Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib)

From the book Cooking for the Week by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Introduction

Surely the king of beef roasts, a standing rib roast is a visual tour de force that is easier to carve than roast chicken. All it requires is a few hours of roasting and a sharp carving knife. Leftovers can easily be turned into world-class roast beef sandwiches and a whole series of main dishes.

Ingredients

Steps

1. Buy the roast from a market selling USDA Choice (or, even better, Prime) beef, if possible. It will be juicer and more tender than lesser grades, often tagged “select” or some other meaningless term. Be sure the chine bone, feather bones, and back strap have been removed for easy carving. Tell the butcher to remove the rack of rib bones, then tie it back on with butcher’s twine. Cooking the roast with the ribs tied on helps make it even more tender and juicy.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Rub the salt and pepper over all the sides of the roast. Place the roast, bone-side down, on a rack in a roasting pan or another large pan with sides at least 1 inch high. Place the pan in the lower third of the oven. Bake for 3 to 3½ hours (25 to 30 minutes per pound) for medium rare, but test for doneness about 20 minutes before you expect the roast to be done. An instant-read thermometer should register 120° to 130°F when inserted into the center of the meat. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving to minimize juice loss.
3. Place the roast on a carving board, bone-side up. Cut the twine and remove the rib-bone rack. The bones may be separated and served with the roast, or reserved for another meal (see Cook’s Notes). Turn the roast so the fat side is up and use a very sharp carving knife to cut eight ½-inch slices. Serve 2 slices per person. Pass a small bowl of prepared horseradish—many people love it with roast beef. Cool, wrap, and refrigerate the remaining beef for up to 7 days.

Notes

• Serves 4 (eight 1/2-inch slices), with the rest reserved for Paprika Beef with Mushrooms, and Prime Rib Sandwiches
• If the bones are not served, save them in the freezer until you have 2 or more bones for each person. Roast the bones in a preheated 250°F oven until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Serve with barbecue sauce or spicy mustard.
• Knowing the accuracy of your oven is important for low-temperature roasting. Roasting at less than 200°F is not safe, so check your oven using a good oven thermometer (see About Grilling).

This content is from the book Cooking for the Week by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart.