Our Traditional Christmas Dinner

SO, it's all over.  The preparing, the shopping, the wrapping, the gift opening and the dinner. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but it is also a lot of work, and I always get consumed by the madness of it all. 

Although I had fifteen people on Christmas Eve, and prepared numerous appetizers, a baked spiral sliced ham, pineapple stuffing, herbed cheese potatoes, and a Caesar salad, we had a low key Christmas Dinner, just seven of us.  I prepared our traditional prime rib roast with Bearnaise sauce, mashed potatoes, roasted garlic green beans and sauteed mushrooms.  This year I also added broiled lobster tails with clarified butter, more on those later.  Everything was delicious and enjoyed by all!  This is the roast, recipe below. To print this recipe - click, highlight and print.

What a beautiful cut of beef. I prepared a mustard glaze for the top.

 Slather it all over the top and bake.

Mustard and Herb Crusted Prime Rib Roast of Beef

Ingredients

2 tbsp of canola oil

1 - 5 lb Boneless Prime Rib of Beef, at room temperature, see note

1/4 cup regular Dijon mustard

1/4 cup course grain Dijon mustard

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 tsp fresh flat leaf parsley, minced

1/2 cup of water

Meat Thermometer

Directions

Heat the oil in a large roasting pan, on medium high heat.  Trim some of the larger pieces of fat off the beef, but don't trim all of it.  Add the beef to the pan and sear it on all sides. This locks in the juices. When seared, position the beef (fat side up) in the roasting pan.  Let it rest while you mix up the topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium size bowl add Dijon mustard, course grain Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, rosemary and parsley.  Mix until all is combined.  Spread it over the top and down the sides of the roast beef.  Add the 1/2 cup of water to the pan, insert the meat thermometer (see note) in the thickest part of the meat and cover the pan tightly with foil. Here is the tricky part - all cuts of prime rib, thermometers and ovens are different. For a rare roast, cook for 13-15 minutes per pound, medium rare cook 15 -17 minutes per pound. Check your thermometer.  My thermometer will register 145 degrees for rare and 160 degrees for medium rare. Again, all cuts of beef, ovens and thermometers are different. You can always cook the beef more if it's too rare, but once it's overcooked it's overcooked.  Take the foil off the roast in the last 15 - 20 minutes of baking, to crisp up the topping.  When it's done take the beef out of the oven and cover with foil.  The inside temperature will rise and it will continue to cook once it is out of the oven.  Let the roast rest 30 minutes before carving. When ready to serve slice it down in 1 1/2 inch slices and serve with pan juices or Bearnaise sauce.

NOTES:

1) Take beef out of the refrigerator about three hours before preparing. 

2) DO NOT INSERT THE THERMOMETER IN THE MEAT IN A TRIVECTION OVEN OR COVER A METAL PAN WITH FOIL IN THIS TYPE OF OVEN!