Prime Rib Roast for a Small Crowd
Instructions:
This is a simple roasting technique: high heat to sear the
meat, lower heat to cook it through. If you want a really
crisp exterior, turn the heat back to 450 F for a few minutes
right at the end of cooking; this won’t affect the
internal temperature too much.
One 3-rib bone-in beef roast, about 5 pounds,
trimmed of excess but not all fat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
1 cup red wine, stock , or water
MAKES: About 6 servings
TIME: About 11/2 hours, largely unattended
- Bring the meat to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator at least an hour before cooking, preferably two. Heat the oven to 450 F.
- Put the meat, bone side down, in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle it liberally with salt and pepper. If you like garlic, peel the cloves and cut them into tiny slivers; use a boning or paring knife to poke small holes in the meat and insert the garlic into them.
- Put the roast in the oven and cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 350 F and continue to roast for about 1 hour; check in several places with a meat thermometer. The meat is rare when no spot checks in at under 125 F (120 F if you and your guests like meat really rare); cook for another 5 or 10 minutes if you like it better done, then check again, but in no case let the temperature of the meat go above 155 F.
- Remove the meat from the oven. Pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat and put the roasting pan on a burner over high heat. Add the liquid and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until it is reduced by half, 5 to 10 minutes. Slice the roast and serve, splashing a little of the sauce on the meat platter and passing the rest at the table.
- Prime Rib for a Big Crowd.
- With bigger roasts, 5 ribs or more, allow plenty of time to let the meat reach room temperature. In Step 2, use more garlic if you like. In Step 3, increase the initial browning time to 20 minutes. After that, the cooking time will be only marginally longer, but be sure to use an instant-read thermometer in several different places to check the meat. Increase the liquid in Step 4 to at least 2 cups.
- Prime Rib with Roasted Vegetables.
- If the roast is small, cut vegetables into 1-inch chunks; if it is large, you can leave them whole as long as they are not huge. Per person, allow 1 medium peeled potato, 1 medium peeled carrot, 1 medium peeled onion, a couple of cloves of garlic (you don’t have to peel these), or similar amounts of turnips, parsnips, and other root vegetables as you like (or just use potatoes). Scatter them around the roast at the beginning and drizzle them with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Roast with the meat; you don’t need to baste. Remove the vegetables and keep warm. If you like, brown them for a minute or two longer under the broiler while the meat rests, but watch them carefully to prevent burning.