My photos of this part of the meal are horrible and anticlimactic, but the Roast was definitely not. A 14 lb or larger bone-in Prime Rib Roast from the venerable butchers Lobel’s was the star of the Christmas Eve Dinner. It was utterly superb. Rare at its core and increasing to a perfect medium near the edge of the roast, this was succulent, flavorful and incredibly decadent. There has been so much talk about the LACK of real Prime Beef in the U.S. lately, but Lobel’s clearly still has some pretty good sources. And they age their steaks for a further several weeks in order to concentrate flavor even more. At this point in the dinner, my focus on the beef, a few glasses of red wine and jet lag meant lousy or no photos! :) Served with slow roasted whole onions, sister also made popovers or yorkshire pudding that were light, airy and the perfect vessel or excuse to get more gravy or butter!
A salad of wild arugula, stunning yellow beets and small grape tomatoes was also served with a vinaigrette dressing. A total slam dunk dinner. Appetizers of various cheeses served earlier in the evening (sorry, no photos), the oysters, the Roast Beef and I was so full with all of that, I actually can’t recall what was served for dessert… oh, I think it was the fruitcake… Thank you sister and family for hosting a fantastic Christmas Eve Dinner!!!
26 Responses
i love all your recent posts from new york! touches of decadence to dream on and keep us sane – and happy- as we
go through the drudgery of daily life
the food and the setting of your christmas eve dinner are great — serving oysters on those single purpose plates, along with the beautiful silver . . . perfect!
questions:
how long did it take Sister to cook and set the table for the dinner?
did she have hired help to do all that?
and . . . how long did it take her ( or all of you together) to clean up, store the oyster plates etc etc. thanks again for all the recent posts
Mmmm… I just love roast beef for big celebratory dinners! Over the past few years it’s been a sort of tradition for my immediate family to have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at my place. And since none of us like turkey, I always make a standing rib roast as the centerpiece of our meal. It’s a splurge because I always get USDA Prime at Draeger’s or Andronico’s for the roast, but it’s definitely well worth the extra expense for a memorable holiday meal! One thing I have yet to learn is how to make popovers…
What a perfect way to complete the evening! Lobel’s are very well known, they have excellent products and they’ve been featured in Martha’s show a few times now!
Thank you for sharing your last-minute family xmas/winter getaway in the BiG Apple, i love your posts!
lobel’s is the best…at times i balk due to the exorbitant prices (e.g. $20 for a roast chicken).
MM and sister,thanks for sharing with us your celebration of Christmas.Everything was just perfect! Sister,you are one classy lady!
MM,I love all your posts of your holiday in exciting NY! Thanks for the virtual tour!
oooooh, prime rib roast with popovers is so rich and decadent alright. you sure are spoiled…your sister must love you very much, going through all that prepping and cooking. i say, we should all count our blessings. drooling…are those onions as sweet as i imagined it to be?
Sonia, We did it all ourselves, the maid was indisposed. Oysters and roast beef require very little prep and setting the table took only a few minutes. I handwash all crystal and china myself. It was wonderful to have marketman and family in NYC for Christmas.
Family dinners are the way to go in celebrating life’s moments. May you have many more to come!
all i can say is that mm is rich, sister is rich and of course mrs mm is rich. have a nice 2008 to all fo you. may we all be rich.
Sister must have prepared a feast! But then, knowing the efficiency of vendors in NYC and at a busy time like xmas, one can really pull off a fabulous dinner anytime..hmmm, i wonder how you would have pulled this off if sister suddenly decides on surprise holiday visit…
love the colors, truly festive. what awesome posts on NY
Yes, MM, like Elaine, I would like to see how you would reciprocate Sister’s hospitality. I am sure it would also be a fabulous dinner and something to dream about.
cwid and Elaine, here are two dinners we did while Sister was around days before Christmas 2006… more Filipino meal, more Western meal… :) I broke two cameras the day of the Filipino dinner, so photos are dodgy… And here is a post on party preparations for those meals…
All looks so wonderful. Could you persuade sister to create a blog of her own..am sure it will be a fascinating daily read as well!
I love it that you don’t have as much photos. Only goes to show how deeply engaged you were in savoring the meal. Nice salad shot and the roast is bloody yummy!
We forgot to serve the Buche de Noel from Payard on Christmas Eve, brother-in-law is still working on it. I guess all the cookies and cake was enough.
I think Lobel’s is probably the best meat one can buy in the NYC area. would have loved to see the marbling before it was cooked :)
Hats off to Sister for pulling this excellent dinner. She is a great maestra in the kitchen to the dining room. With her baton up like a symphony with a good melody from her Chinaware, silverware, table settings and tasty dinner!
jafores, Lobel’s showed me four to choose from, and they were all pretty well marbled. I chose a 7 rib roast and the Lobel butcher said it was aged for 6 weeks, far more than the usual 21 days in most shops. He trimmed it and it was 16 lbs after that. After a number of disappointing roasts from other butchers this past two years the Lobel’s roast was indeed superb, but twice the price of any others. Simply added salt and pepper and roasted it at 350F for 2 hrs. 45 min. It was well done for the end pieces and rare in the middle.
sister, since you mentioned that you’ve had disappointing roasts from other butchers, i’m wondering if you’ve tried food emporium’s aged steaks. i’ve been eyeing them lately and the prices aren’t bad but am not sure if they’re as good as lobel’s. i’ve had steaks from fairway and it was fairly disappointing. thanks.
Gemma, I’ve purchased steaks and roasts from Fairway, both the 75th and Broadway and the 132nd St. locations and they have been tender but lacking in flavour and marbling. I’ve also purchased “aged” roasts and steaks from Citarella and they have been disappointing as well. I’ve almost given up on serving beef roasts and opt for pernil or fresh ham, leg of lamb, or veal roasts which seem to be more reliably good no matter where purchased. I have not bought beef from Food Emporium because their store near me literally stinks. For Veal, pork, and lamb I go to International Meat Market on 30th Ave. in Astoria, Queens which has always been reliably good and very well priced and the service exceptional. The Lobel rib roast was a last ditch attempt to get an excellent aged rib eye and I must say it was very good but definitely in the “bling” category.
thanks for the cooking tip sister just had dinner were we cooked some Peter luger steaks (online order) was super as expected. on a previous dinner we had some steaks from lobels and peter luger and we had a cook off here in Manila, the lobel’s had the edge in the tenderness department but good old Peter had the more pungent aged beef flavor that I go for. BTW for your roast have you tried rubbing french’s Mustard ? it leaves a good crust when done….
jafore,
We have a purist around here to contend with, he just likes the taste of pure meat so no mustard or any spicy rubs on any roasts although I can see the need for it on lesser quality meats to enhance the flavour. Glad to hear the Luger steaks were good, we’ve kinda given up on them after 30 years because the last two meals were really mediocre.
Yes sister I agree that sometimes the meat’s aged flavor is less pungent than that of a few years ago, I guess with the meat shortage and all that sometimes things get hurried? Either way i still havent found a steak more to my liking. Cheers and thanks for helping bring back memories of NY :)
Holy Cow! my eyes popped when I saw the cost of the 14lb roast! Im sure it was delicious. It better be!
Like I commented in your other blog wherein you showed your Christmas dinner spread, the roast looked perfect. Really good meat need not go through elaborate preparations. The simpler, the better. One just has to know how to handle it properly such that the intrinsic good flavor is brought out and enhanced.