The Cooking Chronicles: Sunday Dinner

I decided to be ambitious this weekend and make dinner for my family on Sunday night. From recipes I assembled from a few sources, I decided on a menu of Potato and Onion Flatbread (Real Simple Celebrations), Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots (Betty Crocker), and Bison Meatloaf (Jan/Feb 2008 City Palate).

As usual when multiple dishes are at play, it took me a lot longer than expected. The meatloaf was a pretty straightforward mix-and-bake recipe (just remind me to ask my sous chef sister to prepare the onions for me next time). I thought I would have enough time to make my two sides while the meatloaf was in the oven, but I miscalculated slightly. I assembled the flatbread from frozen bread dough (leftover from the package I bought for the Rocky Road Pizza), browned onions, sliced potatoes and a dash of dried rosemary. While that finished baking, I boiled carrot slices which would then be coated with a reduced brown sugar and butter mixture.

Thankfully by 8pm, I had dinner on the table. The meatloaf was actually the tastiest of the bunch (though it doesn't look that way in the picture) - not too dry, with some added texture from the chopped vegetables. Some dried herbs would have provided an extra flavour boost, however. The carrots were soft and sweet, though I could have done without the citrus tang of the orange zest. As for the flatbread, I chalked it up to another failure of the prepared bread dough: it had already browned, but was still partially uncooked on the bottom. My Mum expressed a preference for an onion-only topping, as the potatoes weren't given enough time to soften in the oven.

In the end, my family appreciated my efforts, and I was able to experiment with a few more recipes.

My plate of Potato and Onion Flatbread, Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots, and Bison Meatloaf