Update: The finished dish can be seen here.
I'm making a standing rib roast for Christmas dinner this year. Normally, our family goes the turkey route, but after I made a full 7 bone roast right after Thanksgiving last year for visiting family members, I got the request from everybody that had tried it.
This is a good sized 4 bone small end cut. It's a choice grade, so technically I can't call it prime rib, though that technicality gets overlooked by the vast majority of restaurants that serve it. I'm going to marinate it for two days, and roast it packed in kosher salt. It's a great presentation, and the wow factor as you crack open the hardened salt shell in front of everyone is well worth the effort.
For those of you who have never seen it done, it's a traditional technique that can also be done with pork or even fish as well, as long as whatever you're cooking is at least 5 pounds or so. Much smaller than that, and it will cook too quickly. There's a recipe outlining the technique on the back of a Morton's Kosher Salt box, so I won't belabor that part of it here, but I do vary the technique from theirs as far as cooking time. I've found that cooking it at the lower temp (350º) causes the beef to steam, rather than roast, so I've had better results at around 425º. 350º may be okay for the smaller portions in their recipe, but it didn't give me the nice crust that I wanted. Surprisingly, for all the salt involved, it doesn't become salty, so I like to serve a small chunk of the crust with every portion.
For the marinade, I'm using:
A blend of canola and olive oils
1 large head of garlic
2 medium onions
Dry mustard
Worcestershire sauce
Dry majoram
Dry thyme
Cracked black peppercorns
No salt
Vary this as you see fit, of course. Make sure your roast is well coated, and turn it occasionally as it marinates in the fridge.
When it's time to roast, wipe off all the marinade with paper towels and let the roast come up to room temperature while you mix your salt. About 1 to 1 1/4 C of water per 3 lb. box of salt is about right, but better too dry than too wet at first. You'll likely need a second of box, so have it handy in case one box doesn't make it. Make sure you line your roasting pan with foil! Put some of the mixture on the bottom, set your roast on top, then put a thin coat of salt around, then a thicker one.
Dang, bet that roast cost a pretty penny. Niiice.
Gave my local butcher a hard time over the years for the sign on his standing rib roast, said, Prime Rib. In front of his customers I'd ask him, "Hey, is that really PRIME?!?!?"
Noticed 2 weeks ago, that sign now reads Standing Rib Roast. Good thing he has a sense of humor, eh?
Cheers!
It's about 8 pounds total, so it wasn't too expensive. A bit of a splurge, but what the hey, it's Christmas.
Good for you for busting your butcher, even though it sounds like he's a pretty solid guy. Lots of people don't know that a lot of stuff marked prime rib really isn't.
That looks amazing! I'll have to try it for New Year's day. Merry Christmas!!
I've done them with Survival Spice™ in the seasoning, too. Let me know if you try it, Diana.