Cooking Lesson #49—Roasted Prime Ribs of Beef

How are you doing? It’s been a challenging couple of weeks/months, and we are all trying to keep our wits about us. It is hard when you have been getting up and going to work every day for the last 40 years. You try to save for a raining day, but this is far more than that.

So, I thought why not find a reason to celebrate? In my house, celebrations were always at Lawry’s the Prime Rib on La Cienega, Beverly Hills. Over the weekend I put up some holiday decorations and we all pretended it was Christmas. That seemed to cheer up all the “inmates.” I ordered a 2-bone prime rib roast—perfect for two. I like the idea of having lots of leftover meat for a second or third dinner, sandwiches—both hot and cold—and my famous Prime Rib Chili. 

Read the recipe completely. You’ll find it’s easier than it looks. Order the best quality Prime Rib roast you can find… it’s called PRIME for a good reason. It should be well conformed with perfectly marbled fat. I asked my butcher to cut loose the bones from the eye roast and season it the rib roast and the bone rack with a mixture of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and a touch of BBQ seasoning. The butcher should tie the bones back on the eye roast.

A two-bone roast is perfect for 2 to 3 people. A three-bone roast will easily feed 4 to 6 people with leftovers. You will also need a digital thermometer and a roasting pan.

Ingredients
For the meat
1 standing rib roast, 2-7 ribs bones cut away from the roast, seasoned and tied back to the roast with kitchen string (ask your butcher to prepare the rib roast this way)

For the gravy
Drippings from the roasting pan
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Herbs, to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (optional)
 
Directions

1. Remove the rib roast from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before you start to cook it.
2. Preheat an oven to 500°F (yes, I said 500⁰F—don’t be scared).
3. Pat the rib roast dry with paper towels (pre-salting should have made the roast release some moisture).
4. Sprinkle with more salt, if desired, all over the meat and let it sit, loosely draped with a damp kitchen towel. Do not coat the outside of the roast with additional pepper as it will burn.
5. Allow the rib roast to come as close as possible to room temperature before it goes into the oven for a more even cook.
6. Roast the prime rib at a 500°F in the oven for 15 minutes; set a timer.
7. After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. To figure out the total cooking time, allow about 11-12 minutes per pound for rare and 13-15 minutes per pound for medium rare. The actual cooking time will depend on the shape of the roast, how cold your rib roast is when it goes into the oven and the particular oven. A flatter roast will cook more quickly than a thicker one. A chilled roast will take more time than one closer to room temp.
8. There are different variables involved that affect cooking time, therefore you should always use a good thermometer. A prime rib roast is too expensive to guess. If you are going to err, do it on the rare side; you can always put the roast back in the oven to cook it longer if it is too rare for your taste.
9. Roast in oven until thermometer registers 115°F for Rare or 120°F for Medium Rare for internal temperature. Thanks to the residual heat, the internal temperature of the rib roast will continue to rise while the it is resting after you take it out of the oven for about 20 minutes.
10. Cut away the butcher strings that were used to hold the roast to the rack of rib bones. Remove the bones. Save them for barbecued beef bones as one of the leftover meals.
11. Then, using a sharp carving knife, slice the meat across the grain for serving. The House-Cut should be 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. The Diamond Jim Brady Cut should be 1-inch to 1-1/2-inch cut with a bone. For light eaters—the English cut is perfect—thin slice of roast beef.

For the gravy

1. Transfer the meat to a cutting board to rest.
2. Skim off excess fat from the pan juices leaving about 1/4 cup of fat in the pan.
3. Place the roasting pan on the stove top over medium heat.  Use a metal spatula to scrape up drippings that might be sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. When the pan juices are bubbly, sprinkle the flour over drippings in the pan. Stir with a wire whisk to incorporate the flour into the fat. Let the flour brown to cook it out completely for the best flavor.
5. Slowly add 3 cups of beef stock and one cup of red wine. Continue to cook slowly, whisking constantly, breaking up any flour lumps. The gravy will simmer and thicken, resulting in about 2-1/2 cups of finished gravy.
6. Season the gravy with salt, pepper, garlic power and herbs to taste. You can also add a 2-tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, if desired, for enrichment.

ChefSecrets:  Some cooks think you should remove excess fat from the roast. That means any fat that’s more than an inch thick on the roast. You need this fat to give your entrée a great roasted flavor and to make it juicy and tender. Your butcher should have already removed any excess fat.

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