S MICROWAVE MINUTES s? It’s always fun to look back on favorite recipes. Here are two of mine, both from my “A Batch of Ideas” newsletter. Both came from readers. The first, Judy’s Spinach Pie, uses the microwave to start cook ing the eggs, and then the whole pie finishes baking in a conven tional oven or toaster oven. This is a good way to speed cooking of other quiches and also dessert pies such as pumpkin, custard and pecan. Conventional baking time is cut from SO to 60 minutes to about 30 or 40. Judy’s Spinach Pie also uses the microwave as a helper in two other ways. Micro-thawing the spinach can be done quickly on High power. Remember to remove the spinach to a dish if it is in a foil package. A quick micro cook of the chopped onion tender izes it and mellows its flavor. Both of these microwaving steps are also good to use in other recipes for speed and convenience. The second recipe, Sue’s Best Ever Whole-Wheat Pancakes, is one that a reader asked me to adapt to the microwave. She wrote that these were “the most deli cious and easy-to-make pancakes ever.” At first glance, I thought this recipe wouldn’t adapt well, but I was fooled. I tried it conventional ly and tried it in the microwave. Because of the dark-colored ingre dients and the texture of wheat GOOD FOOD OUTLET STORES See Our Original Kinds Of Nuts, %* oAMSt *^J " > i 1 Processors Of Syrups, Molasses, Cooking Oil, Funnel Cake Mix & Shoofly Pie Mixes (With or Without Syrup) Good Food Outlets Located At L&S SWEETENERS 388 E Main St, Lecla, PA 17540 717-686*3486 1-800-633-2676 GOOD FOOD OUTLET Located At Good Food, Inc. W. Main St., Box 160, Honey Brook, PA 19344 318-273-3776 1-800-327-4406 — WE UPS DAILY By JOYCE BATTCHER germ and whole-wheat flour, the microwave version is very close in color and texture. As with most microwave recipes in relation to the conventional version, this recipe is close in flavor to the baked version. I decreased the amount of bak ing powder slightly because the first time I tried this recipe there was a slightly soapy aftertaste. Dividing the batter into three lightly oiled nine-inch pie plates cooks the batter evenly and keeps it about the same height as the oven-baked ones. If serving a family with hearty appetites or more than six, it’s more convenient to bake this in the conventional oven, so I’ve included the directions. But, if you are cooking for four or less, the microwave method either pan cake or muffin form is fast, easy and cool. Keep leftover batter tightly covered in refrigerator for about one week. Judy’s Spinach Pie 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, well drained 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Ched dar cheese 1 (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked 2 tablespoons chopped onion 1 tablespoon oil 6 eggs 'A teaspoon dried thyme leaves teaspoon black pepper 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated skimmed milk Place spinach, still in box, in Line Of Golden Barrel Products Plus All Beans, Candies, Etc. At Reduced Prices If your local store does not have it, CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE BROCHURE & PRICES * CORN SYRUP * BAKING * PANCAKE SYRUP MOLASSES * PURE MAPLE SYRUP * BARBADOS * SORGHUM SYRUP MOLASSES * TABIE SYRUP * BLACK STRAP * COCONUT OIL MOLASSES * CORN OIL * HONEY * COTTONSEED OIL * PEANUT BUTTER * PEANUT OE- * FUNNEL CAKE MIX * SOYBEAN OIL * SHOOFLY PIE MIXES * 100 LB. BAG GRANULATED SUGAR L SPECIAL FOR MONTH OF JANUARY 1991 V 2 Gal. CONOLA OIL Reg. Price $3.69 Sale $3.19 1 Gal. CONOLA OIL Reg. Price $6.29 Sale $5.69 microwave (or if in foil package, remove from box to microwavable dish). Microwave (High) 3 to 4 minutes or until spinach is thawed. Drain and squeeze out excess moisture. Sprinkle cheese in pie crust; set aside. Place onion and oil in microwavable small bowl; micro wave (High) 30 to 45 seconds or until tender. Sprinkle onions even ly on top of cheese. Arrange spi nach evenly over cheese; set aside. Mix eggs, thyme and pepper together in a microwavable 1-quart measure or bowl; mix in milk. Microwave on Medium (50 percent power, 325-350 watts) for 4 minutes. Stir; microwave (Medium) 3 to 4 more minutes. When eggs begin to cook, stir well and pour them over ingredients in pie crust. Bake in toaster oven or conventional oven at 350’ F 30 to 40 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted in center of pie. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room tempera ture. Makes 6 to 8 main-dish servings. Each serving —!4 of pie: 337 calories, 14g protein, 23g fat, 16g carbohydrate, 493 mg sodium, 209 mg cholesterol. Sue’s Best Ever Whole-Wheat Pancakes 1 cup All-Bran cereal 14 cup wheat germ 14 teaspoon soda 'A cup hot water 'A cup cooking oil 14 cup honey 1 egg, beaten 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup whole-wheat flour 114 teaspoons baking powder Stir together cereal, wheat germ and soda; stir in hot water, oil and honey. Let stand about 3 minutes to soften cereal. Stir in egg and buttermilk until smooth; gradually stir in whole-wheat flour and bak ing powder; mix until well blended. Lightly oil microwavable 9-inch pie plate or round cake dish. Pour in 1 cup plus 1 scant tablespoon batter. Cover with wax paper. Microwave on Medium (50 percent power, 325-350 watts) 2/i to 3 minutes, rotating dish once after VA minutes, until top is no longer doughy. Let stand, cov ered, 2 to 3 minutes. Cut in wedges. Serve hot with syrup, your favorite pancake topping or peanut butter. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 3 large pancakes or 12 servings. To make and keep: Cover and refrigerate batter to prepare one pie plate full (about 4 servings) when needed. If possible, remove batter from refrigerator about 15 minutes ahead. Otherwise, add another 1 to 114 minutes of micro waving. Batter keeps about 1 week in refrigerator. Muffins: Fill microwave muffin cups or small custard cups half full. For 6 muffins, microwave (High) VA to 2 minutes, or until no longer doughy on top. Serve warm as muffins or with syrup. Makes about 18 muffins. Conventional: Preheat oven to 425* F. Prepare batter as above, except use 1 A teaspoons baking powder. Pour batter into greased 10xl5-inch jelly roll pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until firm. Cut Plants Brighten NEWARK, DE. With good care and nurturing, your holiday plants including cyclamen, Christmas and Thanksgiving cac tus and Kalanchoe can con tinue to give you pleasure through the winter months, according to Dave Tatnall, assistant Coopera tive Extension horticulture agent at the University of Delaware. “Cyclamen, a blooming plant with bright flowers, is long lasting,” says Tatnall. “But it requires very specific care.” Since this plant does not tol erate temperatures much above 65-degrees Fahrenheit, keep the plant in the coolest part of the house. Take care to keep the soil moist without overwatering and do not allow the pot to sit in water trapped in the saucer, the agent warns. Cyclamen needs plenty of sun and liquid fertilizer once a ELECTRIC RANGE Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 5, 1991-B9 pancakes to desired size. Serve with your favorite topping. Hint; Extra wedges of pancakes freeze well. To reheat in your microwave, wrap still-frozen wedges in paper and microwave on Medium, allowing 45 to 60 seconds for two wedges. Each serving 1/12 of recipe: 131 calories, 4g protein, 6g fat, 18g carbohydrate, 112 mg sodium, 21 mg 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, Minn. 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 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 Winter Months month. As each blossom fades, remove the flower and stem. “You may find it hard to rebloom a cyclamen,” Tatnall says, “so enjoy the flowers and foliage while they last, and in the spring replace it with a warm weather plant.” Another holiday plant that has attractive foilage and will con tinue to grow even after it has stopped blooming is kalanchoe. The blooms last for 10 to 12 weeks. “Kalanchoes normally bloom in January, but they can be forced into flower any lime of year just by controlling their hours of expo sure to light,” Tatnall explains. “This colorful flowering plant with its thick fleshy leaves should be treated like a succulent.” Do not overwater or overfeed a kalanchoe. Remove the bloom and stem when it fades. If the plant becomes too large, either repot it or cut the plant back to its original size and watch it grow again. “With care you can enjoy your Christmas cactus and Thanksgiv ing cactus for many years,” says Tatnall.
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