Living Well

One downside of not liking to cook means that you actually do have to buy a number of kitchen appliances.

Not the crazy specialist tool level that people who like to cook have – you want to ensure that any kitchen utensil or appliance can be used on at least two things.

No sense cluttering your drawers with a tool that can only be used to hull strawberries and nothing else – unless you really really like strawberries.

French Beaners – let’s not even go there.

With apartment and condo sizes getting smaller – and that works for houses too. Despite being bigger and bigger on the outside – monster houses are often carved up into a number of small suites.

Gone are the days of the Brady Bunch when Alice had two wall ovens to cook for that lot.

But, when you’ve been cornered into preparing a meal and you have to cook a roast and a pie at different temperatures – or just to compensate for power planning of cooking sequence to get everything out more or less at the same time – it helps to have something that can cook on the counter top.

Counter top roasters are very nice – so save yourself from having to wash a roasting pan and drop the roast or chicken into a counter top roaster and save the oven for hot appies or making dessert.

When the meat is cooked, the insert from the counter-top roaster can go in the dishwasher right away.

Well, unless you want to try your hand at gravy making – but I think it’s safer to not go there. Unless the roast is really dry.

If it is, remove the roast to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to capture the steam and allow the meat to rest – it will get a bit juicier.

Turn the roasting pan up high.

Run the hot water until it’s very hot and get about 2 to 3 cups.

Add some flour up to a half cup to the hot water and stir to the flour is absorbed into the liquid.

Pour this into the roasting pan and mix into the drippings.

Use a spoon to taste and if it needs a bit more flavour, add some salt reduced Oxo powder – beef for roasts, and chicken or vegetable flavoured for chickens, turkey or pork.

What’s actually a bit nicer than the power or cubed Oxo is a similar but moister product called “Better than Bouillon” – it’s in the same area of the grocery store as Oxo but is a thick paste in a glass jar. It comes in beef, chicken, turkey and vegetable flavours.

Either one is a great way to perk up gravies.

After all, the purpose of food is to convey sauces into your mouth.

And that, is a good enough thing.

Nancy