Microwave for 1/2-Dra

The recipes here consist of a broad but bland repertoire of chicken Kiev, chicken Florentine, chicken teriyaki, etc., as well as soups, salads, meats and sweets. Certainly Draudt does an admirable job of showing the utility of the microwave oven for all sorts of cooking tasks, from getting Brie runny to opening oysters. She also encourages us to think in new terms: instead of ""brown'' or ``stir,'' it's ``elevate''and ``rotate.'' But the general disadvantage of microwave cookingits speed doesn't always allow flavors to meld properlyis sometimes compounded by the author's streamlined recipes. She dry-cooks onions rather than browning them in fat, for example, which saves steps but is not the best route to flavor. Still, the book is a good introduction to microwaves for those who would otherwise use them only for thawing and reheating. (March)