Prime Rib

Well normally I would have an anecdote or two to share with you, but Bailey just posted a Supreme Goddess recipe for a jazzy uptake on a BLT, and I enjoyed reading it very much, so I'm just going to give you a tip on how to cook a Prime Rib roast. And I have to do it while it's fresh in my mind, or else I'll forget and there won't be a decent  recipe for that on this blog.

Now the Ladygirls are young and talented cooks and they keep abreast of all the trends and they do research and test out  recipes all the time. I do no such thing. I only post the basics here and it's up to you to experiment and make each recipe your own like they do. I don't follow recipes because I've been cooking all this stuff for 30 years or more. I can tell you how to make the basic thing, just to where your meat will be perfect and your potatoes will compliment the dish and such as that, but I keep all my posts basically to a blank slate so you can put your own sexy spin on it. So if you're lucky like me, and you spotted a smoking good sale on Prime Rib, and you can grab a 3 pounder for 8 bucks like I did just recently, then I'm your best friend today!

Lots of recipes tell you not to salt your meat because it draws out the moisture and blah, blah, blah. I salt the fat cap on a Prime Rib because I definitely want that salt to give me some flavour and draw the moisture out of that fat and reduce it down to a yummy crispiness. So I rub the fat side of it with butter and salt the bejesus out of it with sea salt. And then add some freshly ground pepper. Some people slice open the meat and introduce garlic cloves into the flesh. And do it if you like. But have you ever tasted prime rib? There really is no need to do that. Just some salt and pepper on the fat cap does the trick. This part of the cow doesn't need enhancing. When you are fortunate enough to serve the best part a cow has to offer, believe me, less is more. And if you want to introduce some exotic flavour, do it with your side dishes.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Lay your beef up on it's rack and butter just the fat cap and season just the fat with sea salt and pepper. Let it roast up on it's rack for 20 minutes then turn down the heat to 350 degrees and let it roast for 20 minutes per pound. I don't have a meat thermometer, but if you do, take it out of the oven at 140 degrees. But really, you don't need a thermometer because the 20 minutes rule will work if you follow these instructions. So after the 20 minutes at 450, let's say you have a 3 pound roast, you'll go on for an hour at 350 from here. NOW HERE IS THE KEY: Take it out and cover it with tin foil on your carving board and let it just hang out for 20 more minutes for a medium rare roast.

The meat will continue to cook even after you take it out of the oven. It will come out of the oven at RARE. But you cannot serve it at this point or you will have a bloody massacre on your carving board and all the juices will run out across your kitchen floor and your meat will be tasteless and of course dry and bland. The resting time is the key. I don't even turn on my potatoes until the meat is to the rest. If you let it rest for 20 minutes, it will be medium rare. If you let it rest for 30 minutes, it will be medium. That's as far as you want to go because it stands to reason that 40 minutes of rest time will result in medium well. And now it's ruined because a medium well prime rib is pretty much overcooked in my mind. Well not even "pretty much". It's too well done by far. But you get the idea. Hahaha! Another basic recipe by Mad Men Mama and this one will take you through your life for all time! Enjoy!