Prime Rib Perfection

Prime rib has to be the absolute easiest roast to make, and it certainly how the wow factor when you serve it to guests. The problem when you serve it to guests is that you have to share.

When our family all gets together in NJ to celebrate Christmas, I take charge of getting the meal together and served hot and on time (a rare feat in this family). Dinner is sort of a pot luck with me preparing the main course and everyone bringing a side or appetizer. This year, my sister and brother-in-law were in charge of getting some kind of beef roast and that turned out to be a 10 lb. bone-in prime rib roast to accompany the pasta and salad.

Once the meal was served, I did that little sigh of relief that everything was on the table on time and hot. Within 3 minutes of that little sigh, the last of the beef was being grabbed off the platter. Luckily I snagged a small piece as I took my seat at the table -- more as quality control. if it wasn't for that bite or 2, I'd have had none.

So, we return to Maine and I am beyond craving some prime rib. After we cashed in some retirement CDs (just kidding, but beef is priced off the charts right now), we went to Acadia Provisions and had them cut us a 4lb bone-in roast that, as expensive as it was, still cost less than a great steak dinner for two at one of our favorite restaurants (how's that for justification). I roasted it during the weekend between Christmas and New Years -- just for us.

The one thing that makes this SO easy to get perfect is a good digital thermometer. If you use any other method of monitoring the internal temp of the meat, you're taking your chances!

First you need to have the roast at room temperature before you put it in the oven. it's absolutely OK to have it out on the counter for several hours to achieve that.

While the roast is getting to room temp, it should be well seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and herbs. The salt will need all those hours to do its job in the tenderizing flavoring department.

I mixed about 3 tablespoons each of herbs de Provence, Kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic and onion powders for the rub on the roast.

After patting the roast dry with clean paper towels, I brushed olive oil over the entire roast including the fat on the top. Then I patted the seasoning mix onto every side of the roast -- including the bottom by the rib bones. After rubbing the entire roast, I gently pressed all the remaining seasonings onto the top (fatty side) of the roast.

You want to insert the thermometer into the roast and be sure it's not touching the bone. Set it to 10 degrees below your desired level of doneness.

Place the roast into a preheated 500 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. This sears ans browns the meat beautifully, but can get smokey -- especially if your oven is between cleanings.

After the initial browning reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees and let it roast until the thermometer starts beeping at you. For medium rare, we removed it from the oven at 120 degrees and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so. In that time, the temp climbs to just where it's supposed to be and it's ready to slice.

In case you're not sure what temp you need or like:

• Rare: 120°F The center is cool and bright red, and the meat is very soft and tender

• Medium-rare: 130°F The center is warm and red, transitioning to pinkish-red towards the outer edges.

• Medium: 140°F The center is warm and pink, and the meat has a slightly firmer texture.

• Medium-well: 150°F The meat is mostly brown with only a slight hint of pink in the very center.

• Well done: 155°F he meat is fully cooked, gray-brown throughout, very firm, and the driest of all the doneness levels. 

I cooked some mushrooms and sauteed onions and also served some horseradish sauce on the side. We never touched either because the meat was SO perfect by itself.

End note: To be sure we got every penny's worth, I boiled the scraps and bones for several hours to make broth for a super rich beef barley soup. And, for the record, I threw the sauteed mushrooms and onions in the soup since the meat stood by itself so well.