How can you get the holiday meal on the table and have time to relax with family and friends, too? Do a bit of upfront work, and you've got a memorable meal in store.
Anchor dinner with a festive rib roast. For great color and flavor, sear it first in a skillet, then rub the meat all over with minced garlic and rosemary before popping it in the oven. Make sure it comes out juicy, tender and perfectly pink from surface to center by roasting it at a low 250 degrees F. To avoid last-minute fussing, make the mushroom sauce from the pan drippings before roasting the beef. At serving time, simply rewarm the sauce.
Creamed spinach, made with the frozen chopped variety, perfectly complements the roast, and it can be made up to two days ahead. Cherry tomatoes take less than 10 minutes to prepare.
You could spend hours fooling with sponge cake, buttercream and meringue mushrooms for a classic bûche de Noël. Or, the night before, you could assemble an equally impressive yule log with chocolate wafers, marmalade and whipped cream, garnished with chocolate "mushrooms" of kisses topped with nonpareils. So enjoy your guests--dinner's going to be just fine.
Holiday Menu Want to add to this holiday meal? Try more Pam Anderson recipes. Pam suggests one of her creamy soups or the Smoked Salmon and Watercress Salad as a starter. For a starch, try Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes. Substitute Molten Chocolate Cakes for the yule log.
Copyright 2005 USA Weekend and columnist Pam Anderson. All rights reserved.
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