Hawaiʻi CC Communications & Marketing Specialist Katie Young Yamanaka shares her mom's decade-long holiday Tradition
The holiday season is here, and UH News is asking members of the University of Hawaiʻi ʻohana to share their favorite recipes. The hope is these recipes and the short stories that accompany them will give everyone some ideas for eats throughout the holidays along with some good feelings of the season.
In 2007, Hawaiʻi Community College Communications and Marketing Specialist Katie Young Yamanaka moved to Hilo from Honolulu, and had her daughter, Ava. Her mom Libby Young, a retired Windward CC professor of English and journalism, started a tradition of flying to Hilo to spend Christmas with Yamanaka and her children (by 2011, Yamanaka had three).
Yamanaka said, “Almost as soon as that annual holiday visit started, this recipe tradition began.”
Every Christmas Eve, Young makes a prime rib roast that she adapted from a recipe out of a cookbook.
“It’s the centerpiece of our dinner table—a dish Mom says is fool-proof,” Yamanaka said. “The sides may change, but the roast is often accompanied by cauliflower mash, roasted vegetables and lots of creamy horseradish. She uses the drippings from the roast to make a fantastic au jus or gravy, too. What started as ‘let’s just try this recipe and see how it turns out’ is now a delectable tradition that will always remind me of Christmas with my mom.”
Libby’s Ribby Roast
Ingredients
- 4-rib prime rib roast (about 6 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and tied
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (and 1 Tbsp. vinaigrette dressing if available)
- 3 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 3 Tbsp. minced shallots
- 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 Tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
- 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- Creamy horseradish (for serving)
Method
Remove the meat from the refrigerator at least one hour, but not more than 2 hours, prior to roasting to bring to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
In a small dish, stir together the olive oil, vinaigrette dressing, garlic, shallots, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper until well combined. Untie the roast and evenly spread the garlic herb mixture on all sides, including between the bones and on the bottom of the roast. Place the roast back onto the bones and tie it up again with kitchen twine.
Place the roast, bone side down, in a heavy-duty roasting pan. Roast undisturbed for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and continue roasting for about 1 1/4 hours for medium-rare. The meat is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the roast, away from the bone, registers 130 degrees F for medium-rare, 140 degrees for medium or 145 degrees for medium-well. Remove from the oven and let rest, tented with aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before carving.
Note: Sometimes we adjust the temperature to 325 degrees F, depending on the size of the roast and timing for when it needs to be served.
Serve with creamy horseradish for that extra zing!
*This story originally appeared in University of Hawai'i News on November 15, 2024.
