Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Prime Rib


This past Christmas, I was adventurous.  No, I did not go bungee jumping.  No, I did not enlist in the Peace Corps.  I did, however, offer to host Christmas for both Tom's and my families.

Unfortunately in terms of togetherness, not everyone was able to attend. My mother chose to stay in Mexico to support an ill relative, and Tom's parents were restricted in terms of travel choices due to the fact they are hosting a toddler undergoing treatment in their city.  My brothers and sisters in law made other plans according to their needs as well. I at least got a good percentage of participation from my side of the family with my sister, father, stepmother and stepbrothers in attendance.

Sad as it was that we could not all be together, the smaller group size gave me some breathing room.  I would have been really stressed about cooking for 20 people.  8 I could handle!  A great entrance into being one of the new generations of hostesses.  

In the fury of cooking, I did not take photos, but I assure you they were delectable.  The potatoes... need a new recipe.  The green beans will return next year.  But for now, the roast.  My mom is in town, and since she was the one I had originally purchased the roast to please, I was happy to be able to thaw out a huge chunk of meat from my freezer (ha! I knew that buying 4 roasts was worth it at 5.97/pound!) and cook this again.  Just as succulent and savory as the first go round.

The salt covering crisps up nicely, and the meat is infused with garlicky, herby goodness.  Just don't try to do as Mom did and sample the crust itself. It's... not meant to be consumed.

This recipe is indeed taken from Pioneer Woman and her fabulous Christmas menu.  I skipped the thyme and used a food processor cuz, as you know, I'm the lazy chef.

I will include an extra photo (how unlazy of me) of the ingredients for the flavor rub because they are so lovely!



1 T olive oil
1 rib roast (I use boneless and a 4.5lber, but whatevs)
2 T olive oil
1 head garlic, peeled
2 T peppercorns (I used multi-colored peppercorns)
2 springs rosemary

This is the most cooking I'd done in a while... and still super easy:-p
1) Preheat oven to 500 (wooo-wee!)
2) Heat up pan on high heat, add olive oil, and brown roast for 3 minutes on both sides.
3) Toss garlic, peppercorns and rosemary (the leaves, not the stems; I like to simple shuck against the growth to easily get the leaves off the stem) into food processor and pulse until peppercorns are somewhat broken up and garlic is more or less minced.
4) Put roast fat side up on roasting rack in roasting pan.  Coat with oil.  Pat on the garlic mix.
5) Roast at 500 for 30 minutes.
6) Reduce heat to 300 and insert meat thermometer into thickest part of the roast.  Cook 30 minutes to one hour more, whatever it requires to reach about 125 degrees for medium rare.
7) Let rest for AT LEAST 20 minutes before carving.  I use that because that is in the original recipe, but my roast was not ready even then.  I should have waited for 30 minutes.

Yes, that's a lot (at least in my lazy chef world), but SO WORTH IT!


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