Christmas Day dinner and my first day off in twelve days. I wasn't about to skimp on what we would eat that night. Of all the things I could choose to cook I needed to go with the King of Christmas dinner food... a Prime Rib Roast. I ordered it from my favorite old school (who actually knows meat) butcher, John's in Scotch Plains. A two rib standing roast that weighed in somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 pounds, it was a dry aged beef beauty.
The even and well distributed marbling were evidence of the high quality of this piece of meat. I would roast it simply and serve it with a couple of our favorite sides; Pommes Paillason or Straw Mat Potatoes, and sauteed Broccoli Rabe.
Saturday night, Christmas Eve was a tough one in the store, and as a result I came home and popped a new discovery, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon. This fabled distillery is responsible for such legendary bourbons as George T. Stagg, an extremely limited and sought after whiskey, but the namesake spirit has not made its way into the NY/Metro market until now. I am happy to report that is both delicious and very inexpensive compared with it's peers.
Of course I was feeling a little blurry the next morning so I had to create a breakfast cure. Rummaging through the fridge I found the remnants of an oversized corned beef sandwich from Harold's Deli. The meat to bread ratio was about 52 : 1. Corned beef hash and eggs was definitely in order. I went to work right away sauteing onion, adding in the corned beef, and then shredded potatoes. A couple of eggs over easy and the work was done. This would be the fuel that would get me through dinner preparations.
That might be a glass of beer in the background, I don't remember.
So I knew I wanted to put an herb crust on the beef, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to bind it to the meat. I didn't want to use mustard because I didn't want the competition between the strong flavor of mustard and the roast. Then I remembered an essay by the chef/owner of Prune in Manhattan, Gabriel Hamilton where she speaks of the virtues of Hellman's Mayonnaise as the quintessential cooking medium for grilled cheese. It seemed to make perfect sense. A couple of tablespoons of Hellman's, some fresh rosemary and thyme, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper coated this thing of beauty and worked as a wet rub to season the beast a couple of hours before cooking.
When at 5pm I decided to cook this monster, I started it in a hot oven at 450°F. I roasted for 30 minutes at that temperature, then lowered the heat to 300°F for another 35 or so minutes until we hit about 127°F internal, or just medium rare once the meat rested. While this was going on I shredded potatoes for Pommes Paillason and proceeded to saute them in duck fat.
I asked Elvis the Wonder Dog to pick out a Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the meal and in keeping with the theme of Big Dogs/Big Bottles, he chose a 2007 Ramey Cellars Napa Cabernet 1.5L. Can't say as I blame him. The wine is awesome now, it will age very well, and it is a big bottle.
I took the roast out of the oven and turned it off. Then I popped the potatoes in there to finish them and keep them warm. I quickly sauteed the Broccoli Rabe, and we proceeded to the dinner table. After a long week of work, we celebrated the holiday in style.
Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful holiday and great New Year. 2012 will bring many new food and wine adventures.
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