Final Meal: Oven Roasted

For my Final meal I decided to go with the theme of oven roasting for the foods that I would prepare. I chose this theme because I was making a family meal and a lot of our family recipes are dependent on using the oven for our meal preparation. I also felt it was appropriate because the weather has now turned into full on winter and all of these dishes are a comfort food for me

The three dishes that I made for this were Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Bang Bang Broccoli, and Braised Beef. 

Appetizer/Side Dish: Bang Bang Broccoli

Broccoli

Equal parts Honey, Sriracha, 1/2 part Olive Oil, Lime juice, Red Chili Flakes to taste

Process: Heat oven to 425 degrees, mix sauce ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Toss broccoli in sauce and try to coat as evenly as possible. Put broccoli on baking sheet with parchment paper and roast for roughly 20 minutes, waiting until the broccoli begins to char to pull it out of the oven. 

Quick Thoughts: This dish is easy and fast I could definitely make it on a whim in about 30 minutes if I swing by the grocery store to pick up some fresh broccoli on my way home any given day.

Side Dish: Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4 pound bag of red potatoes

12 oz Sour Cream 8 oz Cream Cheese

1 Tbsp Salt 1 Bulb garlic diced (6-8 cloves) 

Process: (The night before) Boiled, washed, and quartered potatoes (with skins still on!) in a large pot in salted water until easily pierced with a fork. After draining the water I put the potatoes in the roasting pot and combined them with the cream cheese, sour cream, salt and garlic. Used a mashing tool break the potatoes down further and mix everything else in. After a taste test I covered the container and put it into the refrigerator to chill overnight. Once I was ready to serve the meal I put the potatoes in the oven at 325 to warm them back up, usually an hour or so. I know the potatoes are ready when the brown crust starts to develop on the top.    

Quick Thoughts: While easy in practice this dish definitely takes a bit of time to put together, and refrigeration overnight makes it a dish that takes a bit of planning. Will definitely make again 

Main Dish: Braised Beef 

5lb Chuck Roast, 1/2 bottle Merlot, 4 Tbsp butter 

1 large onion sliced, 2 carrots diced, 2 celery stalks diced

Salt, Pepper, 1 Tbsp Rosemary, 1 Tbsp Thyme, Lemon, chopped Parsley

Process: Heat 2 Tbsp butter in Dutch Oven on the stove top on medium heat and begin browning the carrots. After 10 minutes or so add onions and celery and cook until onions begin to caramelize. Remove veggies and set aside. Place remaining butter in the Dutch Oven and turn heat to medium high. Brown each side of roast (about 5 minutes each side) and set meat aside. Add wine to the pot and scrape all the leavings off the side and bottom of pot. Put the veggies back in the pot and place beef on top. Add herbs and squeeze the lemon over the roast. place cover on dutch oven and place in stove for 4 hours at 325. Cook until fork tender. 

Quick Thoughts: This was a lot easier than I thought it would be, working with such a large piece of meat was intimidating at first but with this process it would be hard to completely mess up the main course. Will definitely make again for special occasions. Bonus: The liquid looks like it would be a great base for a soup, I think I might try and use it for that and see how it goes. 

Final Plate. 

Thoughts: This meal took a lot of planning due to the different timing of all the dishes, but now that I have practice with the recipes I could most likely streamline some of my efforts. The fact that the potatoes could sit overnight was a huge plus because it spread out the effort I had to make over a couple days instead of using a whole day to spend time in the kitchen. It also showed that I could plan a meal using simple ingredients as well, with no need to get special sauces or mixes from the store, and still have other people like it. Cost wise this meal was not expensive since I was cooking for 6 people. The roast cost the most at $22 and the ingredients for the Broccoli and Potatoes was about $20 total. I was lucky that I was able to cook this meal at my parents house because their pantry is a bit more extensive than mine so I was able to add things that I wouldn't have on hand at home.