While I've already noted the too-complicated-to-bother-with-if-you're-just-microwaving-anyway recipes and the very sad diet recipes offered by A Guide to Microwave Cooking (Richland, 1981), I haven't given proper attention to the weird little snacks the book also offers.
In addition to the usual English muffin pizza recipe (labeled "Individual Pizza Treats"), the book offers a sausage-y variation.
I've got no problems with the substitution of browned sausage (obviously not microwaved if it's browned) and green pepper for the pepperoni, but then the book suggests "plac[ing] a mound of sauerkraut over sauce for added flavor"! Can't say as I've ever wanted sauerkraut on an English muffin pizza, or that I can imagine the (often similarly picky) target audience for English muffin pizzas clamoring for this either....
If you want something to do with the pepperoni saved by not using it on a "Pizza Treat," the book offers an unusual appetizer idea.
Arrange those pepperoni slices in a pie plate, sprinkle with lemon juice, and microwave until they sizzle! I have to admit that my childhood self would have thought it was a brilliant idea to use straight-up pepperoni as an edible spoon for chip dip. (And then I would have wondered why I had indigestion half an hour later.)
The snacks aren't all quite so lowbrow, though. A Guide to Microwave Cooking also provides a recipe for Chicken Kiev Appetizers.
You can (as always!) correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole attraction of Chicken Kiev (or perhaps now more properly "Chicken Kyiv") was that the chicken was covered in a crispy coating and concealed a warm pocket of herby melted butter, waiting to spill out when the diner cut it open. I don't think I'm being too much of a snob to suggest that chicken that was once wrapped around butter (or margarine!) before it was sliced into pieces so the filling could run out as the poultry was microwaved to rubbery doneness DOES NOT COUNT as Chicken Kyiv. Not even remotely.
I'm glad Richland was so creative with the snacking ideas, but I can't imagine these were ever too popular....
Sauerkraut on pizza? Who thought that was a good idea? I have a feeling that it must have involved alcohol (or other mood-altering substances).
ReplyDeleteAt least the thought of sauerkraut on English muffin pizza makes me marginally less disgusted by all the recipes that suggest ketchup as the sauce. At least that is made of tomatoes and a tomato sauce is generally part of pizza. I know where that idea came from.
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