There are a few small preparations in the Eleven Madison Park cookbook that use a microwave to desiccate ingredients. The simplest of these is the “Olive Powder” in the Couscous Salad.

In a nutshell: line a microwave-safe plate with plastic wrap, finely chop some pitted black olives, spread them over the plastic and microwave until dry and crispy. The recipe in the book says two minutes is enough. Even for the small amount I did it took closer to four. Maybe mine weren’t chopped as fine as theirs.

The result is an attractive, jet-black olive crumble that tastes like, well… olives.

While this olive powder is okay, it’s interesting to think of this as a generalized technique for desiccating. Caper … Continue reading.