Prime Rib for the holiday??

[Chuck52]

Pat,

I really do like pure horseradish; I have a patch of it growing (I hope), and I'll be grating my own some time in the future. However, for dipping prime rib, I prefer a prepared sauce. I think the sauces I've liked best are adulterated with sweet cream rather than sour cream, but I may have that wrong too.

Rosemary: My wife often makes a buffet for Christmas Eve which includes thinly sliced eye of round which has been "marinated" over night in a dry rub mainly consisting of rosemary, salt and coarsely ground black pepper. That is roasted to just rare if I get my way, or medium rare if we have guests who can't take it too pink. It's great hot, but it is also a hit sliced cold and served with a good bread and, for me at least, horseradish.

One of the local supermarkets has untrimmed whole tenderloins in the bag for $4.99/lb....they sometimes even go to $3.99. There's some waste in trimming, and I'm sure these are not prime, but they sure do make good steak Diane!

Chuck

[Pat]

Chuck, Good for you, fresh is best. I sometimes spread a thin layer, really thin, of fresh grated horseradish on some prime rib or whatever. At a resturant, or at home, for something different, instead of the prepared weakified white cream stuff, ask for one of those little servings of au jus like for a French Dip and add fresh grated horse radish untill it is the "right strength" for your meat dipping pleasure.

$4.99, $3.99, ... I can buy live at about $1.10 or so, up from the $.65-$.75 of several months ago but haven't space for even a quarter much less a half or whole beef untill new house has a freezer and I get someone to share with me. Hundreds of pounds of wrapped and frozen beef do take up a bit of space.

The recipe sounds scrumptious! I gotta think of something else for a while as it is over 2 hours till supper time.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Chuck52]

Last night I thought I was going to need some horseradish today. My nose was getting stuffy. Nothing like a teaspoon of horseradish, neat, to open the old head up!

How's that for a non-food thought?

Chuck

[DocsknotInn]

lol, Pat I didnt miss your humor [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] I dont think were going to find too many labs useing the $5 thermometers from the grocery store, or at least I hope we wont. Theese are just not that accurate. You probably not going to find one that will be accurate at 32 and 212. Probably a moot point any how unless you like your meat REALLY well done. The thermometers I was referring to only read to 220. When I was a kid I'm sure we bought from the farm to save $. Now I am more concerned about processing and quality. In regards to the Hrad, the CFO agrees with you so thats what we always have, Which is probably why I like the other [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
The tenderloins sold in the grocery stores here at those prices are usually cow meat. At that price...who cares. I always stock up. The yield is lower but at that price its not much more than ground sirloin. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Dave

[Chuck52]

Dave,

I ran across a recipe for prime rib in Southern Living that called for essentially burying the meat in rock salt and then roasting it. Now, I guess the coarse grains of the salt would probably prevent the meat from getting totally saturated with sodium chloride, but what is the idea behind this anyway? Southern Living is usually a good source for recipes, and I think I've heard of doing this somewhere else anyway, but what would it accomplish? Does the salt protect the meat from burning or something, like, say, wrapping it in aluminum foil?

Chuck

[DocsknotInn]

I have never heard of that before but I would think they are trying to keep the moisture in the roast. I think thats a bit much for me. I do however use liberal amounts of course sea salt or Kosher salt on the rib. I tried to look that recipe up but the on line Prime Rib recipe from the December '03 issue is essentially the same as we have discussed here, with a few minor exceptions. They recommend crushed Rosemay. I leave the leafs whole, you get the full aromatic but it falls off when you cut the ribs. They also recommend a titch of lemon juice in the sour cream and horseradish. Its also interesting to note that when we disscuss the quality and price of meat, that the majority of houses who spealize in prime rib insist on corn fed midwestern beef. No Texas, Mexican or Canadian beef. Most hold the ribs for 14 days in the cooler from the time of arrival for ageing. In my opinion the Best restaurants dry age their meat. Many have cutting rooms now that can be viewed as you enter the restaurant or have ageing rooms with the meat hanging. When I order prime rib at a restaurant I always ask for a sirloin or strip cut [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] The temps on the Southern Liveing web site are accurate IF you are able to hold your meat a MINIMUM of 4.5 hours at 140 degrees.Most of us simply can not do this at home. Typical cooking directions for a Prime Rib house would be as follows:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook for approximately 40 minutes, internal temp should be 50-60 degrees. Remove from convection oven. Preheat Shams to 225 degrees. Cook approximately 1 hour. Internal temp should be 110 degrees (Rare). Ribs are then held at 140 for 4.5 hours to a internal temp of 130 -140. I certainly would not reccomend the direct cooking temps that Southern Liveing has, not if you want your roast rare to Medium Rare. The Most reliable cooking magazine I know of is "Cooks". No fluffy ads, no marketing, just lots of good research and advice that really works. We could literally write a book on proper Prime Rib technique, In fact most True Steak houses have a Prime Rib Manual that is a closely guarded trade secret. Special seasonings etc. We could discuss order pars, weights, cooking loss, yield, proper cutting and holding etc. Sorry I get carried away but to me its all very fun stuff. You seem to have a real good grip on your beef [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] Any favorite steak brands ? Piedmont , Sterling Silver etc ? Dave

[Chuck52]

Dave,

I think that ribs-buried-in-salt was from an older issue of Southern Living. We keep them around for a couple of years for some reason, even though the wife gets all the annual recipe books.

I don't buy particular brands of beef. I pick the meat by appearance. Rib eyes are my favorite steak cut. I also buy meat from the "meat lab" at the university. The meat does not carry an FDA label, but the guys in charge teach the FDA meat inspectors. When they have it, their grass-fed hamburger is so lean there's no fat to drain from the chili or sauce-to-be. They're selling "green" hams right now to folks who want to try their hand at curing and smoking. Too bad I converted the smoke house to a tool shed!

Chuck

[DocsknotInn]

ARRRGH ! The smoke house got converted ! NO NO NO, It just cant be. Whats life with out a good smoke house ? Now smoked Prime rib is deeeeelicous. All that fat really absorbs the flavors. In regards to the recipe, I Just dont know. I have seen so many quirky things done to prime rib it would make your head spin. My favorite steak is a Porter house, aptly named after the "porters" who would go to the pubs after work for them. Of course last call is where the phrase " mind your P's ( pints ) and Q's ( quarts ) came from.

[MDSteve]

Thanks for the information everyone. I buy my beef by the side at a local butcher at about $1.99 lbs. He picks it up at a local farm. It is usually around 4-5 hundred pounds. The prime rib was 6.49 lbs. If anyone in So Maryland is looking for a butcher let me know. I will plan on printing the thread and going thru it just before I put it in the oven.

Steve

[DocsknotInn]

That seems like a pretty good price, but thats a small prime. Be sure to adjust your cook times for a smaller roast. Average is probably about double that for a whole rib. Dave