A Dressed Up Holiday Menu

This menu is luxury on a plate, featuring a show-stopping beef roast with a creamy morel mushroom sauce and chocolate soufflés.

by Nancy Oakes

This menu practically screams special occasion (and feeds a small crowd), starting with the salt-crusted standing rib roast. The crust blankets the roast while it cooks, sealing in all the juices and infusing the meat with flavor. The result is tender, perfectly medium-rare beef that’s seasoned all the way through. With a creamy sauce of dried morel mushrooms and Marsala wine, it’s luxury on a plate.

The menu is completed with winter vegetables at their best: A silky puréed cauliflower soup; rainbow chard and fennel sparkling with fresh lemon segments and Parmigiano shavings; and buttery little Yukon Gold potato cakes. Easy recipes, sophisticated results. Want something a little more casual? Try the dressed-down version of this menu.

Download a pdf of this menu, including all recipes, shopping list, and timeline.

the menu

Menu Timeline

One to seven days ahead:

Make and freeze the chocolate soufflés.

Five hours ahead:

Make the cauliflower soup.
Let the rib roast sit out for an hour.
Prepare and shape the potato cakes.

Three hours ahead:

Blanch the chard and prepare the remaining ingredients for the chard recipe.
Sear the beef, cover it with the dough, and roast.

One hour ahead:

Make the morel sauce.
Make the almond and pepper relish.

Thirty minutes ahead:

Finish the potato cakes.

Before dinner:

Reheat the soup.
Finish cooking the chard.

Before dessert:

Bake the soufflés and make the whipped cream.

Shopping List

Fresh Produce:

4 large bunches rainbow or Swiss chard (about 3-1/2 lb.)
1-3/4 lb. cauliflower florets
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb. medium Yukon Gold potatoes
3 medium lemons
1/2 lb. watercress
1 large yellow onion
2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb, plus 1/2 cup chopped fronds
1/4 cup finely diced shallots
2 oz. dried morels, preferably small
3 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme (stems included)
2 Tbs. chopped juniper berries
1 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh mint
1 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh chives
1 Tbs. minced fresh tarragon or thyme
1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Meat, Eggs & Dairy:

One 3-bone standing beef rib roast (about 7 lb.)
2-1/2 cup heavy cream
7 large egg whites, at room temperature
4 large egg yolks
8 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. whole milk

Other Groceries:

1 cup dry Marsala
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, preferably 64% cacao
1/4 cup jarred piquillo peppers
1/4 cup Marcona or regular almonds
1 Tbs. dark rum

Pantry Staples:

2 to 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; more for rolling
13 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
10 medium cloves garlic plus 2 Tbs. chopped garlic
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. light brown or demerara sugar
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt

Wine pairings:
Consider beginning the meal with a sparkling rosé. The estate grown and bottled Catalonian Raventós i Blanc L’Hereu de Nit Reserva Rosé 2006 ($16) has a delicate salmon hue, tiny bubbles, and the flavors of soft, ripe tart fruits. Then move on to another Spanish wine, this time a white with floral tones and deep body to pair with the rich beef and morel sauce, such as the Cellers Unió Roureda Llicorella Blanc 2005 ($36) from the Priorat region.

Photo: Christopher Hirsheimer; food styling: Melissa Hamilton