Author’s Note
I have been using a microwave oven for 25 years, mainly to heat up leftovers, tea and coffee and defrosting meat, poultry, seafood and bread. It was only when I was asked by Samsung to come up with a collection of my favourite recipes and some diehard “sure shots” that I realized the versatility and extraordinary potential of the new Samsung Microwave. Of course the model I am now using also has convection cooking, grilling and two unique programmes which combine convection and microwave, and grilling and microwave. Mine also has a spit roasting option which, as the name suggests, is excellent for roasting and barbecue cooking since you don’t have to turn the meat over. The convection + microwave mode is especially good for non- vegetarian dishes, cakes and breads — recipes which require a more conventional method of cooking. The microwave element just speeds up the process. The microwave + grill combo which I especially like, is ideal for baked pasta or anything which needs browning or a quick colour. I have had enormous fun trying out both everyday dishes from my kitchen as well as quite complicated recipes which become infinitely more simple in the microwave. A couple of revelations which I am now going to use in my daily cooking are: steaming vegetables either fresh or frozen. This is both easy and healthy, and consumes much less time and fewer utensils than conventional boiling, steaming or blanching. I also discovered that the cooking of non- vegetarian dishes, especially chicken and seafood is again both quick and effortless as well as being enormously effective in the microwave. Baking has also been a huge surprise! For everyday Indian cooking, I found idlis, upma, sheera and dhokla a complete “piece of cake” in the microwave. Let’s not forget the amount of utensils, cutlery and crockery that you save on when you cook in one glass dish. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and I hope the Samsung Microwave makes a difference to your cooking as it has done in mine.
By the way, I also found that the male members of my household were extremely attracted by the Samsung high tech look and feel and were, therefore, easily encouraged to use it. This is clearly a step in the right direction. I’m sure other women will agree!
