Microwave cooking

[Handyman]

I just bought a new 1200 watt microwave oven that can do some serious cooking and never really have used one before for real cooking other than the little things. I also realize that microwave cooking doesn't produce the correct texture or browning as conventional cooking.

Do you have a favorite dish that you like that works good with a micro ?

[RobS]

<font color="blue"> Do you have a favorite dish that you like that works good with a micro </font color>

About the only dish I cook in our new, fancy microwave... melted butter. Oh yeah, it does a pretty good job on microwave popcorn and reheating leftovers. Ours has one-touch buttons for those dishes.

Other than that, I rarely use the thing. I've yet to find a "dish" that tasted good coming out of the 'wave. For me it's just a utensil, not the wonder cooker they were originally touted as [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[wingnut]

popcorn ..... fast and easy ....
sometimes heating some water for a cup of hot chocolate
...
and warming my sandwiches at lunch at work.

But I know my wife uses it almost all the time. She uses it to cook things wherein the appearance and texture are not affected ... rice, for example.

[Maggie]

Yes! I have one recipe that works great in the microwave - Mushroom Chicken. You serve it over either white rice or egg noodles.

1 chicken, cut in pieces
1/2 stick margarine
salt and pepper to taste
1 can Campbells' Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 small can evaporated milk
1 can Dawn Fresh Mushroom Steak Sauce

Melt margarine in a 2 to a 3 quart cassarole dish (that has a lid)
Place chicken in dish on melted margarine and salt and pepper that side. Cook COVERED for 12 to 13 minutes on HIGH.
Turn the chicken pieces and salt and pepper the flip side. Cook COVERED for another 12 or 13 minutes on HIGH.
Mix the soup, steak sauce and evap. milk together in a bowl. Pour off most of the margarine and discard. Pour soup/sauce/milk mixture over chicken and cook for another 12 to 13 minutes UNCOVERED. Serve over rice or noodles. I usually fix a green vegetable to go with it and it will serve at least 5 people. Enjoy! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Handyman]

Now this is what I am talking about.. LOL [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Good thing I was planning on going grocery shopping later. I'm going to try it with chicken breasts later this week.

Thanks, Andy

[ScottAR]

Chex mix goes really good... [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I can't eat the store bought stuff, it tastes wrong.

[Fred]

That chicken recipe sounds pretty good, I think I'll try that on top of the stove. It doesn't seem like you're saving that much time doing it in the microwave. Steak sauce on chicken, I'm getting hungry!

[lblair]

I dont use them for much cooking either, but i have found the Nuke will jump start baked potatoes pretty good. It will cut the convetional oven time in half. I dont have to start baked potatoes long before every thing else to get them the way i like them.

[MDSteve]

I never used my microwave to cook but my wife can. I call her the microwave queen. Whole chicken is her best dish. I did just get here a microwave/convection oven and it is cool. I will even cook with it.

Steve

[Pat]

Microwave cooking... Well, it does 4 strips of turkey bacon on a paper towl in 3 -3 1/2 minutes. It does oatmeal in the bowl so there isn't a pan to wash. Potatoes are fast and easy. You can make mashed taters in small quantities faster than in boiling water. You can put a raw egg in a custard cup and cook in microwave at reduced power. It cooks and fills with steam and swells up all hollow. You intercept it befor the explosion and cut an x on top, pry it open and stuff with goodies like flavored mashed potatos with bacon, cheese, and...well you get the idea.

I bought a terra cotta colored fired clay (smooth glaze on the inside, pourous on the outside) covered dish expresly for cooking chicken. Put a whole chicken in it and microwave away. I have a pressure cooker made for use in a microwave oven. Talk about fast cooking rice or...

Our microwave is a bottle neck because we use it so much and not only for hot breakfasts and automatic computer controlled defrosting and popcorn. There will be at least two wall mounted 1200 cooking watt microwaves in my new kitchen. But then that is just me... I have three large Belgian wafle makers because I don't like to not be able to serve several people waffles at the same time. It is at least a 50-60% chance that I will have 3 microwaves in the kitchen. They are cheap and I hate having only one when I need a second one several times a week. I will also put a couple in the basement kitchenette.

Patrick