- Oh, (bleep).
Oh, god.
Help me.
Hey, I'm Alexis, senior food specialist here at Tasty.
My friends have challenged me to cook with a coffee maker,
I did that, a clothing iron, I did that too,
but let's see what my producer has in store this time.
Oh boy.
- You have yourself a microwave.
However, you cannot do any research.
- That seems fair.
I feel like I probably need to elevate it
a bit more than a mud cake.
- Good luck, my friend.
- Thank you.
I feel like this is too easy, like I'm being tricked.
Microwaves are a really common kitchen appliance
that people use to cook with every day.
I know I could make a meal in a microwave,
but I really want to challenge myself
to make something really unexpected.
So I feel good.
Maybe.
For the first course,
I'm going to make beet-dyed deviled eggs.
As I was going to get eggs, someone was like,
"Eggs are going to explode in the microwave," so.
I'm going to put the beet in this dish
and pour a little water in it
so it kind of steams to cook it.
Maybe five minutes.
Three minutes. I'll start slow.
Okay.
Start.
(buzzing)
Okay.
Oh, there's a potato function on here,
and a beet is kind of similar to a potato.
(beeping)
We wait.
I mean, this is great that it has a potato function,
it takes some of the guesswork out, but it takes 12 minutes.
It's gonna be a long day.
I feel antsy.
I feel excited to see if this works.
I'm impatient. Let's see.
Oh, we're good.
So I'm just gonna boil the vinegar and water and salt
that I'm gonna add the beet to.
What am I doing?
Okay.
Well, it's on the express time, which is 30 seconds,
so maybe I'm gonna be doing everything
in 30-second intervals.
So because the beet is tender now,
I can actually just peel the skin right off.
Oh my god, this is gonna be crazy.
So if I was doing this at home,
I would do it on a oven, roast it.
It doesn't really matter what size they're cut into.
It's just for dying the pickling liquid.
The pickling liquid looks really beautiful.
The color is really intense, this beautiful magenta.
I'm gonna undo this one.
I'm so bad at this.
- [Producer] Do you want me to help you?
Yeah, what am I doing wrong?
Like, I just want it to go.
(beeping) Oh, what did you just do?
What did you just do?
- [Producer] I just pressed buttons.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
But why when I did that, it didn't work?
- [Producer] You didn't grow up with a microwave.
- Okay, so if you were gonna hard-boil an egg,
but in a microwave, seven minutes?
That feels aggressive.
I'm gonna go with six minutes.
We can do it again.
(ticking)
Moment of truth.
Cool it down just a hair.
I feel so nervous.
I'm doing a really bad job here on this egg,
but it's so hot.
The white feels very, very cooked.
I honestly hadn't considered if it was overcooked.
That's a really good egg.
I'm just gonna cool these down so I can actually peel them.
The longer you let the egg sit in the pickling liquid,
the more pink it'll get.
I've been peeling eggs for about 25 minutes now.
But I'm on my last one.
I'm gonna move on to the lemon bars.
This is where my confidence starts to wane.
I'm gonna melt some butter for the crust.
So I've got some flour.
Powdered sugar.
A pinch of salt.
I'm going for a faux shortbread crust.
Per usual, I'm just wondering
if the crust is actually going to cook in a microwave.
This isn't like an oven, and I'm not able to really bake it.
So I think the key for this is gonna go slowly,
like do it in increments and checking,
just so nothing gets really like fried.
I'm gonna press this down.
It's not the finest crust I've ever made.
So the bottom layer.
Pizza.
Probably to reheat pizza.
Maybe I'll just do two minutes and see what happens.
It's kind of cooking, baking.
I think I'll do two more minutes and see what happens.
Okay, I really want to make sure that the flour
is no longer raw.
If we can get a firm crust, that'd be great.
So I have these amazing lemons.
They're Meyer lemons,
and this is what I'm gonna use to make my curd.
And I'm gonna try to make candied lemon peel
with these beautiful smooth lemons.
Oh no, it's burnt.
The good news is that there is some color on the crust.
The bad news is that I burnt this.
So let me give it a taste.
I don't love the texture.
I'm just gonna do it again for less time
and see what happens.
It smells really bad in here.
Here we go.
I'm gonna multitask and at least get the lemon peels
in some hot water.
The thing is, I can't look up any of the stuff,
so all the timing and the voltage
is just what I think is right,
and I don't know what's right.
So to candy lemons, first add the peels to boiling water
to remove the bitterness.
The butter is good.
Add this back in.
Research would have been really nice.
Just gonna say that.
I'm also gonna fork-prick so some of the air can get out.
I think that might help too.
I'll do two minutes, two minutes,
and then like one minute, and see what happens.
And then I'm gonna make a simple syrup with sugar and water.
This feels a little chaotic right now, but.
Oh (bleep).
No, it's getting like a dark spot in the middle.
Why is this happening?
Maybe this is fine.
I mean, this is like a pale, pale, pale, pale crust.
Put you over here.
Into the microwave.
Meyer lemons have a more sweet, subtle flavor
than traditional lemons.
They're amazing.
The sugar and water are dissolved.
I'm gonna add the peels in.
And usually, you would simmer this over really low heat,
but again, can't do that, so I'm just gonna let it hang out.
So we've got the eggs, sugar, a pinch of salt,
and I'm gonna add a pinch of corn starch,
and then lemon juice.
Add some butter.
So far, this is like you would make regular curd.
I'm gonna try microwaving it in one-minute intervals.
If this doesn't work, we'll just do it again.
It feels like I have buried my nose
inside of a burnt popcorn bag.
Shh.
It's hard to imagine that this is going to thicken.
This, so usually you'd be simmering it,
but it actually looks pretty thick and syrupy.
It smells really good.
Ooh!
So one thing is going well.
We're gonna have just candied lemon peel for dessert.
Oh, it does thicken.
Oh my god.
Kind of chunky, but I'm gonna taste it.
Hmm.
I think I'll put it through the sieve
to get any chunks out.
I wonder if this is enough.
Now I guess I microwave it again.
So if I was doing this at home,
I would put it in the oven for a few minutes
just to help it set.
Maybe express.
I'm going back to express. That feels right.
30 seconds.
I'm going to slice up my little candied lemon peel
and toss it with some sugar and let it dry.
I think I'm just gonna chill it and hope for the best.
We're finally at the entree.
I'm going to make tomato chips, creamy polenta, and halibut.
I have this idea to, not roast garlic,
but kind of get a similar thing.
I'm going to lop the top off.
Bowl, olive oil, salt.
So I would usually just roast this
really low and slow for a while,
but let's see what happens if we do potato.
One, five?
I just had this idea to make tomato chips.
I'm gonna actually do a little salt.
The salt's just gonna draw some more moisture out of them,
just because I want them to be as dry as possible
when I do put them in the microwave.
I'm gonna try to make polenta.
I'm gonna use milk.
You could use chicken stock, you could do water.
Maybe the milk is a bad idea in this case, but.
Add in some salt.
I need to wash, like something is fishy here.
Something's wrong.
(dramatic music)
- I had to intervene.
Sorry, smoking.
Hot set!
- No, no!
Ahh!
Oh, it's like on fire.
I don't want to say this is a disaster quite yet,
but this is really not going very well.
- On your mark.
- Well, garlic was best, which changes some things.
So I'm gonna move on to the polenta and see if this works.
You know, maybe it was potato.
Maybe potato was too intense.
It's so hot in here.
It's like at least 80 degrees
and it smells like burnt popcorn.
This is going badly.
How do I feel about this?
Not good.
My confidence level right now
is honestly at a, like a three.
At least I have candied lemon peel.
Voila!
The thing is, I can't let my confidence level dip too far,
because then I'm gonna start messing up.
It's not over yet.
Oh my god.
I honestly like, I, this is a disaster.
What is happening?
I mean, maybe it's fine.
No.
No, nope, nope, nope, nope.
That's not good.
This is the unraveling?
Have you taken me down in three episodes?
So I'm gonna put one fillet.
I'm gonna put some tarragon, some thyme,
and some capers.
Would you like to ask my confidence level?
- [Producer] Sure.
- It's about a two.
Sinking right down.
Remember when I was like,
"I'm gonna inspire people to cook from their dorm rooms?"
That's a lie.
Liar.
Let's see how this goes.
I am so nervous.
Like, what if I just don't do it?
(beeping)
Feels right.
So we can just let these heat.
Oh, speaking of all the smells,
I'm now the person who puts fish in the microwave.
Yeah, I got cocky.
I knew it was a trick.
I knew it was too good to be true.
Mmm.
It feels a tiny bit overdone to me.
I can put something on the plate.
Ahh!
I'm gonna cook off some more fish for real this time.
I feel like I should save one just in case.
(ticking)
I think my fish is done.
Let's just see what happens
when we put tomatoes in the microwave.
Look at those eggs.
This is really the moment of truth.
Oh!
Huh.
They're beautiful.
The eggs feel a little hard.
I'm not gonna lie.
The magenta here is even more intense
than some of the ones I've made in the past,
but I really like it.
This is gonna be really simple.
Mayonnaise, some mustard, call it a day.
It's not great. It's not great.
Maybe they will be distracted by how pretty they are.
These are not the most delicate
deviled eggs I've ever made, but.
Little eggs, you are my friends, little eggs.
They're so cute, oh my god.
Okay, I'm gonna chill these in the fridge
and top them with chives and bacon at the end.
I guess I should see the lemon bars, huh?
The curd looks good.
It's not really a pretty even layer here, but.
You guys, this is not good.
Nah!
I don't know if we could really call this a lemon bar.
I'm stress-eating.
It's fine.
If I can just get one nice square, I'll be thrilled.
Shh.
There's a square.
I mean, look, it's not fully set.
If I can just plate things really beautifully,
maybe it'll distract them.
No, this is not a thing.
No one wants to eat this.
A soggy tomato?
Anyone?
It's fine. Someone's just gonna get fish.
What is the plan?
Bacon's the last thing.
Words of wisdom?
No, no.
Good, good, good.
Is there a bacon function?
Bacon in the microwave.
Just let it do its thing.
I'm just worried that whoever tastes this
is gonna be like, "Oh, you're a terrible cook."
Guys, this is not good.
Rubbery is kind of like the theme of today.
Honestly, this is as good as it's gonna get right now.
Do I get to know who's gonna try this?
- [Producer] No, it's a surprise.
- Oh god.
- Come on in!
Well, this is my new boss.
I've prepared a three-course meal.
- I'm so excited.
- I'm so excited for you too.
- Okay.
- The first course are beet-dyed deviled eggs
with chives and bacon.
- It's so beautiful.
- Thank you so much.
- I'm just gonna try to eat this elegantly.
- Yeah, I think there's no way.
- This is pretty delicious.
- Okay.
- The bacon's really crispy.
The egg whites are the tiniest bit rubbery.
Honestly, other than that, I think it's pretty delicious.
- Okay, course two is sort of a minimalist thing.
It's a halibut, just halibut.
- The plating is really pretty.
- Should I just leave?
- It's fine.
It's not my favorite fish dish.
- Sure.
Fine feels like a badge of honor right now.
For your third course, you have a lemon bar
with some candied lemon peel on top.
- Did you candy your own lemon?
- I did.
- Mmm, this crust is so crunchy,
in a great way 'cause the curd is super smooth.
The first and the third were really good.
I really don't know what crazes you had to do
to get to this place, but not bad.
- Well, do you want to know what they put me up to?
- [Susan] Lay it out for me.
- You gotta turn around.
- [Susan] Did you cook it in this microwave?
- All three courses done in a microwave.
- You did fish? You did fish in a microwave?
How did you get the crust so crispy?
- The first one burned,
which is why the room smells like this.
- I was concerned about the burning fume smell
when I came in.
But I'm super impressed that you did that in a microwave.
- Oh, she's so sweet.
- Can't wait to see what you do with like a stove?
I'm gonna go ahead and take this,
and I'm just gonna finish it with some of the coffee.
Good job!
- Thanks. Thanks.
Oh!
That was by the far the hardest thing
I have ever had to do here.
I hate microwaves, it turns out.
I never want to cook with one again,
but I also feel like maybe I have redemption in my future
if I can research.
No?
(sighs)
Hopefully next time will be easier, better?
Honestly, give me a coffee maker again.