It's finally the season to make EVERYTHING that you want to eat. And I've been craving Prime Rib for the longest time, EVER.
But here is a little FYI on something about Prime Rib that I didn't know. For it to be called prime rib, the roast has to be Prime grade. Like. Ok. That will cost double the price of USDA choice. So with that said, we stuck with USDA choice. Though it's not as marbled and tender as prime, there are hacks that you can do, to make sure your roast is tender.
Going back to wanting a rib roast for quite some time. I've been eating all my steaks, literally with horseradish cream. That has been my new steak condiment and might be that way for the rest of my life. But who knows. If black truffles were affordable like garlic, that would definitely be my choice. But that's just taking it to another level. I'm not ready to quite commit to that level right now. 2016? Maybe.
So everywhere: Vons, Ralphs, Alerbertsons, were selling their USDA Choice rib roast for $6.99 a pound. I stuck with Vons just because it's one of my favorite markets. There was only one 9lb-almost 10lb rib roast left. Including myself, we have 6 people for dinner (most of my family lives in Canada). For 10lbs, I was being extremely optimistic. It's a challenge I was ready to accept. To devour this during the expand of this whole weekend. People that know me, thinks I can do it. And as a matter of fact, I could. But will I feel fantastic? Well it's Sunday and had leftover rib roast for the past 2 days and I feel great. Now all I have are the bones. And anyways, there were a group of people wanting the 10lb rib roast that we snatched. It was fate. And it was definitely my destiny to end 2015 with a meat hangover.
9.90lb standing rib roast.
It's pretty beautiful to be honest. I always loved a big hunk of meat, but this was just a little intimidating to handle. First things first. I got a few paper towels to wipe the beef dry. I then got a pairing knife, and made a few stabs on top of the fat (only) and stuck garlic cloves in. 1 whole head of garlic was stuck into the fat. Nothing on the flesh.
Before we go any further, here's the quick ingredients used.
- 9 pounds of rib roast or prime rib
- 2 whole heads of garlic.
- 1 whole used for inserts
- 1 whole chopped and minced for salt crust
- 1 heap-full cup of Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup of freshly grounded black pepper
- 1/3 cup of dried parsley
- Choice of oil to rub the top of your roast (I used Thrive Algae Oil because their smoke point goes up to 500).
After your meat has been inserted with garlic, combine your salt, black pepper, parsley, and that whole large head of minced garlic. Drizzle some oil on top and rub it all over the fat until it's perfectly coated. Now, pat down the salt crust:
Make sure to cover the roast as much as you can. DON'T worry about the sides or the bottom. Just worry about the fat cap. Preheat your oven to 475 and let this baby stay in for 1 hour. Don't worry if the roast gets a little smokey, there is a lot of black pepper and it's normal. And, try not to peep your roast by opening the oven. I know. I said try. I peeped like twice.
After an hour, lower your temperature to 300 degrees, and let your rib roast go for another 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The high temperature scorches the exterior of the roast which helps the juices stay in. The low temperature cooks the meat, slowly, causing it to become tender and juicy. Let this stand on a cutting board for about 20 minutes or so before cutting into it. Just cover this with aluminum foil. It's a large roast, so you really want to let it rest for the juices to stay inside.
The salt crust is removed before serving (do NOT forget to remove this). And the ribs are also removed and put off to the side for a snack. You can easily stick the bones under a 500 degree oven with a quick spice rub. ugh. The bones though, peeled off from the meat because it was so tender.
End piece
This cut was the end. I did the honors to eat this piece while everyone had the center. As you can see, the end pieces are borderline medium. And I love how pieces of garlic pops through the roast from the insertions.
This bad boy was medium rare. So tender and full of flavor. No salt was needed for this. We just drizzled this with Au Jus which was made from the scrapings on the pan.
Au Jus
Pour out all the fat from the pan into a jar, let cool before dispose. In the pan, I poured in some beef stock about 3/4 of 1 carton. Crack a little more black pepper, and make a quick corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce just a tad.
A quick simple mash and corn was all you need. You don't want to take away the main with sides, especially this beauty. I was extremely impressed by how tender the beef was, and how the salt crust really kept the juices sealed as well as penetrating through the meat.
Leftovers?
Homemade Hashbrowns and over easy eggs (The Happy Eggs).
You be the judge! And always get a roast more than you think you will need.
Happy Holidays and stay tuned for more Christmas feasts.
Daisy