More Quick Tricks

Continuing with my favourite kitchen helpers today because we all feel we need easy methods and sometimes a bit of time-saving. So my next item is the microwave oven.

Of course, the microwave is absolutely brilliant for reheating. Leftover casseroles, savoury bakes, all come back to life after a few minutes in the microwave oven. Defrosting as well is a breeze for bread slices or individual cakes, for example. My individual Christmas puddings (recipe in an earlier post) take only one minute from frozen for an instant dessert.

I also find it useful to soften onions before adding to baked dishes or mixed in with other ingredients to make meatballs or fried patties. It starts off the cooking process if you don’t want the onions to be too crunchy in your finished dish. Chop or slice them, as required, and mix with a tiny drizzle of oil before microwaving for a minute or two, taking care not to brown them.

Making a mug of cocoa in the microwave is easy. No need to boil milk on the hob. In a mug, mix the cocoa powder with a little milk to a runny paste, add more milk and stir, then microwave for a minute. Stir well and sweeten if you want to. I also make a delicious chocolate sauce with this method. I mix the cocoa powder to a thick paste, add just a little more milk to make it runny then microwave for about 30 seconds. It thickens slightly to a creamy texture. Stir it well and serve it hot with ice-cream. I prefer it unsweetened as the bitter chocolate is delicious with a very sweet vanilla ice-cream. Add toasted broken pecans for a sensational dessert with very little effort.

Custard is another easy trick in the microwave. In a pyrex jug heat the milk to boiling point. While it’s heating mix sugar and custard powder with a little milk to form a smooth runny paste. Quantity will be on the tin of custard powder. Stir this into the hot milk (first allow the bubbles to die down or it will froth up and scald your hand when you add the custard mix.) Cook for another minute and stir again. Almost instant custard, nicer than the bought stuff, to serve with sliced bananas or a favourite pudding.

In the summer when we have lovely courgettes in the garden, I slice them and drizzle with a little olive oil, then microwave for 3 or 4 minutes. With a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a spoonful of greek yoghurt it makes a delicious side-dish or nice with a sandwich.

Another favourite of ours is my peanut sauce, cooked very easily in the microwave and so delicious. Here is my recipe.

1 small Onion, finely chopped 6 tablespoons smooth Peanut Butter 300ml hot water juice of half a small Lemon 1 tablespoon soft light Brown Sugar half to 1 teaspoon Chilli Powder 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree 1 Garlic clove, crushed Salt and Pepper

Put the finely chopped onion into a large heatproof jug or bowl. Add a tiny drizzle of oil and mix it around. Cook the onion in the microwave oven for 1 or 2 minutes but watch that it doesn’t brown. Add all the other ingredients and stir well. Cook on high for 6 minutes so that it boils. Turn the oven power down to low (300 on mine) and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir well. Makes about 500ml. Freezes perfectly if that’s more than you need.

If you prefer it completely smooth, blend it. Very good hot or cold with chicken or if you want something a bit different make some sausage meatballs to make a tasty and unusual meal. Use sausagemeat with onion added or chop an onion finely and add it yourself. Mix in a few breadcrumbs to give firmness (never use those horrible things from the supermarket. They’re not absorbent and usually an unnatural colour). Make into ball shapes, brown in a little heated oil. Cool the pan a bit then add some water, about half way up the meat, with a vegetable stock cube. Simmer until firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve with peanut sauce, rice and vegs.

Here are some other favourite bits and bobs in the kitchen.

The last photo is of a Still Life I painted with gouache of some items in the kitchen. I love cooking and I love painting so here I can combine the two interests.

I hope these tips are interesting. Enjoy your cooking and Christmas preparations, even though Christmas will be very different this year. Bye for now.