As winter comes creeping in, we start craving something with a little more substance than the lighter fare we eat in warmer times. As we gear up for our desired hibernation, there’s nothing that beats the heartiness of a rich and roast-y, slow-cooked piece of rib roast, pot roast — or anything with beef and roast in the name.
Paired with a toasty fire, a lineup of delicious sides ranging from mashed potatoes to lovingly prepared greens and a whole lot of butter, the perfect roast brings in family and friends for a feast a little more satisfying than, say, the low-fat grilled chicken breast and asparagus or that carb-conscious baked salmon and arugula we happily ate all summer long.
Let’s celebrate the season with some delicious meat. From cooking holiday hams to preparing roast beef for your festivities, we’ve put together a solid lineup of some of our personal faves, guaranteed to impress any crowd. Go on and dig in. We’ll show you how to cook a holiday roast and how to smoke a holiday ham — Baton Rouge style.
Best Baton Rouge Holiday Roast Recipes
When the temperatures drop, a tender juicy roast can be just the ticket to warm you right up. Here are a couple tasty roast and rib recipes you can use for the holidays and beyond:
Standing Rib Roast With Roasted Potatoes and Root Vegetables
This holiday meat recipe is perfect for a gathering with family and friends circled round the table or a special treat for a cold winter night. The standing rib roast is relatively simple to prepare. It’s also loaded with veggies and certainly will not disappoint when it comes to taste.
Ingredients
– 1 rib roast – about 8 ribs
– Salt and pepper
– 2 cups cubed butternut squash
– 4 beets — cubed
– 1 large onion
– 3 red potatoes
– 1 large russet potatoes6 cloves garlic — chopped finely
– 1/2 stick of butter
Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield: 1 Rib Roast (14-16 Servings)
make sure the ribs are at room temperature. Let them sit out a couple hours prior to your desired cooking time.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
With paper towels, pat down the roast and season the meat with salt and pepper to taste.
Then, place the meat on a large baking sheet, arranging with chopped vegetables, spread evenly across the surface. Avoid stacking up vegetables, as it increases the cook time.
Warm your stick of butter in the microwave for about one minute, and pour it over the meat and vegetables. Add a little extra salt and pepper, if desired.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. You’ll then want to reduce temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes per each pound for medium rare. If you’d prefer rare instead, 12 minutes per pound should be sufficient.
Once the time has passed, check on the roast and use a meat thermometer to determine if its ready. About 115 degrees is safe for rare, while 125 is perfect for medium rare. Cook it a little longer if you’d prefer well done, though we don’t recommend it.
About halfway through the cooking time, flip the vegetables so both sides are cooked evenly. Add a bit of water if they seem to be drying out.
Transfer vegetables to a serving bowl and cover.
Remove the roast from heat and transfer to a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for about a half hour.
Carve meat, and serve.
IPA Braised Short Ribs
This holiday beef recipe is a Baton Rouge twist on the classic red wine braised short rib for the craft beer lover. Decadent short ribs play nicely with the vegetables that cook the entire time alongside the meat, absorbing all that juicy goodness.
Ingredients
5 pounds of bone-in short ribs, cut into 2” pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large onions – chopped coarsely
2 cloves garlic – diced
2 medium carrots – chopped
1 parsnip – chopped
1 pint India Pale Ale – your favorite brand
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of ground thyme
3 ½ cups of beef broth
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium high, add short ribs and brown on each side. It may need to be done in a couple batches. Transfer short ribs to another dish along with drippings and set aside.
In the same pot, add onions, carrots and parsnips along with olive oil. Cook until onions become translucent.
Add in thyme, bay leaves, half of the beer and beef broth. Then add short ribs back into the mix. Bring to a boil and stir in garlic. Lower heat to medium low, and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes.
Stir in the remaining IPA, cover with lid and transfer to the oven.
Stir occasionally, and remove from heat once ribs are soft and fully cooked. Transfer ribs and vegetables to another dish using a slotted spoon. Strain the sauce and spoon over the entire dish.
Serve. This is especially good when served alongside steamed greens or potatoes
Like all good things, this pot roast takes some time. But between the roasted garlic, magnificent marinade and sauce-with-a-twist, you and your dining companions will fall in love in short order. So, let’s dive in, taking one part at a time.
Roasted Garlic
6 to 8 garlic bulbs
Olive oil
Instructions for roasted garlic:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the ends off each garlic bulb and place them inside a muffin tin, exposed clove-side up.
Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top of each bulb, then place in the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
Garlic should be soft to the touch. To remove from the bulb, simply scoop out each clove with a small fork.
Note, this recipe makes a little more than necessary. Serve that extra garlic alongside the pot roast below, or save it for later.
Meat
6 pounds of Sirloin tip roast
4 cloves of chopped garlic
2 tablespoons of ground mustard
1 cup of coke
½ cup of water
¼ cup of brown sugar
¼ cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
4 cups of chicken stock
2 bulbs of roasted garlic
1 large white onion – chopped coarsely
1 large white onion – chopped coarsely
½ cup of Bourbon
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 6 Pounds of Sirloin Tip Roast (10-12 Servings)
Instructions
Marinate the roast. You’ll want to set aside enough time for this to properly absorb all the juices. It requires a minimum of 10 hours, but it’s better if you’ve got 24. In a large mixing bowl, blend together the garlic, mustard, water, coke, brown sugar and olive oil. Whisk together until completely mixed together.
Place the roast in a quart-sized Ziploc bag, and pour the marinade into the bag. Push as much as air as possible out of the bag, and place it in the fridge overnight.
About an hour before you’re ready to start cooking, take the roast out of the refrigerator, and let it sit until it reaches room temperature.
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, and add roast, browning the meat on all sides, searing in the flavor. Remove the beef from heat and set aside.
Add chicken stock to the same pot, along with the onion and bourbon. Add the two bulbs of roasted garlic, mashing into the sauce mixture. Then, add the beef back to the pot and cover in sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let beef roast for an hour on a low simmer.
Check the beef, and flip the roast over. Add a little water if sauce is running low, and cover. Let the roast continue to cook for another 45 minutes. It should feel soft when poked with a fork. If the roast is done, remove from heat. Otherwise, let it cook for another 15 minutes.
Finally, transfer the roast to a large serving plate, topping with the sauce from the pan. If desired, serve with remaining bulbs of roasted garlic.
Recipes for Smoked Holiday Ham and More
If you’re not as much of a rib or beef fan, ham is a classic staple of the holidays and the colder months as well. Here are a few recipes for ham that will be the hit of the feast.
Smoked Ham From Scratch
There’s a simple way to smoke a ham in Baton Rouge. While the concept of DIY-ing a ham sounds complicated, it’s really pretty simple — provided you’ve got two weeks to spare. Use this ham in the recipes below if you’d like it candied or glazed and grilled. You could even experiment and come up with your own exciting new seasoning. Either way, making your own ham is a surefire way to show off your cooking chops.
Ingredients
1 boneless pork butt
2 gallons of water
2 cups of brown sugar
½ cup of pink salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons cloves
½ cup of pickling spice
Instructions
Brining
Add the water to a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add brown sugar, salt, pickling spice, cloves and cinnamon and stir until salt dissolves. Turn off the heat, and let it cool completely.
Put your pork butt into a large container — at least enough space for the pork and two gallons of water — that has a tight fitting lid.
Pour the brining liquid in the container, cover and store in the fridge for two weeks. It’s time intensive, yes, but it pays off. Check the meat each day to make sure it remains submerged.
After the two weeks are up, take eight cups of wood chips and soak them for an hour or two.
Remove the pork butt from brine container and rinse it under cold water.
In your large pot, bring a gallon or two of water to a boil. Add pork and let boil for about 30 minutes. This takes out any excess salt and starts the cooking process.
As the pork boils, turn on your grill. Preheat to 225 degrees. Divvy up your soaked wood chips and cover each pile in aluminum foil. Top off each foil package with dry wood chips. Place them up against the heating element.
Transfer pork butt to the grill and cook for five to six hours, or until meat reaches 150 degrees.
Replace wood chip pouches every hour for best results.
Remove from heat, and let cool. Serve immediately or save for later use. It should last a few days in the fridge.
Honey Glazed Ham With a Kick
This recipe brings a classic sweet and savory ham with a Southern kick in the pants — just the way we like it.
From savory notes of cumin and hot cayenne pepper to sweet honey and brown sugar, this ham is just a touch of the unexpected and pairs nicely with greens or sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
1 spiraled halved ham — smoked per instructions above, or store bought
1 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of cumin
1 cup of honey
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Remove ham from packaging and rinse with cold water. Transfer ham to a large roasting pan and place in the oven. Your total cook time should be roughly 20 minutes per pound.
Meanwhile, mix together the honey, paprika, cayenne pepper and cumin in a large sauce pan. Heat on the stove top over medium high, and reduce to a simmer. Let it warm until the honey softens becomes liquefied.
After half the baking time has passed, remove the ham from the oven.
Spoon the liquefied mixture over the ham until the entire outside has been covered. Then top with brown sugar and cover with another layer of the honey mixture.
Cook for the remaining time on the clock, and spoon any remaining liquid over the top periodically. The ham should emerge from the oven with a candied glaze.
Let the ham cool for at least 15 minutes, allowing the juices to set, then serve.
Holiday Ham on the Grill
If you’re looking for a glazed ham that’s both boozy and fruity, this is your recipe — and it’s easier than you’d expect. Start off with an unglazed, fully cooked ham and add your own DIY element. The grill makes for easy clean up and a nice charred quality that takes this baby to the next level.
Ingredients
1 cooked ham
1 cup apricot jelly
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons whiskey
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup orange juice
½ teaspoon cloves
Instructions
Preheat the grill, setting the temperature to 350 degrees. Close the lid, and let the grill heat up for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the ham in a large roasting pan, fill the bottom with the lemon juice and add pan to the grill. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes.
As the ham cooks, prepare the other ingredients. In a small sauce pan, add the whiskey, apricot jelly, lemon juice, cloves and cinnamon. Heat over medium heat, and stir gently until thoroughly mixed. Remove from heat.
Remove ham from the grill and brush the mixture over the entire outside of the ham. Place back on the grill with the lid closed, and cook for an additional 45 minutes.
Cool for at least 15 minutes, slice and serve along with your favorite side dishes. If there’s any remaining sauce, feel free to add it to the mix of condiments. It’ll go great with greens, root vegetables or anything else you cook up.
Hungry? Stop Into Milford’s
Need a break from the hustle and bustle of preparing those Baton Rouge holiday recipes? Stop on by for Milford’s on Third for breakfast or lunch. Try a bagel and schmear with an extra kick or a classic deli staple, like corned beef or a ham and cheese sandwich.
We’re the best New York deli in Louisiana — our Southern deli flair feels oh-so Baton Rouge with our delectable cookies, cakes and croissants. Additionally, our catering will help you fill in the blanks if you’re looking for holiday sides and more to feed your whole family.
Get in touch with us or stop by today. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
