This is it.

Everything you have learned so far is about to be put to the test. A final blitz of food knowledge before you can claim your prize as an apocalyptic chef.

Close your bunker, set your traps, and load your shotguns. This is going to be a wild ride, and there is no coming back!

Today, we are cooking a beef and pork dinner, and you're going to love it!

STEAK IN CHASSEUR SAUCE WITH ALIGOT AND A VEGETABLE NAPOLEON WITH OREGANO-INFUSED OIL

Mise en Place:

For the steak:

- 1 Round Steak like Filet Mignon, but any soft-cut steak is fine.

- Salt and Pepper to taste.

- Some twine, or, if you wanna be extra, two strips of bacon

For the Sauce:

- 1/2 cup Dark Beef Stock or Demi-Glase

- 1/4 Cup White Wine

- 1 Tablespoon Onions, in Brunoise

- 1/4 Cup of Mushrooms, thinly sliced

- 1/4 cup of tomato, de-seeded and cut in Brunoise

- 1 Teaspoon of Butter

- Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Aligot(Cheesy Mashed Potatoes):

- 200 g/ 1/2 Pound Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed

- 1 Tablespoon of Pecorino/Parmesan Cheese

- 1/4 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese, or more, you do you

- 1 Tablespoon of Cream

- Garlic, minced, to taste

- Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Napoleon:

- 2 Tomatoes, sliced in Rondelle

- 2 Zucchini, sliced in Rondelle

- 2 Eggplants, sliced in Rondelle

- 1/2 Cup of a neutral-tasting oil

- 2 tablespoons of oregano

- Salt and Pepper to taste.

1. Tie the steak with the twine or bacon around the sides to keep it round and nice during the cooking process.

2. Heat up a skillet/pan without any oil on it on medium-high heat. When you see the pan smoke, add the oil and then the steak. We want to sear and caramelize the outside but keep it tender on the inside, thus, the high heat. If we add the oil beforehand, the oil will burn, and remember that burnt oil ain't bueno. When all sides are nice and brown, put it in the oven at 180°C/350°F until it reaches enough internal temperature to leave the danger zone, about 63°C/146°F.

If you don't have a thermometer, you can use a super-advanced apocalyptic chef method called "The Finger Test" which is touching your steak, and then comparing it to your hand when pinching a specific finger with your thumb, which mimics the doneness of a steak.

3. For the sauce, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and when hot, add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until they release their liquids and begin to lightly brown. Add the onions and garlic and cook for a minute or two until they start to soften. Add diced tomatoes along with the wine and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking until most of the liquids have evaporated. This could take as much as 10 minutes. Add the dark beef stock and continue to reduce the sauce for 5 minutes or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

4. Boil the potatoes, remembering to add them while the water is still cold, and add salt. Turn into a puree, add salt and pepper. While it's hot, add the butter and cream, mixing it thoroughly. Grab the cheeses and add them to the mix.

5. In a pan, at the lowest heat possible, add the mashed potatoes, and with a wooden spoon or spatula, raise the mashed potatoes and slam it again back into the pan. This will activate the starch, making the potatoes gooey and delicious as the cheese melts.  When it becomes a uniformly gooey and melty mass, you have yourself and aligot.

6. In a small heatproof bowl, add the oil and the oregano, and cover with either plastic wrap or foil. Heat up a small saucepan with water until simmering. Place the bowl on top to create a Bain-Marie. This will heat the oil without burning it, thus infusing the taste of the oregano into the oil. You can do this with whatever you want. Add some garlic and pepper and chilies and chicken for all I care. After  30 minutes, remove from heat.

7. Add salt and pepper to the vegetables and Grill them until a nice brown crust forms around them. Stack them one on top of the other and drizzle them with the oil.

8. Put everything on a plate and done!

Roasted Pork Loin With Polenta and Rum Sauce

For the Pork Loin:

- 300 g/ 1/2 lb Pork Loin

- 2 tablespoons Olive oil  

- 9 cloves of garlic, peeled

- 5 cloves  garlic, minced

- 1/2 teaspoon Salt 

- 1/2 teaspoon ground Black pepper 

- 1 teaspoon smoked Paprika 

- 2 tablespoons Brown or Black sugar

For the sauce:

- 1/2 an Onion, in Brunoise

- 1/2 Cup Brown

- 4 Tablespoons of Rum

- 1 Cup Dark Beef Stock

- Clove and Sweet Pepper to taste

- Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Polenta:

- 200 gr/ 7 oz grits, or precooked corn flour

- 1 1/2 Cups of Vegetable stock

- 1 Tablespoon of Butter

- 1/4 Cup of Pecorino/Parmesan cheese

- Onions in Brunoise to taste

- Minced garlic to taste

- 1/2 Bellpepper, in Brunoise

- Salt and Pepper to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/375°F. Lightly grease a baking dish with some olive oil. Add the pork loin to a large bowl, pierce with a small knife 9 holes on top. Fill those holes with 9 whole garlic cloves. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pork and rub well on all the sides with the salt, pepper, paprika, and sugar.

2. Add the pork loin to the prepared baking pan, fat side up. Cook for 50-55 minutes to achieve the desired doneness, which is well done, because otherwise, you will die. Rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

3. In a saucepan, sautee the onions. When it begins to caramelize, add the clove and sweet pepper. When the onion fully caramelizes, and becomes transparent, add the stock and the sugar. Let it simmer at low heat, mixing every 2 minutes, until you have a syrupy sauce. Let it rest for 5 minutes outside the hear, and then add the rum, giving it a final mix.

4. Sautee the onion, bellpeper, and garlic with a bit of salt and pepper. Add the stock and rectify salt.

5. Add the grits or corn flour little by little as you mix, keeping the heat low, until you have a gruel-like consistency. At this point, add the cheese and butter. And you're done! Alternatively, you can put your polenta in a baking pan and bake it until it becomes a solid, breadlike polenta, which you can further sear on a pan to caramelize.

6. You're done!

These are just practice recipes. Experiment on your own, and craft delicious meals out of your resources.

For now, this is going to be a goodbye. I have given you the tools and knowledge to survive. You, my friend, are now a certified Apocalyptic Chef!

But the life of the Apocalyptic Chef is never over. Hone your skill, research, learn new recipes, for these are mere tools for you. If the internet is still available at the end of the world, I would recommend furthering your culinary education by taking online courses, like Escoffier Online, or by following cooking channels on youtube, like Joshua Weissman and Binging With Babbish. This is only the ABC's of cooking. Now, go forth, my apocalyptic chef! Make us proud!