Prime Rib with Au Jus

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It's not every day that we indulge in a prime rib dinner, so this extravagance is reserved once a year for our Christmas day dinner only.  With that said, you can tell that neither my husband or myself are pros at preparing prime rib.  However, my mother has a recipe in our family cookbook that's right on par for the perfect P.R.  It involves several hours of slow cooking on low oven heat, and then standing for an hour or so, all depending upon the size/weight of the rib roast.  Secondly, a rich 'au jus' is a must to pour over (or dip into) the meat.

We enjoy prime rib more on the rare side and others in the family like it cooked a bit more medium-rare. So cut the outer slices for those who want their meat medium-rare, and cut more towards the center for those more rare slices.  This should make everyone happy, happy!

As traditionalists, we always ladle large bowls of homemade tortellini in brodo first before anything else is ever served.  Holidays would never be complete without this pasta soup!  For a side dish beside the prime rib, we kept it simple with baked potatoes (with butter and/or sour cream) alongside a fabulous spinach salad and fresh bread.  Dinner was just perfect, not too much and not too skimpy . . . just right with room left over in our tummies for some sweet desserts!

Prime Rib with Au Jus

Place the prime rib in a large, deep roasting pan with 1/2" of water poured into the pan.
Do not season the meat at all.
Cook for 17 minutes per pound on 350 degrees.
Keep adding water throughout the cooking time.
Let the prime rib sit outside the oven for one hour prior to slicing.
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Au Jus

Boil 1 pound ground beef in hot water (the two combined should equal 3 quarts) for 10 minutes.
Add 4 Tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet
Add 4 Tbsp. beef bouillion (try not to use the cubes, but rather use the moist jarred version).
Add 4 Tbsp. salt and 1/2/ tsp. black pepper
Strain and keep all the liquid.
Add this mixture to 3 quarts of cold water.
Refrigerate.
After chilling, remove all of the fat from the top surface of the au jus.
Bring back to a super HOT temperature on the stove and serve at this very hot temperature over the prime rib.

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.A nice-sized bowl of Tortellini in Brodo with freshly grated Parmigiano cheese sprinkled on the top.

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Lighting the candles on the table (before dinner).

My niece waiting patiently for everyone to come to the table to enjoy!

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An Italian Cheese Log Plus A Chicken Cheese Log

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My mother bought a sweet little Christmas cookbook in the hospital gift shop where my father had surgery a few weeks ago (Simply Christmas Cookbook, 2009).  So many of the recipes sound delicious, yet extremely easy and simple.  So my mother, with the help of Ashleigh (my niece) chose to prepare a few cheese logs for all of us to nibble on.  I haven't seen cheese balls or logs as appetizers or snack options in several years, so it was nice to have them again.  These are truly very good and much better than your average everyday cheese ball or log, so if you're watching your calories, then just have a slice or two, and no more!  Sounds difficult, but if I can do it, so can anyone.  Plus these make great gifts!
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Pepperoni Cheese Log
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4 (3 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 (8 oz) package pepperoni, chopped
Chopped pimento-stuffed green olives (for garnish and color)
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In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, oregano, and pepperoni; mix well.
Form the mixture into a log.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours for the flavors to marry and blend.
Garnish with chopped green olives.
Serve cold with crackers.
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Chicken Cheese Log

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (1 oz) package ranch dressing mix
1 (5 oz) can of chunk white chicken, drained OR use the same amount of leftover chicken from making chicken broth (shredded).  We make chicken broth (brodo) every holiday for the Tortellini in Brodo and have a lot of left over cooked chicken.
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and chicken.
Form the mixture into a log.
On a piece of wax paper, spread out the chopped pecans.
Roll the log in the pecans until it is completely coated.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. 

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In the kitchen cooking up some love:  my daughter, Lauren, Ashleigh (standing on a step stool), my sister, Kelly, and my mother, Retha.  Each of them is spreading more holiday cheer with their Christmas hats!  Kelly has a mistletoe hanging over her forehead on her little hat!

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Traditional Italian Almond Contucci (Biscotti)

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When all of the families in my Midwestern hometown were baking and enjoying sugar cookies for Christmas, my mother would be baking traditional Italian contucci (biscotti) cookies.  She also made Amaretto balls and Spritz cookies (which I loved).  But as a child, I didn't care for contucci very much because the cookies were not as sweet and moist as other Christmas cookies, plus they weren't cut into cute Christmas shapes, nor did they have a sweet icing or have any colorful, festive decorations on top!
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Oh, but on the contrary, how the adults loved those twice-baked, semi-sweet biscuits, which they dipped into their coffee or wine after dinner!  When I grew up and developed more mature tastes in food, I finally fell in love with contucci or biscotti, as they are more familiarly known as in the U.S.  And so did everyone else in America, it seemed, as little biscotti and espresso bars popped up around the country, as well as being sold in grocery stores including Wal-Mart.  That's a long way from the days in the 60's growing up in the U.S. when no one had ever heard of contucci or biscotti outside of an Italian home!
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Here is our family's Christmas story of contucci at Christmastime that I'd like to share with you:  My mother and her sister would always stay overnight on Christmas Eve at my great-grandmother Martina's house in Iowa in order to go to 5:00 AM Mass on Christmas morning.  My mother's mother had died many years earlier in childbirth, and my grandfather was not a practicing Catholic at the time.  So my mother and aunt would go to my great-grandparents' home to go to church on Christmas morning when they were little girls.  In those old days Catholics were required to fast from food after midnight on Christmas Eve until after Mass was over on Christmas morning.  So my great-grandfather would always have contucci in his pockets to surprise my mother and my aunt after church on Christmas day.

Today, before rushing off to visit my dad who is now in rehabilitation, my mother made these traditional Italian cookies for our holiday celebrations.  I'm so glad that she did, because these cookies are really a special part of our family's Christmas traditions.  I've read many recipes for contucci, but here is my family's version that makes a LOT of cookies to give away as gifts!

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Italian Almond Contucci (Biscotti)

1 pound of butter
4 pounds of flour
12 tsp. baking powder
2 pounds of sugar
pinch of salt
2 lemons, juice AND rind
2 cups slivered almonds
12 eggs, beaten
4 tsp. anise seed or 1-1/2 tsp. oil of anise
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Melt butter in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, sugar, salt.
Mix in the lemon juice and rind, and almonds.
Add the melted butter, beaten eggs (one at a time), and anise to this mixture.
Blend all ingredients together well.
Divide the dough into 3 to 4 batches.
Roll each batch of dough into long strips/logs about 3 inches wide by 12 inches long.
Place the strips/logs on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees until lightly colored, about 20 - 25 minutes.
Cut diagonally into slices about 1" thick.
If desired, bake again with the slices placed on their sides, for another 5 - 10 minutes.  (My family likes contucci prepared both ways, so we bake half a second time for the drier (dipping) version, and leave the other half baked only once for the more moist version). Pin It