A feast fit for a (prom) queen

I was asked to help fix a meal for a group of teenagers going to the prom recently. After some back and forth about what we might be making, we settled on making, amongst other things, a pot roast, roasted red potatoes with rosemary, glazed carrots and peas, and cheesecake bites.

I started cooking by making the cheesecake a few days in advance, as it could live in the freezer after that until needed. I had recently received a silicon baking pan that featured bite-size baking squares, so I would be using this to make up the cheesecake. I made up a full batch of my butter cookie crust, but only used about a tablespoon per square, placing the rest in the freezer for future use. I placed the silicon pan on a baking sheet for ease of maneuverability, then placed them in a 350 degree oven until the crusts started to brown, about 15 minutes. I removed them from the oven and allowed them to cool before placing in the freezer until the filling was made up. I then made a 1/4 batch of filling, and carefully spooned in about a tablespoon of it, working it to fill the squares evenly, then baking it in a 225 degree oven until set. Again, after cooling, they went into the freezer until the day of the meal.

The cheesecakes would be topped with a peach sauce, blueberries, and kiwi sliced, to loosely match the colors that the girls would be wearing to the prom. To that end, for the sauce I purchased a single can of peach slices in light syrup, strained out the peaches, while I took the canning liquid and put it into a saucepan and heated it up to boiling. I put the peaches in a food processor and quickly made a slurry of them, then added them to the boiling liquid. I made up a small amount of a cornstarch into about 1/4 cup of water, and stirred it into the sauce, which tightened it up a bit. I took the cheesecakes out of the freezer and spooned in about a tablespoon of sauce into each square. I had also purchased some fresh blueberries, in which three were placed into each square. I peeled the kiwi, cut it in half lengthwise, carefully removed the core, and then cut thin slices from each half, which were then placed opposite of the blueberries in each square. The cheesecakes were now done, save for placing on a serving tray, after another hour or so in the freezer to make sure the peach sauce was set.

I would be juggling the cooking of the roast between two locations, until we came up with the plan to cook the meat in a crock pot, which was moved to the venue for cooking to start the morning of the meal. I wanted a cut of meat that would be easy to slice into portions, so I purchased an eye of round, knowing that it isn’t the most tender of cuts. This wouldn’t be a problem, as the crock would be cooking extra low and slow. As we would be feeding a few others as well, I grabbed two small roasts from my freezer and put them in the crock as well. I sprinkled them all with kosher salt, my favorite seasoning blend, a light coating of oyster sauce, and then a 187 milliliter bottle of cabernet sauvignon wine. This was allowed to sit overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, the crock pot was turned onto the warm setting, versus either low or high. This would allow the meat to slowly come up to a cooking temperature, all the while allowing the enzymes in the meat to start naturally breaking it down, up to the point where it reaches about 122 degrees. This slow process would also allow any connective tissues to slowly break down into collagen, making the meat seem moist. Anyway, the warm setting was used for about four hours before it was turned to the low setting to finish cooking.

About two hours before service, the crock was turned off and the lid was set ajar, allowing the meat to cool and rest. Then the meat was removed and set aside, while the cooking liquid was placed into a saucepan and brought to a boil with about 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. This was allowed to reduce to about half, when I determined that it would not become thick enough, so I swirled a small amount of cornstarch into about 1/2 cup of water, and stirred it into the sauce. Now it thickened up nicely.

The meat hadn’t really browned well in the crock, so I heated a bit of butter in a frying pan on high heat, then seared the roasts on all sides to until browned, which would add a nice depth of flavor. I again allowed the meat to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing into serving pieces and plating with some of the sauce over the top.

I had a 10-pound bag of red potatoes, so I open it up and fished out about 20 that were more or less the same size. I scrubbed them up and then cut them in half and then into thirds. They all went into a large pot on the stove, covered with salted water with a teaspoon of minced garlic, and allowed to cook nearly through. My intent was to finish them in the oven, but another project had the oven fully in use. When the potatoes were nearly done cooking, I drained the water from the pan, added a third of a stick of butter, and then stirred to coat well. I also added a heaping tablespoon of dried rosemary. I would stir occasionally, allowing the potatoes to lightly brown before stirring again. I was quite delighted that this worked out well.

For the carrots, I bought about 15 carrots from the bulk section, as I could then get ones about the same size. I trimmed off the ends, cut the carrot in half lengthwise, squared it up on four sides, then cut large matchstick pieces. After getting all the carrots cut this way, I place them in a frying pan, covered them with a small amount of water, and then brought them up to a strong simmer, to make sure they were cooked most of the way through. I then drained them, reserving the water, which may have equaled about 1/2 cup. The water went into a saucepan, which I added about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I brought this to a boil and allowed it to reduce until starting to thicken. In a frying pan I added the carrots and just started to brown them before removing them and adding about 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas and heating them through and lightly browning them, before adding back the carrots then stirring in the brown sugar liquid and tossing lightly to coat all.

BUTTER COOKIE CRUST

1 1/2 cups vanilla cookie crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix together crumbs, sugar, and butter. Mix well. Press evenly into the bottom of an 8-inch spring form pan. Spread a little up the sides as well. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees to set crust. Fill and bake as directed in recipes below.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE (full recipe)

8 ounces white chocolate

2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lightly butter a deep cake pan or a 10-inch springform pan lined with aluminum foil. In the top of a double-boiler, over hot — but not simmering — water, melt the white chocolate, stirring occasionally. (Water that is too hot will solidify the chocolate, making it unusable.) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar and beat on medium high until combined. One at a time, beat in the eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and shake gently to level the mixture. Set the pan inside a larger pan and pour boiling water into the outer pan to a depth of about 1 inch. Set the pans on the center rack in the oven and bake for about 70 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched. Remove the cheesecake pan from the water bath and cool on a wire rack. Cover the cheesecake and refrigerate for 6 hours, or until cold. To serve, loosen the cake from the side of the springform pan by running a thin bladed knife around the edge. Snap open the springform pan and remove the side and bottom of the pan. Slice the cake with a long knife that has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry.