What is your traditional Christmas dinner?

[Shannacore]

My family had always done prime rib, mashed potatoes, and a few seasonal vegetable sides. I've only cooked prime rib once and it came out *okay*, but I'm going to give it a try again this year. Recommendation for a good veggie side?

What is your family's traditional Christmas dinner spread? Someone owed me $1 for every time someone says "ham"

[SamwiseRed]

Pizza

[Portasaurus]

Originally Posted by SamwiseRed [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Pizza

Little Caesar's hot-and-ready only $5.00 for a large pizza!!!

If you get them in advance you can put them in the freezer and then heat them up in the oven on Christmas day for the big event!

Bite bite

Sip sip

Do the deep deep dish combo mambo!!

[Ahldagor]

Originally Posted by Portasaurus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Little Caesar's hot-and-ready only $5.00 for a large pizza!!!

If you get them in advance you can put them in the freezer and then heat them up in the oven on Christmas day for the big event!

Bite bite

Sip sip

Do the deep deep dish combo mambo!!

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]



We snack and drink on Christmas Eve and open everything. No specific dinner, but foods usually include ham, chile con queso, tamales, cookies, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, humus, pita, tortilla chips, taquitos, grilled jalapeno poppers, sausages and brats, apples, oranges, cherries, chocolates, rice pilaf, and on one occasion a fried turkey. The alcohol list: Guinness; Maker's Mark; Balvenie 12 and 14 year; various wines; Russian Standard; Hopadillo; Hobgoblin; Cruzan white; Champagne for Mimosas; a whole multicolored galaxy of mixers; Miller Lite; Bud Lite; Famous Grouse; Bavaria; and I'm pretty sure I'm missing some, but we do Saturnalia right.

[Thulack]

Honeybaked Ham, taters, veggies, potato rolls.

[Bardalicious]

Twice baked potatoes and grilled asparagus with a balsamic reduction drizzle.

As for the actual prime, I won't impose suggestions as far as seasoning goes, but avoid rubbing with too much or any salt as it'll draw out juices.

Always let the roast come to room temp before cooking, always cook rib side down, and always pull the roast when its roughly 10 degrees lower than your target temp. Cover it loosely in tinfoil and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving and serving. The importance of the last step cannot be overstated.


Good luck! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Sektor]

Ham, baked ziti, hot roast pork sandwiches.

[MrSparkle001]

I'm the king of prime rib. I'm not doing it this year but I usually do. I do prime rib, homemade yorkshire pudding popovers and whatever vegetable people want.

I can tell you how to do it if you want.

[Shannacore]

Originally Posted by MrSparkle001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm the king of prime rib. I'm not doing it this year but I usually do. I do prime rib, homemade yorkshire pudding popovers and whatever vegetable people want.

I can tell you how to do it if you want.

Yes! Share your recipe.

[MrSparkle001]

Originally Posted by Shannacore [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes! Share your recipe.

Eh fuck if I was around more often I'd have shared it. Damn. Too late for you to consider it but I'll share it anyway. It's an imprecise recipe, no exact measurements or anything. It's all to taste.

Preheat oven to 450. Chop some onions, carrots and celery and cover the bottom of the roasting pan with them. A rough chop works fine and it's better to use too many vegetables than too little because they'll be used in a red wine jus sauce later.

Pour about a cup of olive oil in a bowl, enough to fully cover the roast (large roast may require more). Add a very generous amount of kosher salt. You will be forming almost a thin paste so you want a lot, maybe 1/4 cup or even up to 1/2 depending on size. Add (to taste): 4 or 5 cloves of minced or crushed garlic, 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped, 1 sprig thyme, chopped, black pepper. Mix it all together with a fork and mash the salt granules in to the garlic and herbs to crush them and release their oils into the mix. You will have a very fragrant, sort of pasty oil that will smell divine when it's cooking.

Place the roast in the pan atop the vegetables. Massage the oil into the roast. Get it into that meat with your fingers. You don't want to just pour it on, you want to really massage it in. Any of it that spills or drips off just coats the vegetables which will be worth it later.

Roast it for about 30 minutes at 450, then lower temp to 350 and continue cooking until the very center reaches 135 degrees. Depending on the size it may take 90-180 minutes to cook. I use a simple handheld meat thermometer pierced right in the center (make sure it doesn't touch any bone). Remove the roast from the pan and cover very loosely with foil. Leave the vegetables. Let the roast rest for at least 20 minutes.

Place roasting pan on your burners on a low heat. Add about a cup of your favorite red wine (I like cabernet for this) and deglaze. Add a good 4 cups of high quality beef stock and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the jus sauce and add salt or garlic if needed. Ladle the jus, with the vegetables, into a serving bowl and pour it generously over each serving of the roast. You can even add more stock and wine if you want and make a large quantity which is what I do. It's so delicious I make a french onion soup out of whatever's left over.

135 degrees will give a nice medium rare center after resting, with the ends naturally being a little more done (but also more flavorful with that rub on them). Pay close attention to the temperature though because it's easy to overcook it; if you take it out at 140 degrees it might be overcooked, unless you like your meat more grey than pink or red.

The yorkshire puddings require a more precise recipe which I don't have in front of me at the moment.