Barbara Harris blames the manufacturers for all those microwave ovens gathering dust on kitchen counters. "Manufacturers stopped giving lessons with the purchase of a new microwave oven, and people never learned how to use them," Harris says.
She should know. Barbara Harris was probably the best-known name in the heyday of real cooking in the microwave, the 1970s and 1980s. She was one of the first microwave teachers herself and wrote a microwave guidebook, "Let's Cook Microwave," that sold more than 800,000 copies. It came out in four editions and 28 printings.
The book was last updated in 1987. Microwaving techniques have not changed, Harris says, so there's no reason to update again.
In short, microwaves don't work like regular conventional ovens.
In fact, she says attaching the word oven to microwave has probably led a lot of cooks astray.
A microwave is a form of radiant heat similar to a radio wave. Microwaves are attracted to water, sugar and fat molecules, causing those molecules to vibrate. That vibration creates friction which in turn produces the heat which cooks the food. Microwaves create friction on the outside of the food; the inside of the food is cooked by the heat being conducted from the outside in.
Use these techniques to make the most of your microwave:
Cook by weight. A large piece of food takes longer than a small piece.
Rotate the food as it microwaves. Some of the new microwaves have turntables included; if not, turn one-quarter turn each time you rotate during the cooking process.
Allow time for "carryover" cooking. Because the food particles continue to vibrate after the oven is turned off, the food continues to cook for a short time. So food should be zapped to an underdone stage.
Shield sharp corners of food with small pieces of aluminum foil. This is important because less dense pieces cook faster than dense pieces.
As for Harris, though she's still doing some behind-the-scenes consulting for microwave companies, she has turned to other pursuits. Today, she's a media escort in Las Vegas, where she now lives, an indefatigable museum volunteer and world traveler. Her business card doesn't even mention microwaving.
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Breakfast on the run
Getting to know your microwave is important. When it comes to quickie breakfasts, some are faster than others. Take oatmeal, for example.
For breakfast, Barbara Harris zaps 1/4 cup dry oatmeal in 1/2 cup water with a pinch of salt in a large glass bowl for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on high. She lets it rest for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
One man I know puts his bowl of 1/2 cup dry oatmeal and 1 cup water in the microwave, turns it on and takes his shower. When he gets out, his hot oatmeal is ready. Either he takes a quick shower or likes his cereal to have a long standing time after cooking.
For my breakfast, I zap 1/3 cup oatmeal and 2/3 cup water 3 minutes in a microwave-safe cereal bowl. Stir, add skim milk and sliced fresh peaches or other fruit in season. Only one bowl and one spoon to wash!
It's all a matter of taste, as well as knowing your microwave. Other personal breakfast favorites:
For a fluffy scrambled egg, whip 1 egg with 1 tablespoon milk or water in a glass measuring cup and zap for 1 minute, whipping again with the fork after about 40 seconds. Serve immediately. Timing depends on the size and temperature of the egg, and how well-done you like it.
Place strips of bacon on plate covered with two or more paper towels, place more paper towels on top and zap 1 minute per strip. Throw paper towels soaked with fat in trash and enjoy crisp, almost fat-free bacon.
-- Woodene Merriman
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She's become a power shopper. She can tell you the best buys in Bangkok, as well as the best way to prepare a rib roast for dinner. (That's right; she zaps it!)
Harris was shopping, naturally, when I caught up with her in Bangkok early this year. We were on the same food writers' tour to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. It had been probably 20 years since I last saw her in Pittsburgh.
Harris is as enthusiastic as ever about the microwave. She still does almost all her own cooking in the microwave. The conventional oven is reserved for large items, such as a pan of lasagna for a party, and some baking. Stir-fries, which would require a lot of opening and closing of the microwave door, are cooked on top of the stove. "Everything else goes in the microwave," she says.
Even some "baked" items are actually zapped in the Harris kitchen.
"Corn bread and gingerbread are superb when microwaved," she says.
A home economist by training, Harris was a county extension agent in 1972 when she started giving all-day microwaving lessons at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. She went on to introduce microwaving techniques at conventions of big-name chefs and cooking teachers. And she often was snubbed by those who do not consider microwaving real cooking.
Her self-published, paperback cookbook, though, was an immediate hit when it came out in 1974. Cooks across America started zapping meat loaves in a ring shape so they'd cook evenly, and wrapping hot baked potatoes in terry towels to absorb excess moisture. And we're still doing it. The techniques Barbara Harris developed work as well with those high-powered, sleek new microwaves that talk to you as they did with the monster microwave boxes sold in the early '70s.
Harris, by the way, cooks on two microwaves. When she moved to Las Vegas, her 1976 Amana microwave moved with her. "It's still not worn out."
And there was a new General Electric oven already installed in the new home in Vegas.
For nonbelievers, Harris suggests dusting off the seldom-used microwave and giving it another try. (She's talking "real cooking," incidentally; heating up a Lean Cuisine dinner doesn't count.) Zapping rice or fresh vegetables is a good place to start, she says.
"The microwave doesn't have to do everything," she says. "But use it for what it does best."
For several years, Woodene Merrman, former dining critic for the Post-Gazette, wrote a microwave column called "Zap It." A limited number of her book, "Zap It Again," are available for $5 plus shipping by calling the PG Store, 412-263-1741.
Related Recipes:
Barbara's Gingerbread
Lemon Sauce
Long Grain Rice Corn Bread
Meat Loaf Ring
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