Go to Home

COOKING WITH GALA

Go to Master Index

PERFECT PRIME RIB

This one is so simple that it is 100% fool proof!
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit! This is vital.

Trim as much excess fat off of the prime rib as you possibly can.
Put this fat into a microwaveable dish and render it to liquid, but do not let it brown.

Sprinkle the meat very lightly with kosher salt and rub it gently into the surface.

Pour the rendered fat over every visible surface of the prime rib, place the rib on a rack in your roasting pan, add a couple of tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan (keeps the fat from burning) and put it into your preheated oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes (which has given it a chance to get that glorious crusty brown tone if your oven was really hot enough), you must turn the heat down to 350F (without opening the door to peek or let it cool) and continue cooking the roast for 11 minutes per pound. Baste with the juices that are accumulating once every 10 minutes until the roast is done. This will produce a perfect rare prime rib. If some nut case swears they have to have medium or well-done just cut off a serving for them and precook it before you put the rest of the roast in the oven at the full 450 degrees an extra 8 minutes for medium, 
double that for well.

You will want to let the roast rest for about 20 minutes on a warm platter before carving it. 

To make the au jus, drain the excess fat from the roasting pan and deglaze the pan with a cup (or more) of beef stock. Stir up all the wonderful brown crustiness from the bottom of the pan while heating the stock over medium heat. When the stock is nice and hot, you may add salt (but it’s rarely needed in this recipe) and then stir in one tablespoon of unsalted butter. Swirl it around, but remove the au jus from the heat before the butter has completely melted. Add the juice that runs out of the meat when you are carving it to the au jus and serve!