•BfrUncwter farming,- Satnrday,- Itenmber 3t, 1988
For holiday parties or family
snacking there are many ready
made foods to buy and simply
micro-heat. But, there are also
many homemade party and snack
foods that micro-cook quickly.
Today’s first recipe. Lemon
Chicken Nibbles With Sweet-
Sour Sauce, does take awhile to
get ready to microwave, but once
the preparation is done, cooking is
very fast. To save on preparation
time, buy skinned boned chicken
breasts. (Or if you’re lucky, your
supermarket will have them
ready-cut into chunks.)
Both chicken and the sauce are
cooked on High power. It’s neces
sary to give both some attention
during microwaving. Stop micro
waving chicken after about two
thirds of cooking time to turn over
and rearrange pieces otherwise
some pieces will overcook and
some remain undone. For the
sauce, stop and stir after each
minute of cooking otherwise a
big lump of starch will form.
In Zippy Cheese and Shrimp
Dip, cream cheese can be softened
on High power, but once the other
ingredients are added it’s best to
use a lower power and stir often.
The lower power helps prevent
shrimp from toughening and the
Cheddar and cream cheeses from
curdling.
Both recipes can be made
ahead. Several hours ahead, pre
pare the chicken, coat with crumb
mixture and arrange pieces on a
microwavable plate. Leave
uncooked, cover and refrigerate
until cooking time. Add about a
minute more cooking time. Or, a
day ahead, cut chicken and pre
pare crumb mixture; cover and
MICROWAVE
MINUTES
By JOYCE BATTCHER
refrigerate each in separate con
tainers until ready to coat chicken.
Cook and refrigerate Sweet-Sour
Sauce; reheat before serving.
To make Zippy Cheese and
Shrimp Dip ahead, soften cream
cheeses and stir in remaining
ingredients. Cover and refrigerate
until ready to serve. Right before
serving, re-heat on Medium pow
er, adding a minute or two of extra
time.
Of course, if you really don’t
want to do a lot of micro-cooking,
you could buy some frozen
breaded boneless chicken nuggets
to heat and serve with the home
made Sweet-Sour Sauce. And you
could even buy prepared cheese
dip in its own microwavable
container!
Chicken Nibbles
With Sweet-Sour
IVS -pounds chicken breasts
(bone-in, skin-on) or V* pound
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 tablespoons sugar
VA tablespoons cpmstarch
Vt cup chicken broth
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
VA teaspoons soy sauce
VA tablespoons catsup
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
'A cup fine cornflake crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon
peel*
'A teaspoon pepper*
Green pepper strips
Bone and skin chicken if neces
sary. Cut into bite-size pieces
(about 1 inch each); set aside.
Make sauce in a microwave
safe 1-quart measure. Stir together
sugar and cornstarch; gradually
stir in chicken broth, vinegar, soy
Sauce
sauce and catsup until smooth.
Microwave (High) 4 to 5 minutes,
stirring well after each 1%
minutes, until mixture is thick and
boiling. Taste and add more sugar
as desired. Set aside.
In a small dish, stir together
crumbs, paprika, lemon peel and
pepper. Dip chicken pieces in
crumb mixture, coating all sides
well. Place pieces on a
microwave-safe serving plate,
arranging larger pieces to outside
edges of plate. Cover with waxed
paper. Microwave (High) 2
minutes. Turn over pieces and
rearrange so least-cooked pieces
are to outside edges of plate. Re
cover and microwave (High) 1 to
2 minutes or until done. If neces
sary, re-heat sauce. Pour sauce
into small bowl; set in center of
plate of chicken. Garnish with
green pepper strips. Makes about
48 appetizers.
To double recipe: Double ingre
dients. Divide chicken between 2
microwave-safe plates; cook each
separately as above. Prepare sauce
in a 2-quart measure, doubling
cooking time and stirring after
each 2 minutes of cooking.
* You may substitute V* tsp.
lemon pepper or a no-salt mixture
containing lemon and pepper.
Each serving 4 pieces and
V/i tablespoons sauce: 67 calo
ries, 6g protein, 0 fat, lOg car
bohydrate, 105 mg sodium, 18mg
cholesterol.
Zippy Cheese
and Shrimp Dip
1 package (8 ounces) cream
cheese
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded Ched
dar cheese
'/< cup white wine or milk
1 can (6 ounces) baby shrimp,
drained
1 jar (2 ounces) chopped pimiento
'A -A teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Place cream cheese in
microwave-safe 2-quart casserole;
microwave (High) 30 to 45 sec
onds. Stir until smooth; stir in
remaining ingredients. Micro-
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wave <hi Medium (50% power,
325-350 watts) 3 to 4 minutes or
until cheese melts, stirring several
times. Serve hot with fresh veget
ables, crackers or chips.
Hint; Soften cream cheese and
stir in remaining ingredients.
Divide into several small
microwave-safe serving bowls;
cover and refrigerate. Re-heat
each separately as needed, on
Medium, allowing about 2
minutes per cup of cold dip and
stirring twice.
Each serving: 31 calories, 2g
protein, 2g fat, 0 carbohydrate,
39mg sodium, llmg cholesterol.
Questions for Joyce?
Do you have a question about
Attention:
Newly Marri
YORK Having a sound
financial system in place before or
in the beginning of a marriage can
save many headaches and heart
aches in the future.
You probably have uncon
sciously developed your feelings
about money because of your fam
ily’s influence, your own personal
experience, and what you have
read. The same thing is true of
your name, so it is very possible
that you have come to marriage
with “my” feeling and “your”
feeling. Now you will want to
develop an "our” feeling - if you
haven’t already.
A series of meetings sponsored
by Penn Slate Cooperative Exten
sion will be held to help you
develop and nurture those feelings
about money:
Values Clarification and Goal
Setting- February 2, 9:30-11:30
a.m. or 7:00-9:00 p.m.. Extension
Office Meeting Room, 112 Pleas
ant Acres Road, York, PA.
Establishing a System for
Financial Practices (includes
record keeping; saving and spend-
INTRODUCTORY OFFER
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esfISSSSSmZs*
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♦
microwave cooking? Send it tc
Microwave Minutes, % Extra
Newspaper Features, P.O. Boa
6118, Rochester, MN 55903,
Please include a self-addressed
stamped, business-size envelope.
Recipes in this column are
tested in 600- and 650-watt micro
wave ovens. With an oven of dif
ferent wattage output, timings
may need slight adjustment
Joyce Battcher is on indepen
dent home economist microwave
specialist. She is author oj
"Microwave Family Favorites' ’
and editor of "A Batch of Ideas’’
newsletter.
© 1988 Extra Newspaper
Features
Engaged,
ed Couples
ing control and practices)- Febru
ary 9, 9:30-11:30 a.m. or
7:00-9:00 p.m., Extension Office
Meeting Room, 112 Pleasant
Acres Road, York, PA.
Credit, Building Wealth, Pro
tecting Assets- February 16,
9:30-11:30 a.m. or 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Extension Office Meeting Room,
112 Pleasant Acres Road, York.
Since each session builds on the
previous, plan to attend all three.
Cost $5/couple.
To register for the workshop
call 757-9657. Advanced registra
tion is required.
,<f t ***\