Christmas is just two days away. Haven’t quite decided what to prepare for that special day or just don’t know what to cook? Let’s cut to the chase and get down to the business of holiday cooking.

With only two days, try preparing a prime rib roast, filet mignon, crown roast, or even roast a turkey if you are not sick of it yet. Dishes that go in the oven takes less time to prepare and you spent less time in the kitchen trying to put it together, especially roasts. Yes they may be a little on the pricey side, but if you are already short on time, there is no time to pinch pennies at this moment. Remember the fresher the ingredients used, the less it needs to be messed with as the freshness will make your dish shine and stand out.

Now with that said, I would suggest preparing a prime rib roast. Why? Prime rib always brings on the oohs and ahhs, and it takes no time to prepare. It does not need to be fussed with other than making sure you cook it at a proper temperature and make sure you remove the roast at the proper time for rare, medium, or well. In addition, prime rib only needs a few seasonings, salt and pepper and maybe a touch of herbs here and there. Let the meat shine through with its great flavor and marbling. How to achieve this? Make sure you get a good cut of meat with great marbling. Ask your butcher or the people at the meat counter to help you make your selection.

Prime rib goes well with potato au gratin or even cauliflower gratin; very rich and luxurious in taste. Try sugar snap peas or asparagus for side veggies. Simply sauté with some shallots and a few fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary. Make a simple green salad with purchased bag of salad greens, any kind, and toss it with some balsamic vinaigrette mixed with lemon juice, lemon zest, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and seasonings. Add some nuts for more crunch, cranberries for some sweetness, and maybe some thinly sliced prosciutto for a little saltiness. Buy a good loaf of bread, rolls, or baguette to accompany the spread. Voila, a Christmas dinner to remember.

Prime rib or beef not your cut of meat? A crown roast of pork or pork tenderloin also makes good entrees for Christmas. Some stores have pre-tied crown pork roast available. Crown pork roast is a little more time consuming where prep is concern but it is also worth it if you start shopping now! To make sure the stuffing gets cooked evenly, I would suggest pre-cooking the stuffing ahead of time, especially if you are going to use a sausage stuffing. You can use just about any kind of stuffing to fill in the center of the crown roast. Sautéed haricot vert make a great side dish along with roasted root vegetables.

If you are short of time, make sure the entrees you choose are not elaborate. More importantly choose recipes that enable you utilize both oven and stovetop to the max to ensure all your dishes will come out at around the same time, ready to be served.

As for desserts, I love to make trifles. They not only make great presentations, but they are easy as I can purchased most of the ingredients pre-made. Some recipes allow me to assemble them a day or two ahead—one less dish to prepare on that day.

Still short of a gift or two? Try making some chocolate barks. They are quick, easy, no baking needed, and best of all; everybody loves chocolate!! It takes a total of an hour to prepare, two to four hours to set. Break them up when hardened and pack them in pretty containers or gift bags. Best of all, you can spread the wealth to quite a few cherished friends and family.

I hope the suggestions above will help you during these last hours. No suggestions are worth a dime if I do not have recipes to back them up. So check the recipes below and I hope they will come in handy.

Herb-crusted Prime Rib Roast

For roast
1 (7- to 8-lb) prime rib roast
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 Turkish bay leaves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
11/2  teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
11/2  teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil

For jus
2 cups beef broth
1 small fresh rosemary sprig
1 small fresh thyme sprig
2 garlic clove, smashed

Method

Roast

1. Trim all but a thin layer of fat from roast.
2. Grind peppercorns and bay leaves with salt to a powder in an electric coffee/spice grinder, then transfer to a mortar or blender.
3. Add garlic, thyme, and rosemary, then pound or blend to a smooth paste.
4. Stir in oil. Rub paste all over roast. Transfer roast to a rack set in a small flameproof roasting pan. Marinate, covered and chilled, at least 8 hours.
5. Bring roast to room temperature one hour prior to roasting.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F. Roast beef in middle of oven 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F and roast beef until a thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 110°F, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours more.
7. Transfer beef to a large platter and let stand, uncovered, 25 minutes. (Meat will continue to cook, reaching about 130°F for medium-rare.)

Au jus

1. Skim fat from pan juices. Add broth, rosemary, thyme, and garlic and deglaze pan by simmering on top of stove over moderate heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits.
2. Transfer to a small saucepan and add any juices that have collected on platter. Gently simmer 10 minutes. Skim fat and season jus with salt and pepper. Put slices from roast and serve with jus.

Note: Roast can marinate up to 24 hours.

Serves 6-8

Crown Roast of Pork with Wild Rice Stuffing

Roast

1 crown roast of pork (6-7 lbs.)

2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped

2 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon each salt and pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Stuffing

2 (6 oz.) pkgs. wild rice mix
1/2 c. chopped onion (1 med. size)
1/3 c. chopped celery
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 c. pine nuts
1 (8 oz.) pkg. dried apricots, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
3/4 - 1 c. Madeira wine
1 (13 3/4 oz.) can beef broth

Method

1. Preheat oven to hot, 400 degrees.
2. 2. Rub roast with sage, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Place roast on rack in long shallow roasting pan.
3. Cook rice according to label directions.
4. Sauté onion, celery and garlic in butter in skillet just until tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Combine sautéed vegetables, rice, pine nuts, all but 2 tablespoons of the apricots, and allspice in bowl; mix well. Spoon lightly into center of roast. (Spoon any extra stuffing into buttered shallow baking dish; bake during last 20 minutes of roasting.) Cover ends of bones and top of stuffing with foil.
6. Roast in preheated hot oven, 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to slow, 325 degrees. Roast for 30 minutes per pound of meat, 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until meat thermometer registers 170 degrees when inserted in thickest part of roast; do not let thermometer touch bone or fat.
7. Remove roast to heated serving platter. Keep warm while preparing gravy.
8. To prepare gravy. Skim off and discard fat from pan drippings. Add cloves, bay leaves, Madeira and broth to juices in pan. Cook over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits from pan. Increase heat to high; cook until gravy is reduced by a third. Strain into sauce boat. Serve with roast and any extra stuffing. Garnish rib ends with kumquats, if you wish.

Serves 6-8

Here’s a trifle recipe from Paula Deen

Yields 10 servings

Cook’s note: You can eliminate this process all together by purchasing a good fudge sauce to make it simpler.

Triple Chocolate Fruit and Nut Bark

Makes about 2 pounds

1 pound dark chocolate

1 pound bittersweet chocolate

1 pound white chocolate

4 tablespoon butter

2 cups dried cherries or cranberries

¼ cup kirsch or water

2 cups whole pecans

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Method

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet on medium high heat.
2. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Stir until sugar melts about 1 minute.
3. Add pecans and continue to sauté until pecans are light golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
4. Once cool, break pecans up slightly.
5. Rehydrate dried cherries or cranberries in kirsch or water. Remove, drain and chop roughly.
6. Pour chocolate in three different microwave-proof bowls. Add one tablespoon of butter into each bowl along with the chocolate.
7. Heat each chocolate at 20 second increments, for about 1 ½  minutes or until chocolate melts, stirring in between each 20 seconds.
8. Line a 15 x 11 baking sheet with lip with parchment paper.
9. Pour dark chocolate onto parchment-lined pan. Shake pan slightly to let chocolate spread a little.
10. Next pour the white chocolate on top of the dark chocolate and shake slightly.
11. Pour the bittersweet chocolate on top of the white chocolate and again shaking the pan slightly.
12. Sprinkle pecans and cherries all over chocolate.
13. Using an offset spatula sprayed with oil spray, spread the chocolate, nuts and cherries evenly. To create swirls, use a toothpick and make swirly patterns on top of the chocolate.
14. Let chocolate set at room temperature for about 2 to 4 hours. Once set, break chocolate up into medium size barks.

As Christmas is getting near, nerves are frayed and tempers flare, do take a step back and take a deep breath. A friend had sent me a little bit of humor today and I thought I would share it with you. Here is what she had to say about calmness:

Subject: Calmness

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.  Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Zinfandel, a bottle of Vodka, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Xanax prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel. Please pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace - especially for this holiday season. : -)

I think I need to take this advice and do just that!

To all of you who have been following my newsletters, it has been a pleasure sharing my views, ideas, and knowledge with you. As a personal chef, I feel the journey I have embarked on most fulfilling and challenging. I have been having a blast cooking for my clients, teaching them, sharing cooking tips, and most important of all given the opportunity to be a part of someone’s special day. I look forward to bigger challenges and learning new methods, skills, and techniques so that I can share them with you.

Thank you for your interest in my newsletters, and I am looking forward to bringing you more tidbits about food, cooking, and taking pleasure in life through the eyes of a cook. I will be taking a break from writing this January. The next newsletter will be out in February. Until then, eat well, stay healthy, and enjoy life to the fullest.

For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas.  Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.  ~W.J. Ronald Tucker