Miss MoneyPenny was noticing that QFC has rib roast on sale for $6.99 a pound this week. In our family, this is the big deal for Christmas Eve dinner. Back when my parents were alive, sister SmartyPants and I had taken to putting on the big feed. We would get everything ready - leaving directions with Mom to put it into the oven at the correct time - then we would leave for the day and go buy ourselves good Christmas presents and have lunch, with dessert.
The idea was that when we got back, the roast would be ready and all we had to do was the finishing touches. We had it down to a science. After a few years of this, Mom got a little cranky about having a big bunch of loud, boisterous people (her children) in her house and just wanted to get the whole thing over as soon as possible and get back to peace and quiet. So, she would put the roast in as soon as we backed the car out. We all developed a real taste for well done prime rib after that.
I've heard that there are different ways to cook rib roast than the way SmartyPants and I do it, but this way always turns out a perfectly cooked piece of meat...as long as your mother doesn't put it in the oven at 10:00 when dinner is planned for 5:00. What you do is pat your meat dry, then rub it with olive oil and lots of salt and pepper. Put it in a roasting pan, fat side up, without a cover at 325. Cook it until your meat thermometer tells you it is almost ready, because you need to let it stand covered for about 15 minutes before you carve it and it will cook a little more. As a rough estimate, I figure about 30 minutes per pound, but trust your thermometer.
Speaking of trusting - don't trust your butcher when it comes to how much meat to buy. A couple of years ago, I went up to QFC to preorder my roast. When the butcher asked how big, I told him that I was feeding six people. Two weeks later when I picked it up, I was stunned when the bill was $120. We had tons of meat and everybody went home with some, but I kept the bones. They are very tasty when roasted with barbecue sauce and served with cole slaw and rolls or biscuits. You will thank me for this idea, and do remember the napkins.
Ahhhh.. Well done prime rib! However... It was totally worth it because we had such a wonderful tradition and we always bought each other the same thing, remember? That way we didn't covet the other's gift. Brings back the memories, doesn't it? The last couple of years I have slathered the prime rib with Monterey Steak seasoning spices. Yummmy!! Shhh.. don't tell anyone about those ribs. I like to wrap them up and stick them in the fridge right away before anyone notices...
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