EXTRAVAGANTLY EASY CHRISTMAS DINNER By Christy Rost   Christmas dinner is the perfect occasion to indulge in the luxury of a fantasy meal, but that does not mean it has to involve hours in grocery stores, hunting for strange ingredients, and long days of meal preparation in the kitchen. In reality, because most of us prefer to concentrate on our families on Christmas Day, this is one of those times when cooking a meal that looks complicated, but isn’t, is really important. Pork roasts, hams, and beef roasts always look festive on holiday tables, and they require a minimum of preparation time. Of these, my favorite is Prime Rib Roast. Prime Rib is to roasts what champagne is to wines – a sign that this is an especially important celebration, worthy of a bit of extravagance. My first holiday experience with prime rib roast was years ago when my husband’s mother, Patricia, prepared it one Christmas in their Colorado vacation home. When I was growing up, we usually dined on roast turkey for Christmas dinner because my father adored turkey, but, there we were with Randy’s parents, and Mom was in her tiny mountain kitchen preparing a huge prime rib of beef. No two ways about it – I was impressed. After one taste, I knew I had to make prime rib roast part of my culinary repertoire. This week’s recipe for Prime Rib Roast is flavored with fresh garlic, and is easy to do. Just brown the roast on all sides; then roast in the oven until it is done to perfection. Serve your favorite holiday side dishes, and this will be a luxurious Christmas dinner to remember. Merry Christmas from our home to yours! Prime Rib Roast 1 6 to 8-pound beef rib roast 2 tablespoons olive oil 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1 tablespoon coarse salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat; add olive oil. Sear rib roast in hot oil until all sides of meat and fat are browned. Remove roast from skillet and transfer to a large roasting pan, fat side up. Rub roast on all sides with some of the minced garlic, coarse salt and ground pepper. Top roast with remaining garlic, plus any garlic which as fallen into roasting pan. Roast meat in hot oven 25 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Continue roasting a total of 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium-rare, or 155 degrees for medium. Remove roast from oven, cover loosely with foil, and set aside 10 minutes to allow roast to rest before carving. Recipe serves 6 to 8.  Get more of Christy Rost's recipes in her archives. Click here. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com