Microwaves are not just for reheating leftovers, making popcorn
“Microwaves are the end of humankind,” said do-gooder world-famous chef Jose Andres.
He was responding to his daughter’s tweet, Eater reported, when she joined a Twitter-wide prank around Thanksgiving in which millennials asked parents how to cook a 25-pound turkey in the microwave. “She almost gave me a heart attack,” Mr. Andres said once he was in on the joke.
Microwaving a turkey is a terrible idea. But it’s more than just the bird: Talk to a restaurant chef and a good handful of home cooks, and they, too, are suspicious of microwave cooking.
But I’m betting that a silent majority of people regularly use their microwaves as a go-to cooking method. One of them happens to be my mother, who has recently adopted the microwave to cook dry pasta in boiling water or to heat then froth milk for morning coffee. She’s included among the 90 percent of Americans who have a microwave in their homes, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. I am not.
It’s a new year, however, and I’m inspired to cut back on dining out, which, with my restaurant-critic job, means bringing lunch to the office more often. Rather than making meals ahead, since the office has a couple microwaves, I’m going to take my cues from people
who actually microwave real food that does not come in a box, such as David Greene, host of NPR Morning Edition, who several years ago professed to microwaving scrambled eggs in his office mug. At one point he even expanded his repertoire to include “mac and cheese with mushrooms in an office mug,” as well as “brownie in an office mug.”
I’ll look for guidance from former food writer for the Post-Gazette, Woodene Merriman, who touted the utility of the microwave and even compiled a book in 1988 she called “Zap It: Adventures in Microwave Cooking,” with a fantastic cover with a microwave flying in outer space. It is a collection of her relevant columns, “to help readers who are ready to use their microwaves for something more than reheating coffee.”
While I couldn’t find a copy to peruse entries like “Zap with a gourmet touch,” or “Corn on the cob — five ways,” I searched the PG archives to unearth topical recipes here.
In the spirit of bistro fare that’s everywhere, I’m suggesting a frisee salad: And when it comes to the bacon and the poached egg, I’ll take Ms. Merriman’s advice and zap it.
“Tasting Paris: 100 Recipes to Eat Like a Local” is by blogger Clotilde DuSoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini. It’s one of a handful of cookbooks that have come out in the past couple of years that highlight bistronomy, the reinvention of the French bistro. If you can’t find frisee — it’s a hard find at Market District, for example — sub in arugula and consider this a breakfast salad.