From Library Journal
Former chefs Wise and Hoffman (Good and Plenty, LJ 12/88) want their readers to take another look at the microwave oven and realize that it can do more than thaw, reheat, and make popcorn. Whether home cooks will start using their microwave to make fruit butters or preserves, or to make (some) recipes that take almost as long as the stove-top version but save on clean-up time, is an open question. In any case, the authors bring impressive credentials to their task. Their recipes?more than 350?are good, and many of their ideas are clever, such as using the microwave to make dried fruits or pickles and condiments of all sorts. Sometimes the ever-so-enthusiastic recipe notes verge on the precious or are slightly off the mark (fish stock "takes a mere 25 minutes in the microwave"?but that's how long most French chefs simmer it). Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet cookbooks became the standard, but this one may well prompt busy cooks to look again. For most collections.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Midwest Book Review
>From unusual snacks to chicken curry, stuffed trout, and side dishes to desserts, the microwave is here used to prepare entire gourmet meals. Essential to this guide are the side boars on successfully organizing the single microwave for an array of preparations; from toasting nuts to making spice infusions.


Book Description
Microwave ovens are in over 90% of American homes--but too often relegated to the role of re-heater, defroster, and popcorn maker. No more. Victoria Wise and Susanna Hoffman, authors of The Well-Filled Tortilla with over 200,000 copies in print, spent three years exploring the possibilities of the microwave, and they've created a collection of 350 innovative, flavorful, at times whimsical recipes that take full advantage of the box and what it does best. And what the microwave does best, as the authors have discovered, is pretty terrific. Perfectly cooked fish. Creamy no-stir risottos. Luscious sauces for pasta. Crunchy pickles and relishes in a twinkling. Soup with an unexpected depth of flavor. Hasty puddings. And all without much of the time, mess, fuss, and demanding attention of conventional cooking. Then, marry these virtues with the sensibilities of two truly imaginative chefs, and the box really does become magic: Cuba Seafood Soup with Black Beans, Sweet Potato and Yam, Burmese Curried Chicken, Fish Filets Brazilian, Tahini Spice Cake with Orange Glaze, Double Chocolate Pudding. 43,000 copies in print.

ANNOTATION

Although microwaves can be found in over 90 percent of households, the majority of them have been relegated to the role of reheater, defroster, and popcorn maker. Now the authors of The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook, who have have spent three years exploring the possibilities of the microwave, have created a collection of 350 innovative, flavorful, at times, whimsical recipes that take full advantage of the "box." Illustrations.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Microwave ovens are in over 90% of American homes--but too often relegated to the role of re-heater, defroster, and popcorn maker. No more. Victoria Wise and Susanna Hoffman, authors of The Well-Filled Tortilla with over 200,000 copies in print, spent three years exploring the possibilities of the microwave, and they've created a collection of 350 innovative, flavorful, at times whimsical recipes that take full advantage of the box and what it does best. And what the microwave does best, as the authors have discovered, is pretty terrific. Perfectly cooked fish. Creamy no-stir risottos. Luscious sauces for pasta. Crunchy pickles and relishes in a twinkling. Soup with an unexpected depth of flavor. Hasty puddings. And all without much of the time, mess, fuss, and demanding attention of conventional cooking. Then, marry these virtues with the sensibilities of two truly imaginative chefs, and the box really does become magic: Cuba Seafood Soup with Black Beans, Sweet Potato and Yam, Burmese Curried Chicken, Fish Filets Brazilian, Tahini Spice Cake with Orange Glaze, Double Chocolate Pudding. 43,000 copies in print.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal