Panasonic NN-SM332 User Manual download pdf (Page 28)

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Microwave

Recipe Preparation

and

Techniques

Converting Your Favourite Conventional

Recipes for Microwave Cooking

When adapting conventional recipes for microwave cook-

ing, reduce the conventional cooking time by one quarter

or one third.

e.g. A chicken which takes 1 hour to cook in a moderate

oven will take 15 to 20 minutes on MEDIUM Power in

your microwave oven.

Use similar microwave recipes to help you adapt conven-

tional recipes. Remember, it is always best to undercook a

recipe and then add an extra minute or two to finish it off.

Here are some other tips that may help:

• Reduce liquids in a conventional recipe by one half to

two thirds, e.g. 1cup (250 ml) should be reduced to

⁄2

cup (125 ml).

• Add more thickening such as flour or cornflour to sauces

and gravies if you do not reduce the liquid.

• Reduce seasonings slightly in a recipe where ingredients

do not have time to simmer by microwave.

• Do not salt meats, poultry or vegetables before cooking;

otherwise, they will toughen and dry out.

• If one ingredient takes longer to cook than the others,

precook it in the microwave oven first. Onion, celery and

potato are examples.

• If meat or vegetables are not being browned before

cooking, omit any oil or fat that would have been used

for browning.

• Reduce leavening agents for cakes by one quarter and

increase liquids by one quarter.

• Biscuits require a stiff dough. Increase flour by about 20

percent. Substitute brown sugar for white sugar and use

biscuit recipes that have dark spices or require icing.

Because of the short cooking time, biscuits don’t have to

brown. Chill dough for half an hour before baking. This

produces a crisper biscuit. Bake biscuits on a glass tray

lined with greaseproof paper.

• Since microwaves penetrate foods about two centime-

tres from the top, bottom and sides, mixtures in round

shapes and rings cook more evenly. Corners receive

more energy and may overcook.

• Items with a lot of water, such as rice and pasta, cook in

about the same time as they would on a conventional

stove. (Refer to Rice and Pasta chapter.)

Select recipes that convert easily to microwave cooking

such as casseroles, stews, baked chicken, fish and veg-

etable dishes. The results from foods such as grilled

meats, cooked souffles or two-crust pies could be less

than satisfactory. Never

attempt to deep fry in your

microwave oven.

Menu Planning for Microwave Cooking

How to Keep Everything Hot at The Same Time

Plan your meals so that the food will not all need last

minute cooking or attention at the same time. The special

features of microwave cookery make it easy to serve

meals with everything piping hot. Cooking of some foods

may be interrupted while you start others, without harming

the nutritional value or flavour of either.

A recipe which requires standing time can be microwaved

first and another food cooked while it stands. Dishes pre-

pared in advance can be reheated briefly before serving.

It does take some experience and time to cook with confi-

dence. Microwaves are fast so you will have to do some

experimenting. You might find you will use your conven-

tional range in conjunction with your microwave oven. For

example, while cooking the roast in the microwave oven,

you can be cooking the vegetables and gravy on the

range top. This can also be done the other way around.

Prepare your meals as follows.

1. Firstly, cook the most dense item (roast or casserole).

Drain and retain meat juice from joints then cover with

foil.

2. Cook the potatoes, rice or pasta.

3. Cover with foil for standing.

4. Cook greens and other vegetables.

5. Cover with foil for standing.

6. Cook the gravy with the retained meat juices, stock and

thickening.

7. Carve the roast and serve the vegetables and gravy.

While you are learning to plan meals, you may get a bit

behind time. Don’t worry. Dinner servings may be suitably

reheated on MEDIUM-HIGH, at 2 minutes per serving.

If you prefer not to use foil, cover food with saucepan lids.

A metal lid will retain the heat for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, how can you cook all the vegetables at the

same time? Simply place potatoes and pumpkin in one

dish and less dense vegetables such as broccoli, cab-

bage, cauliflower, beans and peas in another. Sprinkle

greens with water. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Cook

on HIGH for approximately 6 to 8 minutes for a serving for

four people. Remember, if you increase the quantity of

vegetables, increase the cooking time. Fresh and frozen

vegetables can be mixed on a vegetable platter, but

remember the latter are not as dense as fresh vegetables,

as they have been blanched before freezing.

If vegetables are cut to a similar size, they can be cooked

in separate ramekins or small dishes at the same time.

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Panasonic NN-SM332 User Manual Page 28

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