Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Good For A Crowd

Cooking for my in-laws is never a small feat. The husband is 1 of 5 kids, and all but one of them are attached, plus there are 4 little ones amongst us... so when we come together there needs to be a lot of food. Last Friday I learned that in less than 24 hours I needed to have dinner for 10 of us. My first though was "Oh goodness...." Ok, that might have been a little bit nicer than what I actually thought, but my second was, "Ok, I need something easy and cheap!" Anyway, I pulled together a pretty good meal and was able to make dinner for all of us for around $30.

Roasted Tri Tip
This is a good cut of meat, it is tasty and often pretty reasonable.

2 medium or one large sized tri tip roasts (plan on about 1/2 lb per person)
1/4 c chilli powder
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1 tbs cumin
1/2 tbs paprika
1/2 tsp ground mustard
4 gloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs salt
2 tbs olive oil

Trim meat if necessary. Mix together other ingredients to form a paste. Rub meat with mixture and cover with saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Take meat out about 15 minutes before you plan on cooking it.

Preheat oven to 425. Put a metal rack in a baking pan and place roasts on top. Cook until an internal thermometer reaches 135 (medium), around 45 minutes for a 3lb roast. Take meat out of the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting into 1/4 inch slices.


Garlicky Oven Roasted Potatoes
Always a crowd favorite and always easy. The can go in the oven with anything else you are cooking, so they cook well at almost any temp, they just many need to cook a little longer at a lower temp.

Olive Oil
3 lbs of red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
5 cloves of garlic
A small handful of flat leaf parsley
Salt and Pepper
Paprika

Preheat oven to 425 (or whatever you are cooking at, anything about 350) Put a couple table spoons of oil onto a baking pan. Spread it around and add potatoes. Try to get most of the potatoes so that the flesh is against the pan, rather than the skin. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and sprinkle paprika onto potatoes so that each chunk has a bit on it. Put in the oven for around 30 minutes.

Before you take the potatoes out, throw garlic, parsley, and a drizzle of oil into a food processor. Pulse until garlic is well chopped. Take potatoes out, spread garlic on top of potatoes. Put potatoes back in the oven for another 10 or 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them. You can also put them under the broiler for a couple minutes to brown.



I served the above with my favorite green salad and homemade balsamic dressing. I've posted this before, but I will give it to ya again.

Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 c Balsamic Vinegar
3/4 c Olive Oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbs honey mustard

I like to make this in my Magic Bullet, but it can be made in a blender or food processor. If making in a Bullet or blender, simply put all ingredients into a cup and blend until thickened (about 30 seconds). If using a food processor, put all ingredients except oil in, start processor, and drizzle in oil until blended and thickened. Store leftovers in the fridge.


My Favorite Green Salad
This generously serves 2 people

2 cups spring mix lettuce
1/4 c sliced red onion
1/4 c cherry tomatoes
1/2 an avocado, chunked
a handful of croutons
Balsalmic dressing to taste

Combine and salivate.

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