away perfectly good asparagus.
C. : I actually can’t remember the last time I had popcorn.
Jennifer Hess: I still defrost most things in a water bath. I hate how the microwave partially cooks things when defrosting.
Jumper: Sweet potatoes…that’s really interesting. I need to try that out.
Kara: Yeah, I think that’s exactly how I feel.
Darrin Kellogg: That is insane. I love dark rouxs but they do take a long time on the stuff. I’ll try this next time.
Elaine Oakley: Hey! How’s it going? Glad it helped out.
Bronwyn: Yeah, I have a rice cooker which I always use. I’ve never heard of it in the microwave, but just shows how much I know. I think I need the Microwave Gourmet book.
About the peeling, I do whatever Barbara Kafka says. She’s awesome. I guess I should specify that she peels only the thick kind of asparagus. Don’t worry about the pencil shaped ones.
Hey good post, as there are some things that you can use a microwave for. I went for a weekend lunch at my aunt’s the other day and she cooked a wonderful loin of pork with crackling. I was helping her in the kitchen while the meat was resting and she cut off the crackling (which looked really good, most of it was really crackly, but with some bits that just had a bit of soggy-ness) and placed it in the microwave for around 10-15 seconds. I couldn’t believe it, but it made the crackling unbelieivably crunchy. If you don’t want to cook your meat on super high heat (and therefore may not get the best crackling) try this method, I have no idea why or how it works, but I was suitably impressed.
We use a microwave a little bit, but something in the back of my mind is that the microwave robs more nutrients from the vegetables than regular cooking…. Is this true?
I use my microwave quite often, especially in the summer. Here in Southern California it can get quite hot for periods of time and I don’t have air conditioning, nor do I want the accompanying electricity bills. My small kitchen has a total of 6 pilot lights burning (5 on stove and one in dryer) so it tends to get warm.
Microwave to the rescue! Besides, vegetables are MORE nutritious cooked that way!
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and artichokes take much less time to cook. My fresh and frozen vegetables come out nicely steamed. My corn on the cob is perfect in its husk (with the corn silk removed). Spaghetti squash is so much easier. If I have a large amount of whole potatoes to cook, I use the pressure cooker and it only takes 10 minutes for all.
I can bake a cake in summer without the oven. I like making the “cake for one” in a mug. I buy gingerbread mix and “bake” it in the microwave in a Pyrex pan in 7 minutes. Great when someone drops by.
I never burn my rice anymore since I cook it in the microwave (1 cup rice, 2 cups water, ½ tsp. Salt for white rice) in 15 minutes. I found a great recipe for Spanish Rice for the microwave that takes 20 to 25 minutes. You can also cook almost any grain just for 1 person in the microwave—barley for one, oats for one, polenta for one, etc. I understand you can cook risotto in the microwave without all the stirring, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I freeze my ground beef in 4 oz. (½ cup) flattened portions, 4 to a quart freezer bag and these are easy to defrost in the microwave just before cooking without starting to cook them in the microwave. Often I turn them over when the microwave beeps at the halfway point. I avoid trying to defrost any large cuts of meat and use the water in bowl method in the frig. overnight for them.
Poaching chicken breasts quickly for chicken salad or soup or any recipe that calls for cooked chicken is great, too (the Barbara Kafka way).
I understand you can make fudge (5 minutes) and peanut brittle (10 minutes) in the microwave but I haven’t tried it yet.
I don’t recommend cooking eggs in the microwave, however. I have a little egg shaped cooker that you crack an egg into and then pierce the yolk with a toothpick and put the lid on. It is supposed to give you a hard cooked style egg you can use for egg salad. It is hit and miss. Sometimes it works and sometimes it blows up and I have to clean the microwave oven!
C – look up Alton Brown’s homemade microwave popcorn if you’re curious – a brown paper bag and a little oil is all it takes. I’m a little biased since my only ER visit (other than driving someone else) was because of making popcorn on the stove.
Honestly, I mostly use the microwave to heat leftovers. I live alone, so I usually eat one serving when I make it, refrigerate one for the next day, and freeze the other two. I’ve tried microwaving asparagus and other veggies, but I usually prefer to saute them with olive oil and sea salt, or sometimes just boil them until they’re barely tender.
Darrin’s roux was worth noting; I have done that. Lately I have been experimenting with caramelizing onion in the microwave with butter. So far so good; it works with one stirring halfway through. I used a small pyrex or corning cereal bowl.
(Since I cooked it yesterday and wrote it today, here’s a squash & corn pudding.)
http://jumpersbloghouse.blogspot.com/2009/05/butternut-corn-pudding.html
Peter P: That is surprising. I’ll do about anything for good crackling.
David: That’s what I thought, too. But there is evidence to the contrary. Or at least, Kafka believes so.
Linda: Thanks for the ideas!
Hillary: I’ve tried the Alton Brown method and it does work!
Jumper: Awesome! Thanks for the link.
^I can’t find the NYTimes article right now, but I read about a year ago that it’s a common myth that microwaves destroy nutrients. The article said that heat is the primary thing that denatures vitamins and such, and since microwaves heat food faster, exposing it to less heat (and also the fact that microwaves don’t use heat to heat food, they just vibrate the polar molecules to create kinetic energy within the food itself), the nutrients are preserved. Most traditional methods of cooking which may produce more flavor with caramelization actually destroy more of the nutrients.
My current flat doesn’t have a microwave, and it was a bit hard to get used to (especially when you need some softened butter ASAP) but I am too cheap to buy one for the last few months remaining on the rental.
I boiled some asparagus the other night and it was way too soggy, and Peter P’s crackling tip sounds awesome… maybe I should invest in a microwave after all!
I use my microwave to pre-cook grilling ingredients – potatoes mostly – I steam red potatoes then skewer with other ingredients that grill quickly, brush with olive oil and seasoning and put on the grill.
Or you can throw them in the oven to crisp on the outside and it doesn’t take an hour to roast and the inside stays creamy and moist!
Gerry: I actually think I read the same article, but just like you, I can’t seem to find it. Hopefully we are both right.
Jenny: I don’t think there is much I dislike more than limp asparagus. That’s originally what got me to the microwave method.
Katie: I only microwave potatoes when I want to accelerate the process, exactly like you recommend. I usually cut them up for hash browns, but grilling is always a good choice.
I use the microwave to to cook fresh zuchinni, fresh yellow squash and fresh okra.
Cover dish with plastic wrap (zuchinni and yellow squash naturally have a lot of water content so I don’t add water). I start with 2 min. and check for doneness and add more time if needed. Top with salt and butter
Fresh okra (I put in whole, tops and all ) needs a very small amount of water. (a tablespoon or so) I start with one min and increase time as needed. I like tender crisp, but not slimey okra. Top with salt and butter. Yum!
Fish works remarkably well in a microwave! Here’s an explanation and some tips:
http://www.bassonhook.com/fishforfood/microwavecooking.html
I also often steam veggies in the nuke.
Hey, I just stumbled upon your blog and I really like it! Great posts! I always cook corn in the microwave. I think it’s the best way to cook it. Here’s my post about that:
http://jgleeche.blogspot.com/2007/08/corn-in-microwave.html
I also like to steam fish in the microwave when I’m cooking Chinese style.
http://jgleeche.blogspot.com/2009/05/microwave-steam-fish-chilean-sea-bass.html
Everyone thinks I’m insane when I say this, but I really love making salmon in the microwave, especially handy when it’s done for single-serving fillets… I just rub them with a little olive oil (love the basil olive oil), sprinkle with salt & pepper, and some dried basil. Nuke for a few minutes, and when you start to see the white goo leak out the sides, it’s about done. I really love the taste of salmon, so I don’t do too much to it, and it always comes out really wonderfully this way – juicy, flaky, and as long as you don’t leave it in too long, it’s never overcooked.
I also love doing vegetables in the microwave. Usually, when they are done, I don’t even add butter, just a little salt, because their taste is so perfect as-is.
**I know this post is old, I stumbled onto your blog today and I’ve been reading older entries**