Microwave tips - first recipes

My next first recipe book is the only other copy of the Microwave series that I spoke about in my last first recipe post. This one has even less reason for being kept than the previous one because all I kept it for was the tip on the back page - perfect poppadoms. This is not technically a first recipe - or even a recipe - it's a technique. And when I fed poppadoms into Google, the very first thing that came up was the same tip - this time from delicious magazine which said:

"This is a seriously hassle-free way to puff up ready-to-cook poppadums. There’s no need to add any oil so think of all those calories you save, too – microwaved crispy poppadums are only 32 calories each." delicious

And indeed it is. I discovered that even Madhur Jaffrey cooks them like this these days. You're supposed to deep fry them - much more washing up and very unhealthy. And absolutely nobody expects you to make your own. They are made from flour made with urad dahl or other pulses, rolled out thin and then dried in the sun. So buy them in your local supermarket.

So how do you cook them - On a paper towel arrange two large or three small poppadoms on the paper, making sure they do not overlap. Microwave on high for 45-60 seconds until puffy. Stand on a wire rack for 15 seconds.

I guess I don't have anything else to say about poppadoms really other than that I don't cook them very much anymore for some reason and that they are always served up in Indian restaurants whilst you peruse the menu, accompanied by some chutneys. You can of course serve them with any kind of dip you fancy.

But since this is a first recipe post I should look at the first recipe. Well even the first recipe was not really a recipe this time - it was how to freeze bread dough - not very microwave you would think. It came under a section kind of heading 'Freezing Know How" - also not very microwave. Really what it is trying to promote is making bread with the help of your microwave, and the following pages do have various recipes - these rolls are some of them. And no they were not browned in the microwave, but under the grill. The microwave is useful for thawing frozen dough of course, although you just could take it out of the freezer in time to thaw it naturally. And if you have a microwave with a very low setting you can prove it in the microwave. But again better to do it by other means. David sits in a sink of hot water with a tray over the top.

It has been interesting revisiting these two magazines though. Back in the day when they were new it was going to be a brave new world and we were going to cook everything in the microwave. These days it's just another tool that virtually every kitchen has to heat things up and thaw things out. Also used by the less good cafés and restaurants for the same purpose. I must confess that it's quite good at reheating some kinds of leftovers - those that don't need browning on top or crisping in some way. Mine gets used a fair bit, but never for cooking.

And just to pursue the 'life is full of coincidences' theme. In this particular edition there was a recipe for an orange mousse. Well I guess it was from that era - the 70s. And although it did include gelatine in the mix it was the basic yolks + sugar with whites folded in later approach.

I wonder if microwaves will pop up coincidentally in the near future as I soldier on with this blog?