Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce. image: Essy Roz

In winter I like to eat and prepare foods that communicate and hug each other.
With an endless fusion that creates a dreamy bite.

This is a dish that makes everyone hug tighter,
It unites hearts and uplifts the soul.
It warms every cell in the body and makes it happier and more complete.

The magic happens during the long hours when it sits in the oven,
And the flavors found in every part of it,
Dancing the most wonderful dance of flavors you will ever meet.

It’s love at first sight because it looks beautiful even before the oven does its magic,
The love you feel at second sight is even more powerful and deeper,
Because it plays inside your mouth, rolls on your tongue and goes down to the stomach,
There the whole body experiences its wonderful music.

I prepare it in a few short moments and let the magic of the oven do its thing.
I think about the taste I want to build on my tongue in advance,
How will the taste fit next to the texture of the meat and what vegetables will fit best within this melody.
This time I chose strong and precise flavors that in addition to being amazing, also have many nutritional values.

This is a time when almost everyone is sick and this is a dose that strengthens the immune system and reduces stress levels.
Not only from the act of eating it, which fills the body with great happiness, but also from its ingredients.
The garlic and mushrooms will eliminate the stress and any small illness that somehow “sat” on your immune system,
And in combination with a weekend full of ease and calm, you received the ultimate strengthening.

I think the introduction convinced you that the magic of this dish will enter everyone’s heart,
But I have another little something that’ll make it even more romantic and wonderful.
At the same time as putting the meat pan in the oven, I also put a vegetable pan in the oven,
And if that’s not enough, you can also put in a potato and sea salt mold that’ll turn this whole celebration into a wonderful one.

A few minutes of work,
An oven that works and cooks a whole meal for everyone,
Warms the house and spreads intoxicating smells all throughout our home.
And we’re left to drink coffee and snack on a cake,
Watch a good movie, drown into an amazing book or just cuddle.

Happy and good recovery days to all of us 🙂

Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce. image: Essy Roz

Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce

Ingredients: suitable for about 6 diners (if there is a larger number of diners, you can increase the quantities of meat only)

• 1½ kg asado meat (ask the butcher for a nice cut that has a large amount of meat and less fat) (for alternatives, have a look at “A little extra from me”)
• 2-4 bone marrow bones (optional)
• 10-15 large portobello mushrooms (for alternatives, have a look at “A little extra from me”)
• 3 large onions

For the gravy:

• Garlic cloves from a whole garlic head
• 3 pitted dates / 3 spoons of date honey
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar / apple vinegar / wine vinegar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Bunch of thyme (optional)

For the vegetable pan:

• 3-4 washed carrots cut into halves
• 1 package of frozen fine green peas (400g)

Gravy for the vegetable pan:

• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 pitted dates / 2 spoons of date honey
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 sprig of thyme

For the potato pan:

• 6-10 medium potatoes, I recommend red skinned ones
• 1kg coarse salt

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C) on turbo mode, and prepare our baking pan.
2. Start with the meat:

• Prepare a cast pot or a large pan and pour a little olive oil in the bottom of it.
• Cut our onions into half circles and our mushrooms into medium slices.
• Let’s begin by arranging the meat dish: at the bottom of the pot, place all the chopped onions, sprinkle some of the mushroom slices on top of them and place two thyme stalks. Place the meat on top of the onion and mushrooms in the center of the pan and scatter the marrow bones around it.
• Arrange the slices of mushrooms around the meat, don’t be alarmed even if we squeeze the mushrooms a little around the meat, they’ll compliment the gravy with their liquid and be reduced by half.
• Let’s prepare the gravy for the meat: with the help of a blender / hand blender / mixer, grind the garlic cloves in advance (whole garlic), 3 pitted dates, vinegar, olive oil and salt (if you chose to use a large container of the blender / mixer, put the water in while grinding, so everything will grind more easily). Create a watery liquid that contains all the ingredients of the gravy and pour it over our meat pan evenly. It’s important that the meat pan is at least half full of liquid, if there’s less than half add a little more water, if there’s more than half make sure it does not exceed ¾ of the height of the pot.
• Place the thyme on top of the meat, seal the pan well with parchment paper and foil (this is a very important step) and bake for an hour at 390°F (200°C). After an hour, lower the heat to 340°F (170°C) for another hour and a half.
• At the end of cooking, take the pot out of the oven, remove the cover and turn the meat over – turn the part of the meat that faces the bottom of the pot so that it faces the opening of the pot. Cover again and bake for another 1.5 – 2 hours at 340°F (170°C).
• Long baking – you can bake for up to 8 hours at 260°F (130°C) in turbo mode. If you choose this option, start the baking at a temperature of 390°F (200°C) for an hour in turbo mode. After an hour, lower the heat to 260°F (130°C). After 3 hours, turn the meat over, and continue baking for another 4 hours (a total of 8 hours of baking, including one hour at 390°F / 200°C).

3. The vegetable and potato pan:

• I like to prepare the vegetable pan in advance, in close proximity to preparing the meat pot. In the 1½ hours of baking the meat, I put the vegetables and potatoes in the pan, so everything is hot and ready just in time for the meal.
• The vegetable pan: 
• Arrange the vegetables in a wide pan, I like to leave the zucchini whole and the carrots cut in half (I recommend leaving the carrot with the skin on, it gives a lot of flavor).
• In a blender, grind all the ingredients of the gravy: garlic, olive oil, water, dates, salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the contents of the vegetables, place a sprig of thyme and seal well with baking paper and foil.
• The potato pan:
• Arrange 1kg of coarse salt in a standard oven pan, place the potatoes on top of it, so that there are spaces between them. It’s important to pierce each potato with several holes with a knife, otherwise they will explode in the oven.

• After checking the meat, I put the meat pot in the lower part of the oven, put the potato pan on top of it and the vegetable pan on top. Of course, they should be placed in the oven pan and on the oven rails and not physically place the pans on top of each other.

A little extra from me:

• The meat, vegetables and potatoes can be kept in a sealed box in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• You can replace the asado meat with shpondra / oxtail meat.
• You can replace the portobello mushrooms with 4 packs of champignon mushrooms.
• You can serve the meat with white rice. I recommend basmati white rice which goes wonderfully with the meat and mushroom sauce (click here to view the rice recipe).
• It’s super fun to eat this meal alongside a refreshing green salad (click here to view the salad recipe).

The asado pot before baking. image: Essy Roz

The asado pot before baking. image: Essy Roz

The asado pot is covered and ready to bake. image: Essy Roz

The vegetable mold before baking. image: Essy Roz

Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce. image: Essy Roz

Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce. image: Essy Roz

Asado in the oven with mushroom garlic and date sauce. image: Essy Roz