Prime Rib
I feel pretty sure that there are as many Prime Rib recipes as there are stars in the sky so, this is just mine. Many moons ago there was a restaurant, The Colony House, located at 35 Prioleau Street. It was famous for its steaks and prime rib. I attended a function there and had the opportunity to speak with the Chef. He saw how interested I was in the prime rib, so he walked me back to the kitchen. There on top of the stove was a huge pan of au jus. He told me that if you cooked a prime rib roast in the oven that you would wind up with roast beef – no doubt about it. He told me that he was taught that prime rib is finished in the au jus. Confused, yes, I was but there was more. He had a prime rib on the stove that was not much more than raw. He sliced a piece and laid it in the au jus which was just in a stage of steeping. After about 30 seconds he removed it and handed it to me. I sliced it and to my surprise, the center was still rare, and the flavor was wonderful, exceptional. He said a ¾ inch cut was 1 minute in the jus for rare, 1 ½ minutes for mid rare and so on. I have fixed my rib like this from then on and people seem to really enjoy it. This is the recipe that I will share with you, but you can always cook it to temperature and ladle the jus over the meat.
7–8-pound Rib Roast – I get mine from Wildforksfoods.com and I get the bone-in–prime for $20 per lb and for prime that is a good price. I checked with butcher shop in Mt Pleasant and it was $40 per lb for prime 2 years ago.
Olive oil
Kosher salt & cracked black pepper.
Boars Head horseradish sauce
Sauce
64 oz of beef stock – unsalted
4 pkgs of Knorr Au Jus or Brown Gravy mix
1 bunch of fresh tarragon
1 stick of unsalted butter
Foil
Wooden toothpicks – soaked in water for 1 hour.
FIRST -take the beef out and place it on the counter and allow it to come to room temperature – several hours
In a heavy bottom Dutch Oven, melt one stick of butter – off the heat, pour the contents of the gravy mix into the butter, whisk to combine – add the beef broth and tarragon and bring to a boil to thicken – remove from heat and cover and allow to sit on the stove and somewhat steep -it is really better to do this the day before and allow all of the flavors to meld and then reheat on the day of service –
Now, on to the beef – place the rib onto a roasting pan – this is my own twist because I have no use for well-done ends of the rib but if you do, skip this step altogether – pull a piece of foil off of the roll about 8-10inches – fold it in half and then in half again – press the foil sandwich against the end of the rib and secure it with 5 to 6 toothpicks pushed in at a steep angle to hold the foil in place – repeat on the other end – trim the foil to mimic the shape of the rib – now pour some olive oil onto a paper towel and wipe the rib completely – put a good layer of salt and pepper on the fat cap –
Cut the broiler on high – place the rib into the oven and sear the fat cap until you have achieved a char on the beef – 3-5 minutes depending on the oven – remove and place pan on the stove or counter and allow to rest there for at least 30 minutes while oven cools to 275 degrees – when the roast is cool, spread on a layer of the Boars Head horseradish sauce on the roast – now bake at 275 degrees for about 20 minutes per pound for rare – at about 2 hours, stick the roast with a GOOD instant read thermometer – that should give you a good barometer of where you are in the process – at 115 degrees, take roast from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes – there will be approximately a 10 degree carry over cook – bring the beef stock sauce to a very warm, not boiling stage – slice the steak size pieces from the rib and place cut pieces into beef sauce – 1 minute to finish to med rare, 2 minutes to medium and so on – they will be delicious and if there is someone that wants a little more doneness, back in the broth
COOKS NOTE: When you buy a rib roast, it is better to get the “bone-in” but be sure to have the butcher to “bone and tie” the roast for you so that you will be able to slice it when done.
