Rib-a-licious Prime Rib

This is quite possibly, the easiest way to make an elegant beef dinner, in my opinion.  It really will be the star of your holiday or special occasion dinner party, as it was this past Easter at our table.

Truth be told, I've made this before on the Egg and that was the way we intended to cook it this year, as it is so divine. But given that our Easter Sunday this year was overcast and we were expecting severe thunderstorms, I opted for a simpler cooking method. Erring to the side of caution, we decided to do this in the oven at the last minute. Absolutely the right call, as it turned out.

So with Easter dinner saved by my last minute change in cooking plans, we ended up having a perfectly cooked prime rib that suited everyone at our table. For those that like medium cooked beef, there were the end cuts and the medium-rare to rare cuts were further in and closer to the center.

Here's how I did it this time:
10 lb prime rib roast, rib in (about 4 large ribs), unpackaged and patted dry
large roasting pan

You can have your butcher remove the ribs or do it yourself. It's pretty easy to do as you literally just cut very close to the bone, meat side, as much or as little as you want.

This makes serving easier and also, the ribs cook at a different temperature than the rib cap. You can leave them on, but it's definitely a trick to employ if you want to ensure a perfectly cooked prime rib. And, this way, the ribs will cook at the same time as the roast.

I cooked the ribs too and used them as a "rack" to roast the meat on and they were so dang good. However, if you want to save these for another meal, go ahead and rub them too and then freeze or refrigerate for later, if you prefer.

I also trim some of the fat side and remove the silver skin, because silver skin does not break down and is not good eats... The fat, however, is luscious so leave enough to aid in the basting of the meat as it will melt and break down and add such wonderful flavor to the meat. No need to remove it all.

Rub:

• 6 large cloves of grated or finely minced garlic
• zest of 2 large washed lemons
• 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary leaves, finely diced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp sea salt
• 1-2 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper

Prep:
Now, it's pretty easy if you have a small food processor. Just put all of your ingredients in and pulse until combined.  But it doesn't take that much time to do it by hand either. I use a fine lemon zester to zest the entire lemon and then grate the garlic on the same microplane grater. If you have a garlic crusher, that will work and so will mincing it finely with a knife.

Use the above recommendations but it essentially works out to be equal parts of all ingredients above, except for the salt and pepper. The mixture will be more like a loose paste, which is great for coating the meat.

Rub the entire surface of the meat, including the ribs, with the rub and place the whole thing in the roasting pan. I place the roast on top of the removed ribs to lift the roast off the bottom of the pan and it turned out nicely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Roasting:
On roasting day, remove from the fridge a couple of hours before you cook to let the meat come to room temperature. It makes for a more even, predictable baking time.

Preheat the oven to 250 F degrees.

For medium rare, you want the internal temperature to be around 130 degrees so have a meat thermometer handy. Cooking time is roughly 15-20 minutes per pound. I cooked ours, which was 10 lb, for 2.5 hours on 250 and the last 10 minutes or so, I turned on the broiler to get a good color.

Again, keep an eye on the internal temp. Once it starts to get around 120, it will go very fast and if you want a perfect medium rare, take it out at about 125 as it will continue to cook and warm up to 135.  Ours got to 140 even out of the oven and it was still perfectly rare at the very center but I wouldn't let it stay in the oven unless you enjoy medium well prime rib. I mean, what's the point of that? Prime rib should be served medium rare to rare as it is such a beautiful and tender cut of meat, getting no exercise, it will never be tough.

Serving:
The pan juices are lovely to make a gravy or serve as is. Loaded with flavor, it won't require much even if you do want to make a sauce so it is highly unlikely that you will need to further season the sauce.

We removed the roast and ribs to rest before serving and we added sautéed baby portabella mushrooms, which we did ahead of time, back to the roasting pan.

You can add a bit of heavy cream if you like a creamier style of mushroom gravy but we just added a couple of pats of butter and served it like that. It was so delicious!

I guess we did something right because everyone devoured the meal with not a single bite of rib or roast left behind... Too bad, because I sure had my heart set on prime rib subs. Alas, I will have to buy a bigger roast next time!

Cracker Time - Parmesan and Thyme Crackers

Got this recipe watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa episode where she makes brunch for her best friend. She served these crackers as part of a cheese and cracker platter with fruit which looked so beautiful, decorated with fresh greens and lovely bits out of her garden. Yep, right up my alley.

Since we are planning a family Easter Sunday at our house next weekend, we've been in the process of menu planning, as you might be. We had decided that we would do the same thing since we have a lovely assortment of cheeses and of course, my first charcuterie that I've been dying to introduce to the world. 

My first Lonzino, which is a cured pork tenderloin with juniper, rosemary, salt, pepper and fennel turned out so lovely that it shocked my whole household. 

Totally supportive of my kitchen experiments and food chemist wizardry, Tsunami was all too willing and anxious to try it but deep down I think he was a tad skeptical. That's ok; I love to be underestimated and truth be told, I wasn't entirely sure either. And what's better than unexpectedly impressing someone you love with something you made? Nothing, really.

But since everything seemed to go perfectly according to the recipes in my book, I felt at least confident I had a 50/50 chance of it turning out ok. I mean, peeps have been curing meats for thousands of years, how hard can it be?

Oh joy! Not only did it turn out ok, but it was truly divine and a total culinary delight! Yipppeeee!!

I asked him to check on it one night and suddenly, during my evening swim, he comes outside and says to me, "OH. MY. Gosh... Totally f-ing amazing! Here, honey, gotta try this right now." 

I swim over and he gives me the slice that he has precariously carried on his carving knife all the way outside.  "Right???" he says, clearly impressed with the results. 

Even though he was discreetly skeptical, it didn't stop him from assisting me with some mechanics during the curing process of my "experiment". He cleverly converted a small outdoor refrigerator we keep by the pool for beer and soda and turned it into the perfect meat curing humidor! Perfect temperature and humidity for the sausage making endeavor, which required a constant temperature of 55 degrees F and 65% humidity. (It also serves as a cheese curing fridge, but that's another culinary adventure waiting to begin :)

Tickled to death, we both have cheese, crackers and Lonzino as a little post-workout snack. And so, our menu planning for Easter had begun...

Now that we have the cured meat for the platter figured out and the assorted cheeses, we decided that of course, time to make our own crackers, as well! Thanks, Ina. Just love you to death and appreciate this addition to our Easter Sunday supper!

Here's what you need to get started:
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1¼ ups all-purpose flour

Prep:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 1 minute. With the mixer on low speed, add the Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper and combine. With the mixer still on low, add the flour and combine until the mixture is in large crumbles, about 1 minute. If the dough is too dry, add 1 teaspoon water.

Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 9-inch log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 4 days. 

**Alternatively, I put the dough into a ziplock baggie, seal the baggie and roll the dough out flat in the bag. Refrigerate and then when ready to roll, you simply cut the ziplock bag away and cut with cookie cutters for little shapes or use a pastry cutter to make strips or squares, etc. Learned this tip from Alton Brown and it makes it pretty easy once the dough is cold and there is little to no mess to clean up!

Baking:
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the log into 3/8-inch-thick rounds with a small, sharp knife and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 22 minutes, until very lightly browned. Rotate the pan once during baking. Cool and serve at room temperature. 

Serve:

You can certainly serve these any way you like, but we'll likely follow Ina's lead and create a lovely platter with fresh, seasonal fruit like mangos, red grapes, fresh pineapple, various cheeses and of course, the secret star to my little cheese plate party: my first Lonzino! 

**Don't worry, if you are interested and want to try your hand at cured meats, I am working on a companion post for just that, so stay tuned!