Christmas Dinner

Once again, I decided to take charge of dinner, this time Christmas dinner. I also made breakfast, which was a breakfast sandwich, made from eggs, sausage, jalapeños, and cheese. We had several dinner dishes including, prime rib, garlic hasselback potatoes with herbed sour cream, store-bought rolls, and a salad I made. The prime rib and the potatoes were the highlight of the dinner, they both turned out delicious! I received a nice cast iron pot for Christmas, so I was able to use that to brown the meat in. And dessert was a pear and berry crisp, which was actually better as leftovers! Here are the photos...

Dinner, all plated up 

Cowboy Breakfast Sandwiches

Browning the prime rib

Prime rib right out of the oven

Garlic Hasselback Potatoes before they went in the oven

Pear and Berry Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

Cowboy Breakfast Sandwiches

Here's the recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

8 Breakfast Sausage Patties
8 Eggs
¼ cup Half-And-Half
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1 Jar Pickled Jalapenos
Butter
8 Slices of Texas Toast
Mayo
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1. Start by frying patties of breakfast sausage.

2. While the sausage is frying over medium heat, crack a few eggs in a mixing bowl. Splash in ¼ cup half & half. Whisk together and then add plenty of salt and ground black pepper.

3. Flip the sausage and let it continue cooking.

4. Next, drain some jalapeño slices on some paper towels. (Warning: if you grill the jalapenos as demonstrated, make sure your stove has proper ventilation/exhaust.)

5. Dump the jalapenos onto a very hot skillet or griddle. Let them sizzle for a couple of minutes and then add a couple tablespoons of butter for flavor. Continue cooking for a couple more minutes and then set aside.

6. In the same skillet or griddle, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and place a few slices of Texas Toast on top. The key here is to use plenty of butter as you grill the bread. When you flip the bread to the other side, go ahead and butter up the pan again.

7. Remove the sausage from the skillet when it’s completely cooked, then drain most of the grease from the pan and set sausage aside. Pour the eggs into the skillet and with a spatula, gently fold the eggs around, allowing them to cook.

8. When the Texas Toast is nice and grilled, spread whatever sandwich spread you’d like to use onto the bread. Top with a sausage patty, eggs, jalapenos, and cheese.

9. Finally top with another slice of Texas Toast and then return the sandwich to the warm griddle to thoroughly heat everything.

Prime Rib with Rosemary Salt Crust

Here's the recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

1 Whole Boneless Rib Eye (Ours was about 5 pounds and had bones in)
Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Tri-Color Peppercorns
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary¼ cup Kosher Salt¼ cup Minced Garlic

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

2. Heat some oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sear rib eye until a nice dark golden color, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

3. Place the peppercorns into a bag and crush with a rolling pin. Shred the leaves from the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Mix the salt with the crushed peppercorns, rosemary leaves, thyme leaves and garlic. Pour olive oil over the rib eye and pour on the rub mix. Pat slightly to get it to stick to the meat. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 275 degrees F and roast until a meat thermometer registers 135 for rare/medium-rare, about 20 more minutes (the roast will continue to cook slightly after removing from the oven). Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Garlic Hasselback Potatoes with Herbed Sour Cream

Here's the recipe adapted from Sunny Anderson

Ingredients:

16 ounces Red New Potatoes
3 - 5 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Herbed Sour Cream, recipe follows
Herbed Sour Cream:
½ cup Sour Cream
½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley Leaves
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Using a wooden spoon as a cradle, place each potato in the spoon and make several parallel slits into each potato top making sure not to slice completely through. Place garlic slices between every slit. Toss in a medium bowl with butter and olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake until tops are crispy and potatoes are cooked through, about 1 hour. Transfer to a platter and top with Herbed Sour Cream.

Sour Cream:
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Season, to taste, and refrigerate until use.

Pear and Berry Crisp

Here's the recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

Filling Ingredients:
4 Whole (To 5) Large Pears (Bosc Work Well)

1 cup of Mixed Frozen Berries
⅔ cup Sugar
¼ tsp Salt

Topping Ingredients
1-½ cups All-Purpose Flour
⅓ cup Sugar
⅓ cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ cup Pecans, Very Finely Chopped
1 stick Butter, Melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Peel, core, and dice pears. Place into a bowl and stir together with berries, ⅔ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Stir together. Drizzle melted butter gradually, stirring with a fork as you go until all combined.

4. Pour pears into a baking dish; top with crumb topping.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

6. Place pan on top rack of oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

7. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.