Microwave Cooking Techniques

Can I brown or sear food in the microwave?

Browning food in the Microwave is a bug bear. There used to be, and I don't know if there are, browning dishes. And they had like a metal film with holes marked in it on the bottom. And you could preheat those and you could sear food in it. You can of course burn food in the Microwave oven. Which will turn it brown, but not necessarily in the way you want. Frankly my dear, if you want brown food, choose another method.

What foods are best suited for the microwave?

The vegetarian food is a terrific solution in the Microwave. Fish is a great solution in the Microwave. Dinner for one or two and how many times are you going to give large parties at which you wish you want to cook the side of an ox.

What foods are not well-suited for the microwave?

I would never cook a good piece of steak in the Microwave oven. It doesn't do it well, why try? That was one of the mistakes that the oven manufacturers, it seemed to me, made when the ovens first came out. They said, "It did everything!" It doesn't do everything, but it makes one terrific ear of corn, or several ears of corn, which are more easily shucked after it's cooked. Best asparagus in the world, best artichokes in the world, fabulous fish. So a lot of things that a Microwave oven cooks brilliantly, there are as many that it cooks in a disastrous fashion: don't do it.

Can a recipe for microwave cooking be multiplied?

Multiplying a microwave cooking recipe, ie; for more people. Is not a lot of fun. And it's not easy. It doesn't go times two, times three, times four. It's odd. And every time I made a different size dish, or a different portion. I had to test and retest, and retest, till I got it right. And I think it is rigid, there's no doubt about it. But that's one of the reasons people like my book, is that they know if they follow it, they'll get a good result.