I love the holidays. That magical time between Thanksgiving and New Years that doesn't occur any other time of year. Perfect strangers smile and make small talk with one another. There's a tangible feeling of 'happiness' in the air, a collective consciousness of well being and camaraderie. It's as if there is an unspoken truce that we will all try a little harder to get along; to be more caring, considerate and forgiving. It's a time where we reach out to reconnect with old friends and family, a time of reflection and appreciation. A time of inner soul searching, of finding the 'good' in all things.
And it is a time to eat. Yes indeed, it is a time to toss away our every day dietary restrictions and embrace the heady abundance that the holiday season has to offer. I know, I know, we are warned adnauseum of the potential dangers that holiday excess can inflict on our ever expanding waistlines. But come on, if we can't indulge in a little gluttony and excess during the holidays, then what is the point?
Holiday food traditions are sacred. Ham at Easter, corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, candy for Halloween, turkey for Thanksgiving, and the daddy of them all; Standing Rib Roast for Christmas Dinner. With all the trimmings, Yorkshire pudding, decadent potatoes, and the ubiquitous aspargus for the veg course. Dessert? Yes, but who cares, give me that big, beautiful, med rare, slab of fat laden prime rib with a little horseradish cream and call the heart surgeon 'cause I'm dying a happy girl.
The bossy chef keeps trying to interfer with Christmas tradition by offering substitutions for the rib roast dinner. This year he suggested Porchetta. Definition in Wikipedia: Porchetta [porˈketta] is a savoury, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (“traditional agricultural-alimentary product”, one of a list of traditional Italian foods held to have cultural relevance).
I love pork and I know this is absolutely delicious, but no. Sorry, no way, not going to happen. Not at Christmas. Period. There are 364 other days of the year that we can enjoy Porchetta. Try again next year hubby.
We're having prime rib, end of story.
From Michael Symon's 'Carnivore':
" Prime rib is one of the most expensive cuts of beef, for good reason. It has everything you could want from a piece of meat. The bones and fat add a ton of flavor and when cooked properly, the meat is melt in your mouth tender. While I love a rare steak, prime rib actually benefits from a little more cooking. Taking this cut to medium-rare ( or slightly past ) allows the fat to melt and baste the meat while pulling more flavor from the bones. " I couldn't agree more. The flavor is in the fat and the fat needs to melt to do it's work.
So, if you're going to invest in this pricey cut of meat you want to cook it correctly. I wrote about prime rib in a previous blog and shared Thomas Keller's method of using a propane blowtorch on the exterior of the roast before roasting in a low and slow oven. The blowtorch insured that even in a low temperature oven the roast would achieve a beautiful brown crust. I included a video showing the technique which was so successful that I've included it once again below.
Now for a couple of new twists from Michael Symon's book 'Carnivore'. If you don't have a blow torch or don't want to mess with one, here's another way to roast that rib to crusty brown perfection.
Symon has the butcher remove the meat from the bones, but he keeps the bones and uses them for the roasting rack. Makes sense to me on a couple of levels, one; it makes for easier carving. Two; you still get the great flavor imparted from the bones, and they are amazing to gnaw on. So don't throw out those bones!
One of the key steps that you absolutely do not want to skip is to liberally salt the prime rib with kosher salt and some pepper and refrigerate it overnight. You can do this two or three days ahead if you have the time. This overnight 'salting' helps insure a crusty outside and juicy inside. Bossy chef and I started pre-salting everything from our Thanksgiving turkey to chickens, steaks and various pork cuts. It makes a huge difference in taste and texture and requires only a little bit of pre-planning. Don't be shy with the salt, you can rub off the excess before cooking if you're afraid you've overdone it.
Here is a link to a downloadable pdf copy of Michael Symon's Roast Prime Rib:
Whether you'll be cooking a rib roast, turkey, or ham for Christmas dinner, or going to someone's home, we would like to wish everyone a joyful, safe and peaceful holiday. With a special 'thank you' to all of our armed forces who cannot be home with their loved ones this season. We are grateful for the sacrifices you make and truly appreciate what you give up so that we can enjoy our homes and families.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Becky & Jack
