Cooking thread

Quote: Face

My distaste for microwaves is only eclipsed by my distaste for air conditioning. They are vile, hateful appliances not fit for self respecting individuals. God, I hate microwaves

Its either a microwave for me or some sort of solar oven which means I would have a rain soaked mass of well-fed flies and mosquitoes and some nearby inquiring gators. No Thanks.

Sign at small airport's pilot's lounge: Left to Real Food in 15 minutes; Right to Microwaved Goo in 30 seconds.

I'll take the microwaved goo each and every time. It all tastes like cardboard and you have to read the label to know what you are eating but at least its over and done with real quick.

Microwaves are the go-to tool for reheating leftovers and making perfectly steamed vegetables. Otherwise there's not much else that can't be done better with a different tool.

Quote: Fleastiff

...but at least its over and done with real quick.

You said the only thing which could make me understand the use of a microwave.

But still... my childhood best friend's mom cooked everything in the microwave. Mac and cheese, steaks, even roast beast. That is just unacceptable on so many levels.

Quote: Fleastiff

I ain't got nuttin' but a microwave to cook with.... and I can tell you all them gadgets what claim to let you microwave eggs, they don't work. And every few months when you have to clean them, they never get clean at all.

I've used two different microwave egg cookers. The small two compartment one worked well -- but I guess you could say it always looks stained.

My sister gifted me with one that looks like a bathysphere. An egg blew up in that one within about 2 weeks of using it, and I stopped using it.

Anyone own the fancy microwaves -- I forget what the heck they do different. They cook differently as I remember or something.

You can always put the eggs into a bowl scramble a little milk into it and put it in the microwave but the outer edges get very dry, the center stays quite liquid. Sorta averages out okay when you eat it, but the taste is terrible.

Quote: Mosca

Otherwise there's not much else that can't be done better with a different tool.

I agree. But when all you have is a microwave, then that's what you use.

I could get a hot plate and a small pan. But then I'd have to wash that afterward. Or, worse, leave it for the cleaning lady to wash afterward. She works hard enough as it is.

I made spaghetti Carbonara yesterday. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, even though I didn't drain the pasta as I usually do. I used plain sliced bacon. And I found eggs really like to combine with cheese. The trick, it seems, is to put the pasta in the pan and pour the egg/cheese mixture on it. It was really good.

Next time I may try using thick bacon pieces rather than slices The thing about slices is they clump together if you cut them into smaller pieces, no matter how hard you try to keep them separate.

Quote: rxwine

Anyone own the fancy microwaves -- I forget what the heck they do different. They cook differently as I remember or something.

I think some can do convection cooking, which just means they use hot air to cook. You can't heat air with microwaves(*) (otherwise your oven would be oven-hot every time you made popcorn), therefore it must use another heating element for this. Very likely a thick resistor like the ones used in toaster ovens.

(*) Actually all a microwave can do is heat water. The water molecule is electrically asymmetrical, thus it responds to electromagnetic radiation. Food is organic tissue, thus it's rich in water. The microwave "cooks" faster because it heats up all the water in food at once, because microwaves penetrate the food.

Despite my vow never to cook ground chicken again, ever, I did just that yesterday.

I'm still not happy about it. Chicken meat hardly deserves the name. It's more like very viscous, sticky glop. This is so even with whole chicken pieces. The worse thing is the ground chicken sticks to everything. I had to use two sets of disposable gloves just to get through it. I wonder if I could put something on the gloves so the chicken won't stick, maybe oil or butter? What I found ground chicken sticks least to is more ground chicken...

Kathy's quick and easy sausage dinner:

Two sausages, diced.
BBQ sauce
Mustard
Shredded cheese
Chopped onion


Mix everything but the cheese together in a microwave safe bowl or soup plate, tossing well to coat the sausage bits. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Microwave for 1:30-2:00 minutes.

Done.

I made it yesterday after again arriving home too late. I didn't want to make yet another sandwich or shredded carrot with lime.