Prime Rib Christmas Dinner

In contrast to my vegan baking post, here's one that's all about the MEAT. Prime rib, a favorite guilty pleasure. I am not sure if I love prime rib because I love prime rib or because I LOVE horseradish...either way, love it.
A few years ago we had a New Year's Eve dinner party and made prime rib for friends, and thought that would perfect for our Christmas dinner this year. As luck would have it, Christmas week was super-sale-on-prime-rib week...it's not a cheap dinner to make, most of the time, and it's definitely not health food- so it's worth the once-in-a-while splurge. Lucky for us it was seriously like HALF off at the market. You want about 1.5 lbs per person, you'll have plenty for all and some leftover for next day steak & eggs.

You are going to want to line a baking pan with LOTS of foil, then rub the meat down with the herb rub and cover with plastic wrap to refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight.

Here's what you need to make the rosemary rubbed prime rib, mushroom & onion gravy w/ mashed baked potatoes & side of green beans~

Prime Rib
Fresh Rosemary
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Flour
Butter
15oz beef broth
1 sweet onion
big handful of mushrooms chopped
4 large potatoes
Sour cream
Green onion
Green beans
1 lemon

Herb Rub
Mix about 1/4 cup of kosher salt with 1/8 (or a bit more) cup black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (If you buy one of those plastic containers of fresh rosemary at the market 1 container chopped is perfect (set aside 1/2 a sprig or a few T of the choppings for your gravy)- and 2 tablespoons olive oil....you may not use all of it, but mix it all up in a medium bowl and then use your hands to cover the meat in the rub.

As stated above, I say it twice because I have a tendency to miss details like this and then have a gnarly time crunch situation....so to be clear- rub the meat down, cover it in plastic wrap AND REFRIGERATE FOR A MINIMUM OF 3 HOURS (or overnight).

After the meat is done chillin- Pre-heat the oven to 325 and cook for about 20-25 minutes per pound depending on how well done you like it. Nate and I like our prime rib (and steaks and everything along those lines) medium rare, so that's how I rocked it.
Check out this link for a table of meat temperatures ~ MEAT TEMP CHART

When ours was around 125 degrees, I took it out of the oven, let it sit in the pan for about 7 minutes, then removed it to a carving platter for a 15 minute rest.

Don't forget the horseradish!!!

While the meat was cookin' away I took a skillet and chopped up a whole sweet onion and let it caramelize on low heat for about 45 minutes, at about 30 minutes I added some sliced mushrooms and then set them on a plate to the side....when the prime rib was done I added 2 T flour and 2 T butter to the skillet- stir over low heat until butter is fully melted and combined with the flour- the mixture should be smooth and thick. Add about 15 oz of beef broth and about 1/4 cup of the drippings from the roast.
Add the onions and mushrooms and keep stirring on  low heat, add a bit of water if the gravy gets too thick.

Mashed Baked Potatoes-
This makes for easy, peasy mashed potatoes; Clean- puncture and foil-wrap 1 baked potato per person (this will make PLENTY)
While the prime rib is baking (for the last hour) put the foil wrapped potatoes on the bottom shelf of the oven.
Remove when you remove the roast- toss them in a large bowl and using a potato masher- add a few tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup sour cream and chopped green onions, mash and mix- skins and all.
Add a little milk or cream if they seem dry.

For the green beans-
Wash them, remove the tips and steam lightly so they are just cooked but still have a snap- add a bit of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.