A holiday meal should be extra special, and for those of us who happen to be carnivorous nothing beats a gorgeous rib roast. Occasionally we have friends at Christmas who are vegetarian or who don’t eat red meat, and while we missed them this year we did take advantage of the occasion and cavemanned it up.

It came out so well I actually brought a photo to the meat manager at Market Basket. I’m sure he thinks I’m a loon. Or maybe he has photos of other people’s successes in his office. Food porn, perhaps?

I bought the prime rib from the meat department manager at Market Basket, who was kind enough to have it cut just for me. He asked how many ribs I’d like, and then went the extra step of cutting the roast away from the ribs and retying it with butcher’s twine. This makes life so much easier. The meat can be seasoned on all sides and then placed back on the ribs, which act like a rack in the oven. The roast is more flavorful when roasted on the bone, and when it’s done the carving is a breeze!

First, a spice-rub for this bad boy. I used kosher salt, Coleman’s Dry Mustard, chopped fresh rosemary, garlic smashed to a paste, and black pepper. This rub is applied to all surfaces of the roast and then tented with foil to stay in the fridge for up to 3 days to season and age.

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We were in Ripton, VT for the holiday, at The Chipman Inn, which is owned by Steve’s family. There was lots going on there, with a major renovation in progress and several rooms of guests, so we were plenty busy leading up to Christmas (and had a nice, big walk-in cooler in which to let the spices do their magic on the beef). We were lucky enough to be visited by Steve’s niece Alysha and her boyfriend Rick, whose family owns a restaurant. He’s a great help in the kitchen! They both pitched in to help my brother-in-law (and Alysha’s dad) Chris make dinner, while I frosted a carrot cake and added some white chocolate snowflakes and powdered sugar for effect. Unfortunately they were headed out on Christmas Eve, but I almost had them at the promise of scallop cakes, pâté, and a wild mushroom and Gruyere tart for supper, and more carrot cake for dessert. But family duty prevailed and they set off with a nice slice of my homemade pâté for Rick’s mom, and left us with some of Rick’s dad’s homemade venison jerky.

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Christmas Day was supposed to be rainy and windy, but the day dawned mild, calm and dry, so after taking the roast out of the walk-in to come to room temperature I walked the 3 mile loop up the mountain, and visited my late sister-in-law Susan’s grave with a blue jay squawking at me the whole time. I’ll take a visit from family in whatever form they choose. We were happy for the mild weather as the storm that hit central Vermont several weeks ago left the inn without power for 5 days and they were still without Internet and cell service two weeks later (including the entire time we were there; frustrating but somehow also freeing…). The forecasted high winds gusting to 48 mph and heavy rain predicted for the area would have certainly caused more power outages, not a happy situation with a full house of guests and family.

Back at the inn I started the roast in the oven at high heat, 450 degrees for the first 20 minutes, and then reduced it down to 325 degrees until my trusty remote meat thermometer signaled an internal temperature of 125 degrees. The roast continues to cook as it rests (for 30 minutes) and the juices redistribute into the meat. In the meantime I made garlic mashed potatoes (whole garlic cloves boiled with unpeeled red potatoes and then mashed with butter and cream), Brussels sprouts with bacon and bleu cheese (which you can see in the photo of me wearing my festive Santa apron), salad with rich vinaigrette dressing, and popovers! Popovers are so much fun and pretty easy, but dangerously good which is why I save them for special occasions only. These were made with Parmesan and chives. Yum.

Chris easily carved the roast, and it came out so well I actually brought a photo to the meat manager at Market Basket. I’m sure he thinks I’m a loon. Or maybe he has photos of other people’s successes in his office. Food porn, perhaps?

Tony Clark of the Blueberry Hill Inn joined us for Christmas dinner and brought a gorgeous bottle of Bordeaux. It was a delicious meal with delightful company.

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We capped it off with a chocolate pecan torte topped with fresh whipped cream which we ate sitting by the fire in the Taproom; a fine ending to a lovely Christmas Day. Hope yours was as tasty!

 

Deborah