Kitchen Confidential

Tonight for dinner I'm making Barbara's recipe for Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches. I browned the meat in a heavy pan on the stovetop and then transferred it and the broth and onions to my crockpot and cooked on high for 3 hours. I skipped the green peppers because my people are just not so fond of those.

I was doing just fine until I grabbed the cutting board and the meat fork so I could take the roast out to settle before slicing it. The fork's handle bent, dropping the roast back into the crockpot full of spicy au jus, which flew all over the wall behind the crockpot and ran down to the floor.

I sorted that out and cleaned up the mess, then sliced the roast and prepared to return it to the crockpot. As soon as all the meat was in there and the lid was on it, I went to pick up the cutting board so I could put it in the dishwasher, and it tipped over, pouring all the accumulated juice and little scraps down my shins, onto my shoes and socks, and onto the floor.

Good thing mopping day is tomorrow.

This recipe had better be good for all the trouble it has been today!

UPDATE: And the verdict is in...it's fabulous. Definitely a keeper. Wish I could say the same for my kitchen fork.

Focaccia Taste Test

I was asked by some readers to report on the Focaccia recipe we were trying today.

A few notes:

A double batch is just a TINY bit too much to fit happily in my bread machine pan (eeek!) I had to run out and pick up Big Brother, who missed the bus, and the dough sat a few minutes and grew bigger in there. Luckily I got home before it was a gooey mess everywhere.

I divided the dough into 6 portions and made smaller ones, 3 per cookie sheet.

I brushed olive oil all over the dough before adding any topping.

I also mixed a can of tomato paste and a tsp each of Italian seasoning and garlic powder and spread a thin layer of that on top of the olive oil. Then I topped with vegetables and/or cheese as desired.

NEXT TIME I will oil the dough and cover it in plastic wrap before the second rise.

There WILL be a next time.