INSTRUCTIONS:

AS ALWAYS, IF YOU ORDERED MULTIPLE KITS PACKED TOGETHER, ADD A FEW MINUTES TO THE TIMES FOR HOT FOOD.

The crab-shrimp cheesecake is intended as a first course item, and I personally would serve the potato-mushroom thing with it as well.  They're both rich dishes, but in a nicely contrasting way.  You could always serve the potato-mushroom thing with the beef and greens if you like, totally up to you.  I would definitely serve the greens alongside the beef.


First, do this:

• heat your oven to 350 degrees

• remove the lid from the saucy beef and cover the pan with foil

• remove the lid from the potato-mushroom thing with the breadcrumbs on top

• keep the dessert (if ordered) at room temperature

• keep the sliced bread at room temperature

SAVORY CRAB-SHRIMP CHEESECAKE

350 degree oven, 8-12 minutes

uses the pinkish chunky old bay sauce

While this dish is totally fine when chilled, a little trip through the oven makes the magic happen. Carefully place your slices of cheesecake onto a foil lined baking tray and heat in the oven for 8-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the slices rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm with a nice dollop of that tomatoey old bay sauce on top.

ESCALLOPED POTATOES & MUSHROOMS

350 degree oven, 15-20 minutes

Place your pan of breadcrumb-topped mushroom and potato stuff, uncovered, into your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are just starting to get a little darker. Remove from the oven and serve hot, cutting down with a spoon to get portions out (like you're cutting a tiny lasagna.)

CIDER-BRAISED BEEF

350 degree oven, 30-40 minutes for the beef (and we're going to toast the bread, see below)

uses the sliced country bread

Place the pan of saucy beef, covered, into your preheated oven and warm for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce is warm and bubbling around the edges and the beef is soft when you poke it. Keep warm, covered on the countertop, for 5-10 minutes or until you are ready to serve.

In the meantime, we want to toast that bread. This can be done in the toaster or in your oven. If toasting the bread in the oven, place it there about 8-10 minutes or so before your beef is set to be done. It's ok if the toasted bread isn't hot when you serve it, but it definitely needs to be toasted.

When it's time to serve, rip the toasted bread sliced into smaller pieces, then place them onto a shareable plate (or individual plates.) Spoon the beef and onions on top of the toasted bread, trying your best to keep the slices moderately intact (you won't succeed in this, but the effort will keep you from turning the beef into shredded up taco meat.) Spoon all of the sauce over the beef and let it trickle down onto your toasted bread. Add a pinch of salt and pepper if you're into that sort of thing and serve hot, preferably alongside the greens.

FLASH-WILTED WINTER GREENS

microwave, 45 seconds to 3 minutes

uses the bright yellow spiced mustard dressing

So about the greens: this dish is sort of a warm salad. As such, the greens are cooked just-so, and they're designed to be warmed up a little but not cooked any further. The result is that the greens have some tooth to them; you'll know you are eating some healthy leafy greens. This is how I recommend serving this dish, but if you aren't down for some toothsome greens you can cook it longer to soften everything up.

Crack the lid on the container of kale and microwave on high for 45 seconds. Stir and make sure things are warm. If you elect to cook it further, continue cooking in 1 minute increments until everything is as soft as you like. Serve warm, with the mustard stuff on the side or drizzled on top (it's great, but intense... you don't need to use it all.)

SALTED COCONUT & BROWN SUGAR HOT MILK CAKE

room temperature (or warm if you like)

This cake is great at room temperature, and it's designed to be served that way. But it also heats up very nicely, so if you'd like to serve it warm feel free to heat it in the microwave for a few seconds or in the oven for a few minutes (keep an eye on the top if heating in the oven, you don't want to burn it.) Any extra cake will keep well for 3-ish days if it's in a sealed container at room temperature.