Prime Rib Roast

Prime Rib Roast

 If you can resist the temptation to open the oven door, this is our families favorite recipe for making Prime Rib and we have been doing it this way for well over 10 years.

I know we are past the Holiday Season.  However, it is better to take the time and remember the joy of the holidays after they have passed. The stress of holiday shopping, cooking, family and other activities can make it feel like all we do is survive the holidays.  I don't think that it how our Savior intended it to be. So today I would like to relive some of the best parts of the Holiday Season for me and my family, and that is Christmas Day Prime Rib.

Chief Light is a fantastic cook.  He is the natural chef that I am not.  He doesn't measure, he doesn't read recipes.  He see's something and says, oh that looks good, let's make it.  The majority of the time it turns out wonderful, and his Prime Rib is in that category.  Family and friends alike show up at our home for his Prime Rib. When we call to invite our loved ones for Christmas dinner, the question always comes up, " Is Chief making his Prime Rib?"  When they get the answer they start drooling and the next statement is usually, "What time should we be there?"  It is that good!

This year I asked him to do the burden of actually measuring and writing things down.  He is a great man with a great heart and agreed to do so.  As you can see from the pictures, we use lots of vegetables and a great dry rub to give this tremendous flavor.  Great Prime Rib takes attention to detail from beginning to end. It doesn't take a lot of fancy ingredients or tremendous skill, just time and staying focused on doing and not doing some really simple things.

Grocery List:
5 lb. Prime Rib Roast - Choice or better
Cheese Cloth
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Garlic
Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Rosemary
Dried Thyme
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Purchase your Prime Rib for a reputable retailer who understand the importance of a Fat Cap and marbling.  That where the flavor of the meat comes from.  I would not purchase anything less than Choice grade of meat. Purchase your Prime Rib about 2 weeks in advance, so it has time to age in your refrigerator.  This will improve the flavor and tenderness of the meat.

After you have the Prime Rib home, wrap it in a fresh Cheese Cloth and put it in the refrigerator in a bag or container that is air tight for 1 week.  After a week, put a fresh Cheese Cloth on it and continue to allow it to rest for another week.  The day you are going to cook the Prime Rib, bring it out and let it come to room temperature. Typically a 5 lb. Prime Rib will take about 2 hours to come to Room Temperature.  While you are waiting you can prepare the Prime Rib Bed and the Prime Rib Rub.

Prime Rib Bed is a bed of vegetables that the Prime Rib will rest on while it is cooking.  It improves the flavor of the Prime Rib.  You can also serve the vegetables with the meal, as they will have a wonderful flavor from cooking in the Prime Rib drippings.

Prime Rib Bed:
3 heads of Garlic
2-6 Whole Carrots
3-4 Celery Stalks
1 Large Yellow Onion- Cut in Chunks
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes

You can add any vegetables that your family likes, just make sure they don't give off a aroma that your family doesn't like, as that will taint the smell and flavor of the Prime Rib.

After you have the Prime Rib Roast at room temperature it is time for the Dry Rub.

 Prime Rib Rub:
1   Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary Chopped
3   Cloves Garlic Chopped
1   Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1   Tablespoon Fresh Ground Pepper
1   Tablespoon Dried Thyme
1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Pat the Prime Rib Roast dry with a paper towel.
Coat the Prime Rib with the Olive Oil on all sides.
Evenly spread the Dry Ingredients across the entire Roast, making sure you get the ends.

Move your oven rack to the center of your oven.  Then Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.  I know this sounds high; however, you are going to place the Prime Rib in the oven to get that nice outer crust that great Prime Rib has and then you are going to TURN THE OVEN OFF & NEVER OPEN THE OVEN DOOR until it is done.

Please remember to use an oven safe meat thermometer in the Prime Rib so that we can monitor it with the oven light.  We have switched to the Weber iGrill which is a blue tooth meat thermometer and it is wonderful!  You can monitor temperatures without opening up the oven, grill or smoker.  We use it all the time.

To obtain the crust that you like is personal preference,  We like a nice crust on our Prime Rib so we do 5 minutes for every pound of the Prime Rib Roast.  (5 min/1 lb.)  So a 5 lb. Prime Rib should cook at 500 degrees for 25 minutes.  After 25 minutes, TURN THE OVEN OFF.  DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR.   Let the Roast cook until you have an internal temperature of 130 degrees.  A 5 lb. roast typically takes about 2 hours to get to that temperature.  Oven's vary, which is why you are going to rely heavily on the meat thermometer.

After the Prime Rib has reached the correct internal temperature, you can open the oven door and remove the Prime Rib.  It should rest for about 30 minutes prior to serving, so tent it with foil and leave it, while you are preparing the rest of that wonderful meal.  The smell is just as good as the flavor and you will smell it when it comes out of the oven!! Slice and serve and negotiate who gets the end cuts!

We use the drippings to make the gravy that goes on the mashed potatoes and we use the veggies that were the Prime Rib bed as a side dish all of their own.

  Enjoy!