Falafel Pizza

I spent a lot of time deciding what I wanted out of this recipe.  At first, I was thinking of doing something new to a socca.  Then I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the time cooking up chickpeas.  Hummus was considered, then also discarded as not really being what I was in the mood for, but I still kind of wanted tahini.

Then I thought of going crazy with a falafel pie and turning it into a Mediterranean-themed pizza.  Yes, that's what I wanted!  Nutritious, light, and a bit sinful at the same time.  Also, I only bought the cheese.

Pantry Challenge January may be almost over, but I still have a crazy amount on hand.  The only thing under control is the frozen vegetables, thanks to almost finishing off the artichokes with this.  I have zero chance of going through the beans, lentils, and rice before Passover, which is early this year.  That is going to be a lot to pack away.  All those prepper video estimates of how much a person eats in a month or year must be for someone who eats way more calories than I do and has every single meal at home.  I'm out for at least one meal every working day.  That was six days a week for a while, so I wasn't totally heartbroken when I tested positive and had to stay home for almost two weeks.  The fever and difficulty breathing weren't ideal, but I got some projects done around the house.

• *2/3 C dry chickpeas
• *1/2 C chopped onion
• *1/4 C fresh parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp baking powder
• *3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 C flour
• 1 Tb olive oil
• *2 Tb tahini paste
• *2 Tb lemon juice
• *1 C frozen artichokes, defrosted
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• *12 grape tomatoes, halved

1.  Soak chickpeas 18 hours, until softened.  Drained.  You can use canned if you have to, but the texture will be mushy.

2.  In a food processor, run chickpeas, onion, parsley, salt, paprika, cumin, baking powder, garlic, and flour into a chunky paste.

3.  Pour oil into a pie dish and spread around to grease.  Preheat oven to 375º

4.  In a small bowl, whisk together tahini paste and lemon juice.  If desired, season with a little salt and minced garlic.

5.  Press falafel mix into pie dish.  Pour tahini sauce onto surface and spread around, leaving a crust on the edges.

6.  Roughly chop the artichokes and distribute on the crust.  Add shallot slices.  Crumble feta if it's a block and sprinkle over everything.  Bake 25 minutes, until edges are well browned.

7.  After baking, top with halved tomatoes.  Cut and serve.

Makes 1 pie, 4-6 servings

Difficulty rating  :)

Turkey and Lentil Meatloaf

This Project Pantry January is going to be going on until at least Purim.  I'll be honest, I miss grocery shopping every 3 to 4 days.  Only going when I can't avoid it is weird, but having two weeks on hand did save me when I had to do a Covid isolation.  (I was mostly recovered by the time the test came back positive, which didn't keep my family from freaking out.)  It's way cheaper and keeps me from buying anything unnecessary.  It's having a basket full of bananas all the time that I miss the most.  It isn't worth shopping if that's the only thing I need.

I've had a pound of ground turkey in the freezer for quite some time.  It was only $1.88, so I figured I'd use it eventually.  The goal of this recipe was to use that.  While I was at it, I thought I'd come up with a way to bring in brown lentils for nutrition.  I find their flavor similar to that of turkey, and wondered if putting lentil mash in as part of the filler would help disguise it for child-feeding purposes.

I'm also using the last of the gravy that came with the Thanksgiving turkey breast.  I don't know why they included a packet that made enough for a 14 lb turkey.  It has been in and out of the freezer a couple of times.  I don't even routinely put gravy on my meatloaf.  I was raised by people who used ketchup.

The greens on the side are what was supposed to be my Christmas salad.  It took my lettuces a lot longer to grow than I expected.  Just a hybrid Romaine and some arugula.

*1/3 C dry brown lentils
*1/4 C breadcrumbs
1 egg
*1/4 C fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 C fresh parsley leaves
1/2 C chopped onion
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
*1 lb ground turkey
*Gravy, ketchup, or other sauce for serving

1.  Rinse and sort lentils.  Simmer in water to cover by 1" until tender and splitting.  Drain.  This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

2.  Start preheating oven to 350º.  Add lentils to food processor, along with breadcrumbs, egg, cilantro, parsley, onion, salt, pepper, and cumin.  Pulse into a coarse paste.

3.  Your choice.  Either transfer paste into a bowl and knead into ground turkey for a more firm texture, or dump the turkey into the food processor and go for it.  I was rapidly developing a fever as I was making this and opted for the latter.  Seriously, I was fine when I went outside for the cilantro and lettuce, and had 100º by the time this was done.  And this was after stopping for the Covid test on the way home.

4.  Spread turkey mixture into a loaf pan and bake until center reaches 165º on a food thermometer, about 35 minutes.  Allow to rest 10 minutes.  Slice and serve with topping of choice.

Difficulty rating  :)

Cardamom and Coconut Mandazi

I found this recipe for African doughnuts, called mandazi, in the L.A. Times.  The post includes a Kenyan version of chai, but I'm not fond of overly-gingered chai and skipped it.

These doughnuts are leavened with baking powder, earning a quick bread label even though the dough has to rest for a while before rolling.  I just took a shower and came back to do the second half.  The recipe is closer to biscuits or scones than yeast-raised donuts up to the frying point.

Unfortunately, the one-egg version of this recipe makes two dozen.  If you have leftovers, you'll have to freeze them and reheat in a 300º toaster oven, or they'll get soggy and weird.  You can certainly freeze the wedges like you would cookie dough and fully defrost to fry the next day.  Just mark the container so you don't mistake them for already cooked.  I wrote the frying instructions on the bag.

The original instructions in the paper are overly detailed and a bit hard to follow.  Step 1 alone would convince someone this recipe isn't worth doing.  I'm going to assume you have a passing familiarity with the ingredients and the concept of a scone.  These really are not hard or time consuming.

*10-14 green cardamom pods
2 C flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
*1/2 C coconut milk
1 large egg
Vegetable oil, for frying
Powdered sugar, for serving

1.  Using a mortar and pestle if you have it, or the flat side of a knife if you don't, crack open enough cardamom pods to measure 1 tsp of seeds.  Discard the pods or use them in chai.  Coarsely crush the seeds in the mortar and pestle, or in a sealed plastic baggie with a rolling pin.

2.  Sift together crushed cardamom, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.  Separately, whisk together coconut milk and egg.  This will help to make the coconut milk smoother.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the egg mixture.  Use a spoon to bring together the flour and wet mix.  It will be dry.  Switch to kneading with your hands until smooth, adding more flour if very sticky.

3.  Cut dough into three equal pieces, preferably with a scale.  Round the pieces into balls.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.

4.  Pour 1" of oil into a medium saucepan or deep skillet.  Preheat to 350º.  Be careful not to let the oil overheat, or the outside of the donuts will cook too fast and leave the middles raw.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

5.  Roll one ball of dough into a 6" circle, adding flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the board.  This is when the guide on my pastry board comes in handy.  Cut into 8 wedges with a knife or pizza cutter.  Set aside on lined baking sheet and repeat with other two balls of dough.

6.  Add wedges to hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan.  I only got three or four in at a time because I was using a smaller saucepan.  A 12" skillet or deep fryer could do more.  Allow to fry about 2 minutes, until golden brown.  Carefully flip with tongs or a spider and cook the other side.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and dust with powdered sugar.  Once the oil recovers its heat, repeat process until all are fried.  Serve hot.

Makes 2 dozen, about 8-12 servings

Difficulty rating  π

Pesto Farfalle with Roasted Vegetables

For someone who doesn't eat a lot of pasta - and knows how to make it from scratch - I have a lot of it in the pantry.  I think I only paid for one of the boxes, the Israeli couscous.  That stuff is pricey, so it kind of makes up for the rest of it.

It's seeding time for herbs, so I decided to blow the rest of my dried basil from last year on pesto.  Farfalle works better with a thin sauce, unless you're making some kind of baked casserole.  I decided to use cashews out of the freezer instead of pine nuts so this would qualify as a low-purchase meal.

I did buy an onion and package of snacking tomatoes.  There's something about just-roasted tomatoes that you can't get out of a can.  I did use green beans out of the freezer.

I know this looks like many elements and a lot of work, and it felt like it when I was planning the recipe, but it really isn't because of the overlap.  The vegetables are prepped while the oven preheats and roast while the pasta water boils and the pasta itself cooks. It only takes a few minutes to make the sauce.  Toss together and serve.

*2 C frozen green beans, thawed
1 C grape or other small tomatoes
1 small red onion
2 Tb olive oil
*1/2 C dried basil pesto (or other pesto)
*8 oz dry farfalle pasta

1.  Start preheating oven to 375º and line a baking sheet with foil, parchment, or Silpat for easy cleanup.

2.  Peel the onion and French slice.  Place slices in a medium bowl with green beans and tomatoes.  Toss in 2 Tb olive oil and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Roast 15-20 minutes, until tomatoes are cooked.  Set aside.

3.  While the vegetables are roasting, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.

4.  While water is coming to a boil, make pesto.  Really, I had 5 minutes left over.  It doesn't take long.

5.  Return drained pasta to the pot.  Toss in roasted vegetables.  Add pesto and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.

Difficulty rating  π, but a few dishes, including the food processor.

Three Citrus Marmalade

 

I bought a couple of grapefruit in December and never got around to eating them.  I also noticed that the squirrels didn't eat quite all of the oranges on the citrus tree.  So here comes this recipe from Food In Jars to the rescue.

Similar to a recipe in the Ball Book of Canning, this one primarily uses the zest of the fruit and requires you to supreme the wedges.  It's an annoying process, but you get better at it as you go along.  Use a sharp knife with a gentle touch.  The whole thing is going to take about two hours if you've never done it before.

I'm cutting Marisa's already small yield recipe in half.  Two pints of marmalade is plenty when you also have as much jam on hand as I do.  And I was making Marissa's version of fig mustard later the same day and did not feel like spending so much time on my first recipe.  I ended up with a few extra ounces of fruit when I weighed it, which you can see in the extra 4oz jar in the photo.

*2 lbs assorted citrus fruit (I used 2 grapefruit, 2 Valencia oranges, and 1 Meyer lemon)
3 C sugar
if necessary, 1-2 Tb dry pectin

1.  Wash the fruit in warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly.  Remove zest only from the fruit with a vegetable peeler, leaving the white pith behind.  Stack the strips and slice into zest confetti.  Combine in a pot with 1 quart of filtered water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until zest is tender.

2.  While the zest is cooking, supreme the fruit.  Cut the pith off the flesh using the melon method.  Cut away the pulp between the membranes.  Collect the fruit and juices in a bowl.  Save the seeds, as they will be your pectin later.

3.  Collect all your seeds in a piece of cheesecloth and tie securely.  Or, you can use my method of encasing them in a stainless steel tea ball that has a chain so it can dangle into the pot.

4.  Drain the zest in a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the cooking liquid.

5.  If canning, prepare a boiling water bath and jars for a 2-pint yield.  Place the lids in a small saucepan of water and simmer over the lowest heat.

6.  In a pot, combine the drained zest, all the fruit and juices you just supremed, 2 C of the reserved cooking liquid, the sugar, and the package of seeds.  Bring to a vigorous boil and cook until the mixture reaches 220º, which will take about 30 minutes.  Stir often to prevent scorching or boiling over.

7.  When the mixture can maintain 220º for 1 minute, even while being stirred, remove from the heat.  Test set, and add a tablespoon or two of pectin if too thin.  Return to the heat if pectin is added and boil another 5 minutes, until consistency changes.

8.  Ladle the marmalade into prepared jars.  If canning, wipe the rims, center lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  For non-canning, allow to cool until no longer steaming, then place into containers and refrigerate promptly.  Use within a few weeks.

Makes approx 2 pints

Difficulty rating  :-0

Pinto Curry

While on a search for a way to use up pantry items and a lot of home-grown cilantro, I ended up on a page devoted to Sri Lankan parippu (lentil) recipes.  The cuisine appears to be similar to Indian, but a bit lighter and less intense spice-wise.

In the end, I did not find exactly what I wanted in any one recipe.  I'm using those influences and a bit of Mexican flavor to create this version.  Skipping tamarind because I don't like it, and I'll list the peppers that I'm not putting in mine because of my allergy.

There is nothing wrong with using canned pintos and making this in a whopping 20 minutes, half of that waiting for the onion to soften.  I went the hard route because I have dry pintos and wanted that texture.

After about a year of making Indian/South Asian dishes, I finally realized that you can use coconut oil for the sauté fat.  Almost every recipe calls for olive oil, so it just never occurred to me.  I only have a small jar of it, for that one recipe I run across that really should use it instead of vegetable or olive oil.  Gave it a shot here.

*1 15 oz can pinto beans or 2/3 C dry
1 Tb coconut oil, olive oil, or ghee
*1/4 C tomato paste
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*1 Tb curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
salt to taste
1 C diced onion
*1 14 oz can coconut milk
*1/2 C cilantro leaves
1 red chili or jalapeño pepper
*1 C frozen cauliflower, defrosted (optional)
*2 Tb lemon or lime juice
*rice for serving

1a: If making beans from dry, soak for 6-8 hours in water to cover by 2".  Drain, rinse, and simmer in water to cover by 1" for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  Drain.  1b: If making from a can, drain and rinse.

2.  Start making your rice.  I used Jasmine rice, 1 C dry for 4 servings, with 2 C water.

3.  In a large saucepan or skillet, melt coconut oil over medium heat.  Add spices and tomato paste and cook until a fragrant paste, about 2 minutes.  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is very soft, about 5-8 minutes.

4.  While the onion is cooking, cut cauliflower and pepper into small bite-sized pieces, just a little bigger than the beans.  Chop cilantro a bit.

5.  Once onions have softened, add coconut milk, pepper, cauliflower, and beans.  Bring to a simmer, then stir in cilantro.  Taste, and add salt as needed.  Finish with lemon or lime juice and serve over or alongside the rice.

Difficulty rating  π

Pantry Challenge January

 

There's a thing called Pantry Challenge January, where you try to spend as little as possible at the market and work with what's on hand.  AKA, this entire blog for the past 10 years.  The purpose of it is to discover creative new ways to use commonly stocked items and learn what you don't really use so you don't buy it again.  It's a time for evaluating expiration dates, doing inventory, and maybe defrosting the freezer.  I do all of that second part in March to get ready for Passover, so my January is just working with what I have.

I'm still miffed that there weren't any turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving.  I've been wanting turkey divan for over a month.  So I baked up two chicken thighs from the freezer and opened a small can of chicken for the white meat to make the chicken version.  It used up a can of cream of broccoli (instead of mushroom), some breadcrumbs, frozen broccoli, and half a bag of shredded cheese.

Next up was a much healthier (and vastly lower in salt) curry that will be in the next post.  Also made entirely of dry pantry, fridge, and freezer ingredients.

It is clearly going to take longer than just January to make a significant dent in my storage.  I might not use up all the frozen vegetables and meats.  I did finally get all the canning jars out of the pantry, but it meant moving them into an unused closet not near the kitchen.  I'm trying to purge excess stuff again this year, so it's possible I'll make enough space in a cabinet closer to the kitchen at some point.  I refuse to store them on the top shelves of the kitchen cabinets, which are intentionally kept empty.

Between the pandemic and current events, I think I can get away with only shopping for dairy and bananas for the near future.  The less time spent in public, the better.  And I don't have to worry about runs on products, like last March.  Prepping isn't all bad, but I refuse to do years when four months feels like too much.  It's all about a personal comfort level.

Pasta with Miso-Roasted Vegetables

 

I finally got everything out of the box in the hall and into the pantry.  Then my neighbor gave me half a box of angel hair pasta because he doesn't like spaghetti sauce.  You don't put red sauce on angel hair!  It's Pantry Project January, which is when preppers see what creative meals they can make with their stashes.  I only bought tofu and mushrooms for this.  Oh, and rice vinegar, but only because I was out and would have bought it anyway.

I've been wanting to do some kind of vegetable with miso paste dish for some time.  Throwing it all onto the angel hair sounded like a good idea.  It's more of a vinaigrette dressing than "pasta sauce", and not an overwhelming flavor.  The idea is to enhance the natural flavors of the vegetables.  I guess you could have this cold as a pasta salad.  But not on a rainy day in January.

I'm giving this a non-American label even though the squash is natively American.  So is acorn squash, which is often used in tempura.  Pasta was invented in Asia, and the flavor profile is Asian.

*1 medium butternut squash
*2 C small Brussels sprouts
*1 bunch green onions
1 C baby Bella mushrooms
about 1/2 C oil (I used grapeseed)
*1Tb white miso paste
2 Tb rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (1 small clove)
*1 tsp honey
*1/2 tsp sesame seeds
*8 oz angel hair or other pasta
1 package firm tofu

1.  preheat oven to 375º and line a rimmed sheet pan with foil.  Cut squash in half the long way and scoop out the seeds.  Smear cut side with some oil and bake for about 15 minutes, to loosen the skin.  Allow to cool until you can handle it and peel off skin.

2.  While the squash is cooking, prep the sauce.  Whisk together 1/4 C oil, the miso, vinegar, soy, garlic, honey, and sesame.  Taste and adjust with more of whatever you happen to like.

3.  You might also have time to cut the rest of the veggies while the squash is in the oven.  Slice the mushrooms into 1/4" thick pieces.  Cut the onions into 1" lengths.  If the Brussels sprouts are too big, cut them in half.  Put everything in a medium bowl.  Once the butternut is peeled, cut it into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl.

4.  Add half of the miso dressing to the veggies and toss to coat.  Spread vegetables on the foil-lined baking sheet and roast another 15-20 minutes, until everything is cooked.

5.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.  Chop the tofu into bite-sized pieces.  Drain pasta and return to the pot.  Toss with remaining dressing.  Add roasted vegetables and tofu, and toss to distribute.  Serve immediately.

Difficulty rating  :)

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

 I saw a video for these one day on Preppy Kitchen.  The next, I was making the rye-style bread and noticed the recipe on the molasses jar label.  They're similar.  John's is better written and uses a different baking temperature, but they're almost the same.  I decided to go closer to the jar's recipe, but with some of Preppy Kitchen's adjustments.

The one-egg quantity of these is still almost three dozen cookies.  That's fine in December, not so much in January.  There's a workaround for that.  Bake one dozen as written.  For the rest of the dough, make your cookie balls and place on a piece of wax paper on a baking sheet.  Freeze them, then place the frozen dough balls in a ziplock with the baking instructions.  Pull out however many you'd like to make while the oven is preheating, roll in the granulated sugar, and bake about 2 minutes longer than you would if they were only refrigerated.

I there's a lot of shortening in the Grandma's Molasses recipe (which for some reason isn't on their actual website).  Preppy Kitchen's used the same amount of unsalted butter.  I kind of split the difference here.  Butter softens cookies and shortening crisps them.  It's the same concept as using two different fats in a pie crust, to balance taste and texture.  You can alter the proportions to achieve the desired cookie texture.

1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C shortening
3/4 C light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, room temperature
*1/3 C molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/4 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
granulated sugar for rolling 

1.  Cream together butter, shortening, and brown sugar.  Beat in molasses, egg, and vanilla until fluffy.

2.  Separately, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Stir flour mixture into wet mixture until combined.  Do not overmix.  Chill until firm enough to handle, about 1 hour.

3.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Put a few tablespoons of granulated sugar in a small bowl for rolling the cookies, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.

4.  Roll dough into 1-1/2" balls, a rounded Tablespoon.  Dip into sugar to coat the top half only.  Set 2" apart on cookie sheet.  My dough softened up while I was panning the first tray, so I put it back in the freezer while they were baking and did a second batch later.  Spritz the dough balls with a few drops of water.  I happen to have a "baking" spray bottle of water for this sort of thing, but shaking drops off your fingers is fine.

5.  Bake 10-12 minutes, until starting to brown around the edges.  By the time a dark cookie like this looks "done", it's overdone.  Allow to cool on the sheet until firm enough to move to a wire rack.  Cool and serve.  Leftovers can be frozen.

Makes about 32-36

Difficulty rating  :)

Eye of Round Roast

A few months ago, I found a two-pound roast for a good price at the market.  I bought it and stuck it in the freezer for Christmas.  Yes, Round can be tough.  It's what the butcher usually cubes up into stew meat.  As long as Christmas dinner was going to be just me, I figured it would be ok if it came out overly chewy.

Then I had oral surgery a week before Christmas and almost scrapped the idea.  Spaghetti bolognese is much easier to chew.  But after several days of Ensure and Chef Boyardee, I was ready to tackle anything that did not come out of a can.

The trick to roasting any tough cut of meat is to blast it, then lower the temperature to just around what it would get if simmered.  Like searing a pot roast before adding the broth.  It's going to take longer than it would to roast a more tender cut, but the results will be edible.

I'm following the method of A Family Feast.  I say method because their recipe allows for different sizes of roasts.  Theirs was four pounds, but the recipe works just as well for my smaller cut because it relies on temperature instead of time.  I just cut the amount of rub in half.

2 lb eye of round roast
2 Tb olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
*1/2 Tb minced garlic
*1/2 tsp dried thyme or 2 tsp fresh, chopped
1/2 Tb Dijon mustard

1.  The night before or at least 6 hours in advance, prepare roast.  If your roast has the fat cap, slash it into 1" squares so the meat can self-baste.  In a mortar and pestle, smash together salt, pepper, and garlic.  Or, in my case, bowl and pestle because my mortar is chai flavored at the moment and I didn't want to start over.  Once a paste is achieved, crush in thyme, 1 Tb oil, and mustard.  I only had French's mustard, and used 1 tsp of that and 1/2 tsp of yellow mustard seeds.

2.  Smear paste over top of roast.  Place in a plastic bag and return to the fridge to do its osmosis thing for a minimum of 6 hours and up to 24.  Let sit on the counter for half an hour to come up to room temperature a little.  This will help with even cooking.

3.  Preheat oven to 500º.  Remove roast from bag and place on a rack in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet.  Line pan with foil for easier cleanup.  Smear with other tablespoon of oil and roast for 20 minutes, just until outside is crackly and browning.

4.  Remove roast from oven and turn it down to 225º.  Return roast to oven and stick a temperature probe in it if you have one.  I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've used mine.  If you don't have a probe thermometer, check the roast every 15 minutes until it gets to 100º, then every 8 or so.  Roast at the new lower temperature until the probe reaches 120º for medium-rare.  My roast took about 40 minutes to reach that temperature, but it will differ based on thickness, size, and your oven.  Also, when I rechecked the temperature with my regular food thermometer, it was 128º, so calibration could be an issue.

5.  Allow roast to rest 30 minutes before carving, and cut against the grain.  I recommend thin slices.  There was a steak knife on the table, but I didn't use it.  If desired, this is a good time to make gravy.

Gravy

Pan drippings
1 Tb butter
1 Tb flour
2 Tb red wine, like Merlot
1 C beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Pour any pan drippings from the roast into a small saucepan over medium heat.  Melt butter with them.

2.  Pour in wine to deglaze and let it cook off.  Add flour and cook into a paste.

3.  Gradually add broth, allowing sauce to thicken between additions.  Bring to a low boil, to make sure all the flour is cooked.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  This will depend on personal tastes and what brand of broth you used.  I didn't add any.

4.  Spoon over beef slices and serve.

Serves 4-6, or more if it's a larger roast

Difficulty rating  :)

New Year Changes

 Like everyone else, I want to put most of 2020 behind me.  Half of my year's to-dos and goals went unmet.  I did better than expected on seeing movies because I counted any streamed films that I would have spent money on in a theater, had that been an option.  Still, most of the items on the list are about getting out and having experiences, which I couldn't really do after March 19th.

First thing on next year's list is getting vaccinated as soon as I'm eligible.  That might not be until April, but I plan to keep trying.  Only slightly lower on the list will be having the garage sale I didn't feel comfortable having when strangers became disease vectors.

I'm going through closets and cabinets again, seeing what I can add to the garage sale pile.  I'm organizing and putting things in better locations.  And I've decided to go down to one set of everyday dishes.

I don't keep kosher, but I have two sets of everyday dishes and two sets of china.  Granted, the blue and gold china is from Target and mainly used for Chanukah.  There's also a small Lenox tea set of my mom's that's going to go into the garage sale pile so I can build a set of the Royal Albert that I've wanted since the 80s. Ebay is going to love me for a couple of years.

I'm giving up the familiar fruit plates and switching to the plain white ones because there are two more in the set.  Seriously, that's the primary reason.  I only run the dishwasher when I run out of space in it, and generally go through all of the 8-setting gingham fruit plates before that.  Plus, one of the dinner plates is slightly broken, so I really only have seven of those when the rim piece is being glued back on for the umpteenth time.  Keeping an extra set of broken and chipped plates is a step below hoarding, even if they're in constant use.  I don't want to end up like my mom, with over ten sets of dishes.  Not kidding.

Food presentation for the blog will also look better on the white dishes.  I tend to plate for photos on one of the china sets if it will look better, but I usually just use whatever I'm planning to eat it off of.  The glassware in the earliest days of the blog was terrible for photos, but it's what I had.  White is generally what food stylists use.

We'll see if I change my mind.  It's a few months to the garage sale.  Maybe Melody Smurf wants me to save them for her, when she someday goes back to college.  The dishes will find a home eventually.