Back in the Saddle!

So after my nearly two month long hiatus, I am back with renewed spirit and vigor and ready to take on my kitchen and show it no mercy! I am armed with a trove of new recipes and, with the temperatures trying to rise, anticipate an onslaught of occasions for which to try them. My first big foray back into the kitchen occurred Tuesday with a very special dinner for my very special man. On the menu - Caprese salad, Roast Prime Rib of Beef, sweet corn in butter sauce, broccoli with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes. Since I have already discussed most of these recipes on here, this post will focus on the backbone of this feast - Prime Rib. Oh, such a glorious cut of meat! I had my local butcher cut this one special for me and it was worth every penny. My only downfall was the inaccuracy of my meat thermometer which caused it to be a bit overcooked but certainly not ruined. Since the roast was enormous, you can expect several follow up posts where I use up all of the leftovers. There is no way a single morsel of this roast will go to waste.

To prepare the roast I simply rubbed it all over with English Prime Rib Rub from Penzey's. If you have never shopped Penzey's for herbs and spices, I highly recommend you do so. This rub is fantastic and creates a nice flavorful crust on the roast as it cooks.



I roasted the meat at 350 until my meat thermometer erroneously read 140 degrees. I removed the roast from the oven and let it rest while I set the table and put out all of the side dishes. Then I called in my DH to to the honor of carving. I think it took all the strength he could muster to not just lean over and take a bite right out of it! LOL!



Once the roast was carved we sat down and thoroughly enjoyed our little exercise in gluttoney. It was a perfect meal and we both enjoyed it tremendously.



For my first round of leftovers I made us cheesesteaks by caramelizing some sliced onions in butter and adding the thinly sliced leftover prime rib. Once everything was heated through I piled it on rolls that I had toasted with garlic butter and added a couple slices of American cheese. Yes, I realize the cheese part wasn't authentic but hubby didn't complain and made grunting sounds of joy as he eagerly scarfed it down. It was gone so fast I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it!

Game Feast - Munich Haus - Chicopee, MA

This Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the last game feast of the year at Munich Haus in Chicopee, MA. I can assure you this will become a yearly pilgrimage for me from this point on. This was one enjoyable exercise in gluttony! The game meats included carving stations of kangaroo, bison, venison and bear along with rabbit stew, fried alligator, game stew, smoked bear sausage, alligator-chicken sausage and game sausage. Sides included red cabbage, roasted potatoes, cucumber salad, spaetzle and rye bread. There were cheese and crackers and other small appetizers too but I didn't bother with those - bring on the meat! For $45, this was a great deal as all the carving station meats were high quality and all of the food was FABULOUS!

The buffet


Carving Stations


First Plate


Second Plate


Save room for dessert!