Difficulty: Intermediate
Christmas dinner brings to mind pictures of Puerto Rican Roast pork known as Pernil, rice and beans and the Christmas favorite pasteles. Why am I talking about Puerto Rican food if my pictures show roast beef and potatoes?
Well, truth be told I have never made Christmas dinner. We host Christmas Eve every year and I make Bolognese with Parmesan Polenta and it’s amazing. Christmas day we go to my in-laws for dinner and my mother-in-law does most of the cooking, usually making ham and each of the guests brings a side dish, so we always take sweet potato casserole because it’s a family favorite.
On the 27th we celebrate Christmas with my family and my mom does the cooking and we have a traditional Puerto Rican meal. The food is amazing, but to people many it probably doesn’t look like Christmas dinner.
To give you a classic Christmas dinner to try out or to simply inspire you I put together my own menu of things that I know many people eat for Christmas dinner. You still have plenty of time to shop for the ingredients and prep before Christmas, so read along and create your game plan to prepare a delicious Christmas roast beef dinner.
Roast Beef
Beef Bottom Round Roast 3-5 lb
½ Cup minced garlic (the kind in the jar is fine if you don’t want to mince all the garlic yourself)
2 TBSP Dried Rosemary (can use fresh, but you will need to increase the amount since dry herbs are a more concentrated flavor)
2 TBSP Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Bring meat to room temperature. Buy a roast that has been tied or ask the butcher to do it. You can also tie it yourself with butchers twine. Tying the roast will give it a more uniform shape and help it to cook more evenly. Tying is not necessary, but will improve the cooking. Notice that I didn’t tie my roast, but wish that I had. Once meat is room temp heat a cast iron skillet or dutch oven on high heat.
Season all sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Once the skillet is lightly smoking place meat fat side down in the skillet and don’t move. The meat will release when ready.
Sear all sides of the meat. Meanwhile preheat oven to 250°F. Once all sides have been seared remove from heat.
In a small bowl make a paste of rosemary, garlic and olive oil, then spread on the meat with a spoon or rubber spatula.
Insert a meat thermometer and place in oven. Cook meat until the thermometer registers 117°F. Remove the meat from the oven and turn the temperature up to 500°F. Once the oven is up to temperature cover meat with foil and return to the oven. Cook until thermometer reaches 133°F. Remove from the oven and take meat out of the skillet and transfer to a cutting board cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. The temperature will continue to rise another 5-7 degrees taking the roast to medium rare. Do not over cook or it will be super tough. Thinly slice meat against the grain. Use a sharp knife or an electric knife to make thin cuts. Serves 6-10, plan on about ½ lb meat per person.
Red Wine Mushrooms
16 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms (cleaned and quartered)
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup boiling water
¾ Cup red wine (cabernet or merlot)
Pepper
1 Clove garlic minced
Drippings from roast beef
1TBSP Corn starch
Remove any burned garlic from the cast iron skillet. It will be bitter.
Turn the heat to medium and add the mushrooms turning to coat in the drippings.
Meanwhile dissolve the bouillon cubes in the boiling water. Once the mushrooms are soft add the beef broth and bring to a boil.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the red wine. and add to the mushrooms.
Then add the wine and corn starch mixture to the mushrooms. Stir until the sauce has thickened.
Turn off the heat and add the garlic and pepper to taste.
Serve sauce and mushrooms over the meat. Serves 6-8
Blistered Green Beans
2 lb Fresh Green Beans (trimmed)
1-2 TBSP Canola Oil
1 Clove Garlic minced
Salt and Pepper
Place green beans in a pot with a lid and cover with cold water. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once boiling remove from heat and drain beans. Place beans back in hot pot to dry off. Once dry remove beans and heat oil over medium high heat. Add green beans and turn to coat.
Let beans sit until blistered then turn again. Keep turning and blistering until most beans have some color. Turn off heat add salt and pepper to taste. Let pan cool for a few minutes, then add garlic and toss to combine.
Serves 6
Roasted Potatoes
6 Medium Russet potatoes
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Envelope Italian dressing mix
Non-Stick Cooking Spray
Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash potatoes and cut into bite size pieces with skins on. Spray a 9×13 baking dish (or 2 9×9 dishes) with non-stick cooking spray and place potatoes in dish.
Drizzle potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle the entire contents of the dressing envelope over potatoes.
Toss to evenly coat.
Roast potatoes for 35-45 minutes. If cooking in the same oven as the roast beef, cook at the low temp and leave in the oven while it comes up to 500°F. Potatoes should be soft with the outside edges crispy.
Serves 6-8
