B4*Lancastar Farming, Saturday, May 12,1990
MICROWAVE
m-7jm minutes
fw
When you’re busy getting ready
for graduations, showers, garage
sales and other spring events,
there’s not much time to cook a
meal. Your microwave and a
pound of ground meat can help.
Many favorite recipes start by
precooking a pound of ground
beef or other ground meat, such as
ground turkey, ground pork, and
ground bulk seasoned pork saus
age. Try using your microwave
instead of a skillet on the range
top. You’ll be surprised at how
convenient it is.
Microwave times and direc
tions are about the same for all
kinds of ground meat or poultry.
Use High power. Microwave
about five minutes per pound.
Time varies because of differ
ences in microwave ovens and dif
ferences in temperature and
amount of fat in ground meats.
Use a waxed-paper or paper
towel cover or any other loose
cover, such as a paper plate or cas
serole lid set off-side. These types
of covers allow extra moisture to
escape, yet hold in some heat and
promote even cooking.
Stir several times during cook
ing to break up chunks and ensure
even doneness.
Drain some meats. Leanness of
the ground meat determines if fat
should be drained or not. With
extra-lean ground beef, lean
ground pork, or ground turkey, the
small amount of fat and juices
adds flavor to the meat, and so are
usually not discarded. You may
want to precook regular ground
beef or pork sausage in a micro
wave steamer basket with small
holes, a microwave-safe colander,
or a special accessory called a
Ground Beef Cooker (a clear,
microwave-safe, plastic pie-plate
shaped dish with holes in the bot
tom to let fat drip through). All
allow fat to drip away as meat
cooks.
Ground beef labeled “lean”
By JOYCE BATTCHER
(about 77 percent to 81 percent
lean) is best for microwaving.
With regular ground beef, some
times labeled hamburger (about
70 percent to 76 percent lean),
there is fat to drain and more
shrinkage. Extra-lean ground beef
(about 82 percent to 86 percent
lean) is more expensive, but is fine
for casseroles, chill or other
combinations.
Ground pork is at least 70 per
cent lean and contains no season
ings. Usually it’s sold fresh in the
meat counter. Fresh pork sausage
is seasoned, but not cured or
smoked. It contains at least SO per
cent lean, but often is leaner.
(Check package labels.) Look for
it in the meat and frozen foods
sections.
Ground turkey or ground chick
en is found fresh in large super
markets or frozen in smaller
stores. Microwaved ground poul
try can get a “boiled” taste, yet a
dried-out texture. To prevent this,
add seasonings before cooking
and cover with a paper towel dur
ing cooking. Microwave until
poultry is no longer pink. Avoid
overcooking, but, for safety, code
to well-done.
Ground poultry can toughen
and form a firm, dry lump during
cooking. To prevent this, crumble
it into cooking dish and stir with a
fork several times during cooking
to break up pieces. Add season
ings to it before cooking to help it
flavor through. Do not drain to
retain flavor.
Using ground turkey to make
Turkey Salad Sandwiches is a
healthy, convenient choice when
you don’t have turkey leftovers.
It’s a good low-sodium alternative
to canned turkey, which usually
has salt added. And, it’s a wel
come substitute for fresh turkey
pieces since it eliminates the
bother of slow cooking, boning
and chopping.
Taco Spoon Pie is a new crea-
tion of mine. It’s an easy way to
bring a special-looking dish to the
table. It looks like a taco pie that
took an hour or so to bake. In fact,
it only takes about eight minutes
to cook. Instead of slicing it in
wedges to serve, let the people
help themselves, spooning the
mixture into tacos or tortillas.
Turkey Salad
Sandwiches
1-1 'A pounds ground fresh
turkey
A cup finely chopped onion
Vi teaspoon ground poultry
seasoning
'A cup chopped celery
V* cup sweet pickle relish or
chutney
4-6 tablespoons mayonnaise or
salad dressing
Salt and pepper (optional)
6 buttered rolls or 12 bread slices
Lettuce
Crumble ground turkey into
microwave-safe 2-quart casserole.
With a fork, stir in onion and poul
try seasoning; cover with a paper
towel. Microwave (High) 4 to 5
minutes, stirring with a fork and
breaking up chunks after each 2
minutes. Cook until turkey is no
longer pink. Stir well. Refrigerate
until well chilled.
Stir together cold cooked
ground turkey, celery, relish and
mayonnaise. Season to taste with
salt and pepper, if desired. Spread
mixture on 6 rolls or on 6 slices of
bread; top with lettuce and roll
tops of remaining slices of bread.
Mixture keeps refrigerated for 2
days. Makes 6 sandwiches.
Hint: Stir thoroughly at times
indicated. Check to be sure turkey
is cooked until well-done by stir
ring after cooking and looking to
see that no pinkness remains.
Each serving: 325 calories, 22g
protein, 15g fat, 23g carbohydrate,
374 mg sodium, 58mg cholesterol.
Taco Spoon Pie
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
'A cup ketchup
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1 teaspoon chili powder
'A teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper (optional)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Taco shells or tortillas
Chopped onion
Thinly sliced lettuce
Diced tomato
Sliced black olives
Place ground beef in a
microwave-safe 9- to 10-inch pie
plate, forming a doughnut shape;
sprinkle with onion and cover
with waxed paper. Microwave
(High) 4 to 5 minutes, stirring
with a fork at least once during
cooking to break up beef. Drain.
Sdr in ketchup, chili powder, garl
ic powder, and salt and pepper, if
used. Re-cover and microwave
(High) 2 to 3 minutes or until hot
Spread mixture evenly over pie
plate; sprinkle with cheese and re
cover. Microwave on Medium (50
percent power, 325-350 watts) 1
minute or until cheese starts to
melt To serve, spoon into taco
Summer Dairy Promotion
Features Ice Cream
CEDAR KNOLLS, NJ The
American Dairy Association and
Dairy Council (ADADC) will
team up with Nabisco this summer
in a special promotion featuring
ice cream and cookies.
Recent research indicates that
consumers often run out of ice
cream a week before they repur-
chase it.
In response to this research,
ADADC’s goal is to encourage
consumers to ‘‘double up” their ice
cream purchases. The nationwide
promotion features television ad
vertising, newspaper inserts and
supermarket displays.
A special two-week television
ad sponsored by the National
Dairy Board will run during early
* CORN SYRUP * BAKING
* PANCAKE SYRUP MOLASSES
* PURE MAPLE SYRUP * BARBADOS
* SORGHUM SYRUP MOLASSES
* TABIfi SYRUP * BLACK STRAP
* COCONUT OIL MOLASSES
* CORN OIL * HONEY
•k COTTONSEED OIL * PEANUT BUTTER
* PEANUT OIL * FUNNEL CAKE MIX
* SOYBEAN OIL * SHOOFLY PIE MIXES
* 100 LB. BAG GRANULATED SUGAR
If your local store does not have it.
CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE
BROCHURE & PRICES
_ —WE UPS DAILY _
* **P* o J**a*-*jt
Now Featuring- IIT w
A TASTE TEST; %
shells or tortillas. Top with
remaining ingredients, as desired.
Makes 5 servings.
Each serving: 453 calories, 25g
protein, 28g fat, 24g carbohydrate,
564tng sodium, 81mg cholesterol.
Questions for Joyce?
Do you have a question about
microwave cooking? Send it to
Microwave Minutes, % Extra
Newspaper Features, P.O. Box
6118, Rochester, MN 55903.
Please include a self-addressed,
stamped, business-size envelope.
Recipes in this column are
tested in 60Q- and 650-watt micro
wave ovens. With an oven of dif
ferent wattage output, timings
may need slight adjustment
Joyce Battcher is an indepen
dent home economist microwave
specialist. She is author of
"Microwave Family Favorites”
and editor of “A Batch of Ideas”
newsletter.
©1990 Extra Newspaper
Features
July. There will also be a coupon
insert in the July IS edition of
newspapers. A total of $9.2 mil
lion will be spent on the total pro
motion.
Ice cream promotion materials
will appear at the freezer case as
well as end-aisle displays. An in
store, mail-in coupon will provide
consumers with a $2 coupon for
their next ice cream purchase. To
qualify, consumers must mail in
proofs-of-purchase from a half
gallon of ice cream and two pack
ages of Nabisco cookies.
AD ADC will place the retail ef
fort with local supermarket
chains. Over 2,000 stores in
ADADC’s region are expected to
participate.
NOTICE
Crafts Reproduction Furniture
Pine, Poplar & Oak Items
Childrens’ Furniture
Wholesale Warehouse
Dealers Welcome
Risslers Reproduction
215-445-5984
Hours Mon., Tues., Thurs., Frl. 8-5
Sat. 8-12
—MAY FEATURE:
Taste The Quality Difference
GOLDEN BARREL
TABLE SYRUP
Vs. OM Btrrsl Molassss & Turkty Syrup
Rag. $1.69
Special $1.29 9»-
Good Throw