A Prime rib roast of beef, served with Yorkshire pudding is probably my favorite main dish to serve at Christmas or at any special occasion dinner. Although, a roasted turkey can also be found on many a British Christmas table, I prefer the elegance of a rib roast. 

My variation on a traditionally made Yorkshire Pudding (in one pan, rendered beef fat, baked and then cut into wedges) is that I make individual popovers in a 6-cup non-stick popover pan.  Be sure to make the Yorkshire popovers as close to serving time as possible - they tend to deflate as they cool. The recipe below is the basic standard for homemade Yorkshire Pudding - your choice in baking styles - one pan or popover pan.

A traditional British sauce to serve with a Prime Rib Roast is a horseradish cream sauce. Specialty food stores will have one brand or another of a ready-made horseradish cream sauce, but if you want to make your own, here is a simple enough formula: Ingredients 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 1 teaspoon dry Coleman's mustard 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 1/2 cup sour cream Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve along with the rib roast.

There is no question as to what vegetable I serve....it's always and forever the British standard for vegetables - Brussels Sprouts - seen in this photo as they grow on the stalk.  In the past, a must maligned vegetable....the difference between how my Brussels taste vs. the taste of Brussels from my husbands' childhood?  I don't boil them as long as his mum used to! I don't boil them at all!

For the most part, overcooking Brussels is why this healthy vegetable is so maligned! If you give my recipe a try, I'm sure you'll love Brussels Sprouts!  As I do most of my food shopping in Manhattan, I have access to many wonderful food stores - Citarella is one of my favorites - and in the Autumn and Winter they sell a mesh bag full of the smallest Brussels Sprouts from Holland. They are simply delicious.  If you can't find baby Brussels, then buy the smallest you can find or just cut larger ones in half. 

Pan roasted potatoes are another British staple vegetable that is served with just about every traditional meal.  With the many varieties of potato that are now available in specialty food stores or at your local farmers' market, once you have eaten a variety of potato called fingerling, or any of the many other potato varieties, you'll be hard pressed to go back to the regular potatoes.  Not that there is anything wrong with an Idaho/Russet potato! They still are the best potato for making fries and baked potato.

Note that the recipe calls for roasting the potatoes in DUCK FAT.  The best source for this ingredient is to save the rendered duck fat from roasting a duck, or alternatively, check your local specialty food store for rendered duck fat sold by D'Artagnan - a top quality purveyor of specialty meats and charcuterie.

Mincemeat pie with hard sauce is a favorite British-style dessert of ours - I must admit that  I don't often make my own mincemeat mixture which needs to be made at least 10 days  in advance.  I buy a good brand of mince imported from the U.K. that can be found at specialty food stores and some major supermarkets.

I like to make individual mince pies - I use a standard muffin tin, form the pie dough in each cup, cut out shapes (star, or strips) for the top of each one or .  If you're in or near NYC, the British grocer -Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street in the West Village will fulfill any British "soul food" desires you may have -  including mincemeat by Robertson's which is delicious.  Making your own hard sauce is simple and can be made days in advance and tastes better than ready-made hard sauce in a jar, especially when you use a top quality organic butter.

Mushroom Soup