Prime Rib Recipes for Christmas - Holidays & Parties - Cooking

Prime Time for Prime Rib

No Comments | Written on December 8, 2011 at 3:00 pm, by The Editors

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When it comes to Christmas dinner, the goal is to dazzle your guests—and prime rib never disappoints. This cut is truly the crème de la crème of the cow. The secret to its amazing flavor and astonishing tenderness? Fat. It’s marbled throughout, which infuses the meat with moisture.

If you want to put prime rib on your menu this Christmas, here’s how to buy it, how to cook it, and how to serve it:

• Spring for USDA Prime if you can afford it. If USDA Choice or Select (what you’ll find in most markets) fits your budget better, then don’t worry; it will still be delicious. But Prime beef is what high-end steakhouses use, and the quality is unsurpassed.

• Buy only as much as you need. Prime rib roasts generally start at about 7 lbs and go up to about 18 lbs. Since this cut is expensive, you don’t want more than you need, but do remember that you’ll probably serve about one rib’s worth of meat per person. (You can’t blame your guests for devouring this stuff!)

• Fat is flavor. Make sure your roast has a nice thick fat cap on it—that fat flavors the meat as it cooks and prevents it from drying out.

• Aim for pink. Prime rib should not be cooked past medium rare. End of story. Keeping the meat pink gives you the buttery texture everyone is looking for.

• Start high, end low. You want to quickly get the outside of the roast caramelized, then reduce the oven temperature to slowly bring the inside of the prime rib to 130-135 degrees for medium rare.

• Rest your roast. This step should NOT be skipped. The roast needs time to redistribute the juices, and if it’s sliced immediately after cooking, all of that precious flavor will seep out onto the cutting board.