Perfect Prime Rib & Yorkies

We’ve just returned from a Wifi-free week in the mountains, but I wanted to get in a quick post about Christmas dinner under the wire before the New Year. Although I’ve happily eaten pretty much the same Christmas dinner every year of my life, this year the venue (but not the menu) changed! It was our first time hosting. My husband picked up a nine-pound, four-rib roast of prime dry-aged beef from Harvey Gussman at Harvey’s Guss Meats. Ladies and gentlemen, Harvey Gussman is a man who knows his way around a rib roast.

L.A.'s king of prime rib, Harvey Gussman (photo via harveygussmeat.com)

Harvey sells restaurant quality roasts, and his method for cooking is second to none. Per Harvey, take roast out of the fridge two hours before you plan to put it in the oven. Wet down two cups of kosher salt, drain the salt and then pack it on the fat side of the roast.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Put the roast in at 475 for 15 minutes, and drop heat down to 350 degrees and continue roasting for about two hours, or until meat thermometer registers 125 for medium rare. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, during which time internal temperature will rise 10 degrees.

While the roast was resting, I used the drippings to make these perfect little Yorkshire Puddings from an old favorite Gourmet recipe.

The trick is to make the batter earlier in the day to ensure that it has plenty of time to chill in the fridge before meeting its fate with the hot drippings.

These we served along with Brussels Sprouts with Fennel, Shallots and Walnuts, my grandmother’s horseradish cream and my dad’s perfect mashed potatoes. And I’m ready to do it all over again. Happy New Year’s!

Good Taste: Horseradish Cream with Baked Potato Chips

I’ve been meaning to post this all day, but whoa, what a busy one. But don’t feel too, too sorry for me—I just got back from judging a chef competition at Loteria Grill in which Eric Greenspan from The Foundry challenged Akasha Richmond from her eponymous restaurant in Culver City to a taco challenge. More on that tomorrow…but back to the news at hand. Today I started a new feature called “Good Taste” over on Herman Miller’s LIFEWORK blog. In it we’ll be featuring great snacks and lunch ideas for the home office. Starting with my personal favorite, horseradish cream with cracked black pepper potato chips. It’s inspired by a the house-made potato chips they put out on the bar at Suzanne Tracht’s Jar restaurant. So head on over to Herman Miller for the recipe, and check back for more!

Crazy Good Christmas Dinner

All year my husband looks forward to Christmas Dinner at my parents.’ It’s a killer lineup that starts with caviar and all the fixings—Kendall Farms crème fraîche, finely chopped sweet Texas onion, hardboiled egg and fresh dill on toast points (Pepperidge Farm white works great). This year we served it with a bottle of 1998 Taittinger Comte de Champagne left over from our wedding. With Russian caviar prices through the ROOF, my dad got Siberian sturgeon caviar sustainably raised in Italy. Soooo good.

Last year there was the horseradish debacle. None of the stores in town had fresh, and all of the jarred had been premixed with cream and had no fight. A couple months ago, my dad grabbed a jar of Fortnum & Mason’s hot horseradish from the shop in Piccadilly to go with the 9 ½ pound standing rib roast, roasted Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes with chives and a dollop of that crème fraîche. My mother shared two incredible local bottles—a 2004 Joseph Phelps Insignia and a 2003 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet.

Typically we end the evening with stinky cheese and port, but we’re going to do that tonight instead. Last night’s meal ended with a persimmon steamed sticky pudding and hard sauce. Merry Christmas indeed!