December 16, 2012 Christmas Dinner Party - Standing Rib Roast, asparagus and carrots, potatoes Savoyard, Melon with prosciutto

December 16, 2012 Christmas Dinner Party - Standing Rib Roast, asparagus and carrots, potatoes Savoyard, Melon with prosciutto

Suzette had invited Mary and Mike Merrill and Pavlos and Nicky Papagapolis and Bill and Regina Turner for dinner.  We had shopped on Saturday at Albertson’s at Ron Wilder’s suggestion for the rib roast.  At $5.88 per pound for U.S. Choice, it was the best price in town.  Ron adn I share a common affection for rib steaks and Ron always seems to know where the best price is on rib steaks, perhaps because Ron is from Hobbs and raised cattle for a while and I am from Fort Worth, Texas (Cowtown).

Albertsons did have a sale on ribs steaks, but the sale price of $5.88 was for a whole slab of rib steaks, about 14 pounds.  There were several cut and wrapped lovely standing rib roasts of about 6 pounds for $6.48, so we chose two of those.  I had the butcher cut mine into steaks and we wrapped up Suzette’s choice for Sunday dinner.  We then chose two filets of Atlantic Farm raised salmon (3.77 lb.) for $5.99/lb. for gravad lax and a pound of lovely large scallops ($9.99/lb.)

After buying dill weed for our gravad lax and tzatziki yogurt, cucumber and dill sauce for Christmas Open House, we checked out.

On Sunday while I was deeply involved in reading my Book Club selection of "The Tennis Partner", Suzette ran in to discuss cooking strategies, like braising the roast on all sides at high heat to seal in the juices and then roasting it at 300˚ for about three hours or until it reached an internal temperature of 150˚ (Ron’s instructions).  I also cut the carrots into long julienne slices the same length as the asparagus stalks.  Suzette made a simple cranberry sauce with cranberries, 1 1/2 cps of sugar, the zest of one lemon and one orange and the juice of one orange and fetched the homemade apple sauce from friends’ trees in Taos.

The new addition to the array of foods was a simple Epicurean Sauce made with whipped cream, drained horseradish, a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce.  Suzette had not made it before, but it turned out great, creamy and laced with horseradish flavor.

Just before 5:30 p.m., when the guests were due, we sliced ½ of a Crenshaw melon from our garden that we had stored in the fridge since October.  It was still fresh and sweet.  Suzette wrapped the slices with slices of prosciutto that we had bought at Costco at least a month ago.

Mary and Mike and Pavlos and Nicky and Bill and Regina soon arrived.  Mary brought a tray of assorted Ferraro foil wrapped chocolates and a beautiful flower arrangement and Mike handed us a bottle of Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon ($50.00 at Costco).  Nicky made a Greek nut and honey and rose water flavored cake and biscotti and Bill and Regina brought us a bottle of Calvados (apple brandy distilled in Normandy, France), one of my favorite brandies.

I opened the 2009 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cab. to let it breath and opened a bottle of 2006 Wellington Vineyards Mohrhardt Ridge Vineyard Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon to breath a bit also.

We immediately sat down at the dinner table and we served the prosciutto wrapped melon with glasses of sparkling Zonin Italian Prosecco.

Suzette then checked the meat and found that its internal temperature had suddenly risen to around 160˚, so she pulled it from the oven.

We laid the roast on a large carving board with its rib side standing up and brought it to the table and we shared serving the potatoes and carrots and asparagus and sauces as I removed the wall of rib bones and carved ½” slabs of meat and laid them on plates (the meat was closer to medium than medium rare, no visible bloody liquid, just pink in the center, but it was the most delicious piece of meat I have tasted in a long time, probably due to the slow cooking method).   Soon we had all been served the dishes and I had poured the Wellington in all the glasses.  After some hearty eating and drinking we poured the Duckhorn and went from the light fruity clean world of Sonoma Ridge to the dark jammy dense world of flavors from the floor of the Napa Valley for which Napa is so famous.

After we had eaten our fill, no seconds, we rested and I made decaffeinated coffee and opened the tray of Ferraro chocolates and we served coffee and Nikki’s desserts with coffee and the last sips of Duckhorn cab.  Although I was duly impressed with the Duckhorn’s assertive character for this special occasion, I think I still prefer the cleaner more feminine flavor of the Wellington.  It is like the difference between being in the flat warmer Napa Valley east of Sonoma Valley with its more constant fog off the bay and being high on the cooler western ridgeline of Sonoma nearer the Pacific with its currents of changing weather. Two different terroirs and climates, two different wines.

By 8:00 p.m., Pavlos and Nikki’s designated time to leave to pick up their three children staying at friends, we were finished with a very satisfying meal and said our warm goodbyes, wishing all a happy holiday season.

Bon Appètit