It began as office banter. Each Monday, Larry Townsend, the Tribune`s executive travel editor and weekend cook, would talk about a meal he had prepared on Saturday or Sunday and remark how fond he was of his microwave oven.
Sitting nearby, Steve Pratt, assistant food editor and family cook, would contribute his weekend kitchen experiences but seemed to have a disdain for kitchen appliances, mainly the microwave and the dishwasher. (Rumor has it he uses his dishwasher to store grocery bags.) As for the microwave, it`s OK for melting butter, he`d say, but that`s it.
Townsend`s advocacy of microwave cooking was so genuine and Pratt`s distaste so vocal that there was bound to be a confrontation. We urged them to fight it out in the Tribune test kitchen. As their attitudes probably reflect those of our readers in general, we thought the results would be interesting, though by no means definitive.
Here are short explanations from each of the challengers. Inside the Food Guide on page 4 are the recipes they used and the results of the showdown.
Overheard at a party luncheon wishing a departing associate better fortune:
”Nobody cooks a whole meal in a microwave!”
”Hey! Wait a minute, Foodie,” we thought and then said aloud: ”Our dinner last night was salmon fillet, fresh peas, baked potato. For dessert we had raspberry sauce over frozen yogurt. Everything except for the yogurt, of course, was prepared in a microwave.”
Wow! Did that get a reaction. An exchange of words later and we had agreed to a cookoff of sorts. We would choose the ingredients. A taste panel would decide the better-tasting results.
Was I agreeing to battle unarmed? I thought not.
As the microwaving half of a DINKAHA (double-income, no-kids at home anymore) couple, I microwave many meals. I`d be willing to put my nonmeat dishes against any manner of food preparation.
The challenger: Steve Pratt, an iconoclast who labors fewer than 10 feet from me.
He scoffed when I described ”the best ever” salmon and peas. He said he would have steamed both items ” … as the Chinese have cooked for hundreds of years before the microwave was invented.”
Hmmm. He wasn`t going to be suckered into using a broiler. This could be interesting.
It`s true that many Americans are afraid to use a microwave. My father-in-law, for example, used his gift countertop microwave as a bread box for three months before plugging it in and reheating coffee in it. Neighbors have warmed leftovers (a microwave is great for that) or made instant coffee in theirs.
But key members of the Chicago Tribune Food Guide are on record as believing that ”Nobody cooks a meal in a microwave!”
What do they say? Proof is in the pudding? Even with puddings, I`ll wipe
`em out.
My wife of 33 years and I tend to be adventurous, but the first time we follow all recipes precisely.
Just remember that to microwave properly, always URRT your food. That ugly-sounding ”word” is a reminder to Undercook, Rotate, Rest and Taste your microwaved food. Adjustments are easy, and usually a matter of seconds.
