Recipes from the Garden: Esme's Standing Rib Roast

As promised (or will be promised) at the end of ch. 27, here are a few of the recipes/methods for things from the story. I'll put them in individual posts to make it a bit easier. Also, if there's been some food I've mentioned and you want to know more about it, let me know. Some I've made up, but most, it's stuff I actually cook.

First, Esme's standing rib roast (aka, roast beast at my house, aka, prime rib). I saw Tyler Florence do this on one of his shows on the Food Network a few years ago, and I've been doing it for my family as a Christmas Eve dinner ever since.

I have a small family, but daddy loves leftovers, so I get a 4-5 rib roast. I order my roast from the butcher counter, but around here, they usually have tons around Christmas in the meat counter, so it's not a huge deal. I've ordered by both number of ribs and by pounds, and I think ordering by ribs works out a bit better. One year I ended up with a huge roast that didn't cook up as well.

Anyway - trim a bit of the fat off the top side of the roast, but leave a bit of a cap, because it'll melt as it cooks and keep the meat moist. Use the natural curve of the ribs as the rack, leaving the fatty side of the meat up in the pan. Using a fork or sharp knife, pierce holes in the fat. This will allow the seasoning to start to seep through into the meat.

I take a head of garlic and make a paste with salt. Smash and peel the garlic, then coarsely chop it. Using a coarse salt (I like kosher salt), olive oil, and the flat of your knife, scrape the garlic and salt into a paste, so you have enough to coat the roast. When the paste is at the desired consistency, add several tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (I love thyme), and prepared horseradish. My family ('cept my brother and he doesn't count) loves horseradish, so I use a lot (like half a jar).

Evenly coat the top and sides of the meat with the crust material. Roast at 350F for roughly 20 minutes per pound for a medium rare (internal temp of 125F). Remove from oven and let rest so the juices redistribute inside and makes less of a mess (and remains juicy) when sliced.

I serve this with garlic mashed potatoes and some kind of green (creamed spinach, green beans, brussel sprouts, whatever sounds good to me).

Tyler Florence's original recipe is here