Hello, and welcome
to FridgeCam.
00:00
If you masticate for
nutritional purposes,
00:02
then this will be
the show for you.
00:04
Don’t use the word “masticate”.
00:05
In the fridge today,
00:06
we show you
five microwave hacks
00:07
you actually might use.
00:08
Then stick around,
we’re going to cook up a sweet treat
00:09
in the microwave
that rivals this cake in a mug.
00:11
We’re out to prove that using solely a microwave,
you can cook
00:16
So this is how it’s going to work.
Dish number one:
00:23
This is an awesome mixture of
salmon, cod, and haddock
00:27
in a creamy
white wine sauce with leek.
00:30
Topped off with fennel
and lemon mashed potato.
00:32
Whilst I’ve created a dish
using solely a microwave,
00:36
James has also been
slaving away in the kitchen
00:39
doing exactly the same dish,
00:41
but using traditional methods.
00:42
You can obviously see the difference
00:44
thanks to the coloration
of an oven.
00:46
you guys blindfolded,
can you taste
00:48
the difference between the two?
00:50
This is going to be interesting
isn’t it? Because
00:54
not only have we got to
taste the difference,
00:56
we’ve also got to navigate
a fork into the mouth.
00:58
Okay, I’ve no idea
the angle of which it’s at.
01:03
That’s a good fish pie.
01:08
Okay, you’re all loaded. Go.
01:12
Fish Pie number two.
01:16
That tastes fresher.
01:19
That tastes like lighter,
and cleaner.
01:21
I don’t know where you are,
but I know what you mean.
01:23
I’m going to say the second one
01:26
was done in the oven.
01:28
There wasn’t
an obvious difference for me. So I’ll say
01:29
the first one was done
01:32
Yeah, I agree with Mike.
01:36
The first one was stodgier,
01:37
like it’d been cooked
01:40
—It sounds weird—
because it’d been cooked for longer.
01:42
So no huge discernable differences.
01:44
This was how the
microwaveable one was made.
01:47
Just stab them with a fork.
01:52
Place them into a glass bowl
and into your microwave
01:53
on full power for ten minutes.
01:56
That’s about the equivalent
of being in the oven
01:58
For the filling,
we’re going to make two portions.
02:03
We’ve got two microwaveable dishes.
02:05
You can use teacups or coffee mugs,
if you haven’t got things like this.
02:07
And then between the two,
we’re doing to divide
02:10
a splash of white wine,
and half a clove of garlic crushed.
02:14
The bowl will be hot, the potatoes are cooked.
At this point, the filling,
02:23
these can go into the microwave
and they need five minutes,
02:27
whilst you make the mash.
02:30
The advantage of
cooking these in microwave
02:34
is they don’t take on too much water,
02:35
so you get a really fluffy mash.
02:37
You want to take the flesh out of the skins,
02:39
and mash them with milk,
02:40
the zest of a lemon,
02:43
and a pinch of fennel seeds.
02:45
Now the leeks are softened
and the garlic has cooked out.
02:48
We can add in the fish,
along with cream,
02:51
mustard, and chopped chives,
02:54
to make an awesome sauce.
02:55
What’s great about this is
the fish goes in raw,
03:01
so all those juices
form an amazing sauce.
03:03
Next up we pile on our mashed potato,
03:06
because we can’t emulate
a crispy top in a microwave
03:09
that you would get in the oven,
03:12
we’re going to add on almonds,
03:13
pine nuts, and some grated cheese.
03:14
There we go.
So many awesome flavours.
03:18
If you want to leave one or two out,
maybe the fennel seeds,
03:20
or the lemon, or one of the nuts,
you can simplify it.
03:22
But this is the ultimate version.
03:24
It now needs another four minutes
03:26
in the microwave to cook the fish.
03:27
And I suggest you do that on a plate
03:29
plate to catch any dribbles.
03:30
All we need to do is check
that it’s piping hot
03:38
all the way through.
03:40
You can stick a metal skewer
03:41
a table knife in,
leave it for a second,
03:42
and just check that knife comes out hot.
03:44
Otherwise, serve it
with some steamed veg.
03:47
in the microwave.
That’s my flavourful fish pie.
03:49
I want to know if I was right.
04:02
If you take the blindfold off,
you’ll see…
04:06
… what you don’t get
04:08
is that colouring of the cheese and the almonds
04:10
and the toasted pine nuts
from the microwave one.
04:13
digging around and getting
the whole combined flavor,
04:17
You could serve me that and
tell me it was made in the oven
04:21
and I wouldn’t even question it.
04:23
Well Ebbers,
you have proved your point.
04:25
If you are only equipped
with a microwave,
04:28
you can still cook
a cracking fish pie.
04:30
Mummy says I’m useful.
04:40
If there was a zombie apocalypse,
Jamie would survive,
04:42
because zombies eat brains.
04:45
as in beautiful James?
04:50
As in I poach eggs
in champagne vinegar James?
04:53
and a traditional method risotto.
05:03
Both have smoked ham,
05:05
Not a huge amount of difference
in the visual appearance.
05:11
One of these is done in the microwave.
05:13
One with constant stirring on the stove.
05:15
So what you’re telling us
05:18
is that the Italians stopped watching this
05:20
about ten seconds ago
05:24
You’ve got to make an aeroplane sound.
05:27
Hold out your hand.
05:31
I’m going to put it in your hand.
05:32
What, just risotto into his hand?
05:33
Oh that is Risotto.
05:43
I like that. Oh, it’s gone.
05:44
Oh, I’ve got black pepper.
05:46
Oh, it’s gone over there.
05:52
That is a lot more flavoursome.
05:56
I got a lot of cabbage.
05:59
Second one had more
06:01
flavour but less bite.
06:03
The first one had more bite,
less flavour.
06:05
I felt like the first one had a better texture.
06:06
It was stodgier.
It tastes more like a traditional risotto to me.
06:10
And if you are limited to just a microwave,
06:14
this is how you make it.
06:16
Begin by finely dicing
a shallot and a clove of garlic.
06:17
Next up the squash.
06:20
Peel it and dice it
06:21
as fine as possible.
You want about a half
06:22
centimeter cube pieces.
06:24
And then for the cavolo nero,
take out the woody stocks
06:26
and chop that up into squares.
06:28
If you can’t get that,
use any green cabbage.
06:30
That’s all the hard work done.
06:35
Now place all the chopped stuff
06:36
into a bowl with some diced smoked ham,
06:38
a glass of white wine,
06:41
give it a mix, and put it in the microwave
06:43
for five minutes to cook.
06:44
Grab yourself a little piece of squash
and just taste it.
06:50
Obviously, there’s plenty of cooking still to come,
06:53
but it should be about half cooked.
06:54
Next up we can add in risotto rice,
06:57
a stock cube crumbled,
06:59
and some water.
Then it goes back in the microwave for ten minutes.
07:01
You might want to stir it halfway through.
07:03
After ten minutes,
you want to take it out of the microwave,
07:07
give it a stir,
and you want to test a grain of rice.
07:09
What you’re looking for
07:11
is something that’s soft
all the way through,
07:12
and it hasn’t got a bite to it.
07:14
We’re using an 800 watt microwave,
07:15
and for us it’s going to need
a couple more minutes.
07:17
If your microwave is more or less powerful,
07:19
you may have to adjust the time.
07:21
Back in for another couple of minutes.
07:23
The colours look amazing. The smells in here are
07:31
The only difference between the
microwave risotto and one on a HOB
07:34
is you’re not constantly stirring it.
07:36
So to give it that creaminess,
07:38
we’re going to add in some crème fraiche,
07:40
and plenty of grated parmesan.
07:42
and then serve it up.
07:45
Garnish it with some radish, some cress,
07:55
more grated parmesan.
07:57
microwaved or smoked ham
and squash risotto.
07:59
And the great thing about
the microwave one it literally just uses
08:11
one bowl, one knife, one chopping board,
one microwave. Job done.
08:14
I don’t think one tastes
better than another.
08:19
They just taste slightly different.
08:21
Do you think it was dish one
08:23
Barry you go first.
08:27
was cooked in a microwave.
08:30
One was cooked in a microwave.
08:31
No! Why’d you do that?
08:33
But, they’re both strong risottos.
08:37
-And you get away with the creaminess here,
08:39
because of the crème fraiche
and the parmesan.
08:40
normally make a risotto in a microwave.
08:44
I would always do it on a HOB.
08:46
You’ve taken your blindfolds off, haven’t you?
08:51
Well done, microwave.
08:59
Well done microwave, and well done me!
09:00
Microwaves aren’t just for bad food.
09:01
You can get good food out of them too.
09:04
And while we’re loving off
the microwave so much,
09:05
why don’t we show you some
amazing microwavable hacks.
09:07
I looked at the wrong camera
all the way through that.
09:10
If you’re trying to peel
a lot of garlic very quickly
09:15
because maybe you’re addicted to garlic bread,
09:17
or maybe you’re trying to fend off
an angry mob of vampires
09:19
who are something like walking out of the dead
09:22
mixed with Twilight but
without that annoying
09:23
then this is the hack for you!
09:27
Take a whole bulb of garlic,
09:29
crush it in your hands, put it into a bowl
and into a microwave
09:30
for thirty seconds.
09:33
When the garlic comes back out,
09:34
it will be much easier to peel
09:35
because the cloves would have shrunk slightly
09:37
due to dehydration and science.
09:39
Think of all that time saved!
09:41
That means you’ll either get garlic bread quicker,
09:43
or you don’t die as quickly from vampires.
09:45
Don’t you hate it when you need a microwave
to reheat your favorite pasta,
09:48
potato, or panda neck warmer,
09:51
but you keep getting cold patches?
09:53
Well this is the hack for you!
09:54
If you’re looking to heat up
a big lump of food,
09:56
avoid slopping it in the middle.
09:58
What you want to do is create a ring
09:59
and spread it out to increase the surface area
10:00
and therefore it should cook quicker.
10:02
Also a microwave has a spinning plate
10:04
There’s lots of hot and
cold points in the microwave
10:07
so don’t put your object
10:09
in the middle of the microwave.
10:11
Move it to the side,
and it will cook more evenly.
10:12
If, like real men, you have window boxes
10:17
and a surplus of fresh herbs
and you don’t want to see them go to waste,
10:19
then this is the hack for you!
10:21
Strip the fresh herbs off of the stalks
and lay them flat
10:23
in between two sheets of kitchen paper.
10:26
Blast them in the microwave for
one minute if it’s a hard herb,
10:28
forty seconds if it’s a soft herb.
10:31
And then intervals of about twenty seconds
10:33
Drying herbs in a microwave is a lot quicker
10:36
than oven drying, sun drying or hanging it,
10:38
and therefore they retain a lot more colour
10:40
and a lot more flavour.
10:42
and keep returning them back to the microwave
for another ten or twenty seconds at a time
10:44
until they’re completely dry,
10:47
but they still have all the color and fragrance
10:49
Store them in an air tight container
10:52
for future kitchen fun.
10:54
If you’re looking to extract the maximum amount
of juice from your citrus fruits
10:56
because you’re making a delicious marinade,
10:59
having a margarita bath,
11:01
or hosting your own lemon party,
11:02
then this is the hack for you!
11:04
heat it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds.
11:06
You want it to be warm, not piping hot.
11:09
Heating the molecules in the flesh of the fruit
11:11
will make the membrane weaken
11:13
and therefore will allow you extract more juice
11:14
So now that vampires are gone,
11:18
your panda scarf is warm,
you’ve trimmed your bush,
11:19
and the guys at the
old people’s home really like you,
11:21
it’s now time to clean your microwave.
11:23
Place half a lemon in a bowl full of water.
11:25
Put that in the microwave,
11:27
and heat that up for anywhere between
11:28
five and ten minutes.
11:30
This will steam clean your microwave.
11:31
The acid will cut through any of the grease,
11:33
and you’ll get a lovely citrusy smell.
11:35
I reckon there are some actual
hacks there that I might actually use.
11:38
Microwaves are useful.
11:41
Yeah. And also, don’t for get to subscribe,
11:42
because we will make you hungry.
11:44
And some bonus news:
11:46
if you head over to sorted food, most of you will know,
11:47
we’re exploring the lack of cooking skills
11:49
in the UK and beyond.
11:51
And the consequences that has.
11:52
We’re beginning to share
some of the stories we’re uncovering.
11:54
Those bonus videos are available over at sorted food.
11:56
I reckon that fridge cam had everything.
11:58
It had just the right level of microwave radiation.
12:00
Yep, it had a weird
12:03
three-four way blindfold date thing.
12:04
And a cracking pear.
12:07
Don’t forget to stay with us in the after takes.
12:08
We’re going to make a nut brittle in a microwave.
12:10
Even better than cake in a mug.
12:12
Where was the cracking pear?
12:14
Oh it’s here, I’m taking it with me.
12:15
Ladies and gentlemen, Ben did a joke.
12:19
I also get a piece of fruit.
12:23
Ben did an innuendo.
12:25
And talking of innuendos: Nuts.
12:27
I’m going to make a nut brittle.
12:29
In a microwave, that’s the important bit.
12:31