Microwave Magic

The microwave oven was invented about 50 years ago, launching a totally new faster way of cooking in more than a million years. Unlike a conventional oven, it cooks the food inside without getting hot itself and does not require preheating. To do so, it uses shorter wavelength of electromagnetic radiation than other home appliances, television and radio for example. Because a) the water molecules inside food line up with the direction of an electric field, b) the microwaves in the oven produce an electric field that reverses its direction 4.9 billion times a second, a lot of anarchic microscopic telescopic movement happens, and therefore heat is created and propagated to the whole dish, albeit not simultaneously. That is why you have to mix the content to obtain an even temperature and not get burnt by isolated pockets of heated fat for example.

Any aliment that contents water will cook in the microwave. The following recipes are dedicated to those of you who only use your microwave to warm tea or coffee (a not very efficient or tasty use of your appliance) or reheat cooked food. Not surprisingly I particularly like preparing shellfish in the microwave (they are mostly water) and vegetables (for the same reason). The consistence of shrimps and scallops is particularly amazing. Every bite procures a little burst of ocean taste. Besides savor, microwave cooking provides fast, healthy and low calorie food. Each recipe serves two people.

Green winter soup (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 17 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 cups (474 ml) chicken stock
1 cup (237 gm) green tops (beet root, radishes…)
1 cup (237 mg) of spinach
1 cup (237 gm) of celery
1 half onion peeled and sliced
¼ (60 g) cup of parsley
½ (120 ml) cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
Salad bowl
Board and paring knife
Blender or food processor

Clean and cut all the vegetables. Put the vegetables in the salad bowl. Cover with the chicken stock and cook on high in the microwave for 15 minutes.
Pour in the food processor in batches or in the blender all together. Add the cream. Correct the seasonings. Mix well. Serve immediately.

Squash quiche (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
½ (113 mg) cup Gouda cheese or sharp cheddar grated
1teaspoon caraway seeds
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 egg
¼ (60 ml) cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
Salad bowl
Parchment paper

Sharp spoon (melon balls or grapefruit spoon)
Paring knife

Halve the squash. Remove the seeds with the spoon and wash, dry and toast in a pan with a little oil for 5 minutes. With a sharp spoon carve balls out of the squash. The difficulty is to keep the skin of the vegetable intact. Set the acorn halves on the parchment paper inside the microwave. Cook on high for about 7 minutes. Open the microwave and check for doneness: the squash flesh should be yielding to the knife.
In a salad bowl, crack and beat the egg, add the milk, caraway seeds, red pepper and grated cheese. Stir until well mixed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour half of the batter in each squash cavity. Cook on high for another 3 minutes or until the custard has settled.
Serve with a salad sprinkled with the toasted seeds and the dressing of your choice.

Simply shrimps and broccoli (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
1 lbs (454 mg) shrimps
1 lbs (454 mg) broccoli
1 clove of garlic
Few drops of olive oil
2 branches of dill

Material:
1 porcelain or glass dish large enough to contain the ingredients
Plastic film to loosely cover the dish while cooking
Paring knife
Wooden spoon

Peel and clean the shrimps, removing the black vein on the back of the shrimp. Place them on the dish.
Peel the garlic and slice finely. Sprinkle over the shrimps.
Clean the broccoli, keeping only the florets. Place them on the dish.
Wash the dill. Keep the fronds and cut them finely. Sprinkle over the dish. Pour a few drops of olive oil.
Place in the microwave and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Open the microwave and toss around the content of the dish. Microwave on high for an additional two minutes. The shrimps should have turned orange and the broccoli greener with a wet swimsuit model look.
To be bio correct, choose native shrimps.

Scallop salad (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
1 lbs (454 mg) scallop
Drops of olive oil
2 tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
½ lbs (170 mg) spinach salad

Fruity sauce:
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Drops of Maggi aromatics

Material:
Salad bowl
Paring knife and cutting board
Set of tongs
Newspaper
Glass or porcelain dish
Plastic film to loosely cover the dish while cooking

Clean the scallops and lay them on the porcelain dish. Peel and mince the garlic clove and the shallot and sprinkle on top of the scallops. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil. Using the tongs, place the tomatoes on the lit burner of a gas stove. When the skin cracks, after about a minute, remove and place on a colander. Repeat the operation with the red pepper, charring it on each side. When it is black allover, wrap in a newspaper. Peel the tomatoes. The skin should separate from the flesh very easily. Cut the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Place the tomato pieces in the scallop dish. When the red pepper is cool enough to handle, unwrap from the newspaper. Remove the charred skin and the seeds under running water. Cut in pieces and add to the scallop dish.
Pour the two vinegars in the salad bowl with salt and pepper. Stir and add the olive oil, drops of aromatics and fresh orange juice. Stir well. Add the washed and dried spinach leaves and toss.
Place the scallop dish in the microwave. Microwave on high for two minutes. Open the microwave and stir the content of the dish. Microwave on high for another two minutes. Pour the content of the dish on top of the spinach leaves.
Note: to skin a tomato, to skin a pepper. The other method for removing the tomato skin is to plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute. I prefer it when I am using large quantities for a tomato sauce. For a salad, I much favor the charred method, which does not add water to the fruit and does not cook it. For skinning a pepper, you can also put it under the broiler of your oven for 30 to 40 minutes, turning it over at mid-point. This method is again more appropriate when skinning a lot of peppers and has the same outcome as the tomato boiling method: it cooks the flesh of the pepper. This is an advantage when preparing a red pepper sauce.

Speedy chocolate cake (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 6 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
3 oz (85 g) 70% cacao chocolate
2 tablespoons coffee
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Milk as needed
1 egg white

Material:
Glass salad bowl
Eggbeater
2 individual silicone molds

Break the chocolate in pieces and place in the salad bowl with the coffee. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and add milk to obtain a chocolate sauce. Bring the chocolate to a temperature of 148F(50C) and mix in the orange zest. Pour slowly the liquid chocolate into the egg white while beating, as if making a mayonnaise. Pour the emulsion in two individual silicone molds and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Reverse each mold on a dessert plate, dust with confectioner sugar and serve immediately.