Hey I am back! Whew, I ate way too much food last week. Christmas dinner for eight came off with a few hitches, but everything tasted fantastic. Through the process I learned a relatively fool proof way to prepare a standing rib roast, resulting in an extremely impressive presentation, only to be upstage by its flavor. Again, this is more of a technique than a recipe, and you will need a remote digital thermometer to follow along. You can rub your roast with any combination of seasonings and herbs with equal results. It is the meat that really shines here. We served this with horseradish cream sauce and Jack Daniels whisky gravy. Yeah, it rocked!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (8) lb standing rib roast (have your butcher cut it almost completely away from the bone and then tie it back together for easy roasting and carving)
• fresh ground black pepper
• coarse kosher salt
• 6 cloves garlic, minced

PREPARATION:

1. Allow rib roast to sit covered at room temperature for 30 minutes. Next rub all sides with salt, pepper and garlic. I seasoned it right before cooking because salt can wick moisture from meat. The moisture will eventually make its way back into the meat, over a long period of time via osmosis, but this is already a tender cut so no need to change it at the molecular level.

2. Place rib roast in a 230°F smoker or oven in a roasting pan with rack. I used my gas smoker primarily to free the oven up for other dishes. If you use a smoker, only use a small handful of wood chips if any at all. Again the meat is the star and we don’t want to mess around with it too much. Insert the wand of the thermometer into the thickest part of the roast and set the alarm for 110°F.

3. Here is the trick. When the roast hits 110°F remove from smoker, leaving thermometer in the meat, and preheat oven to 400°F. If you are roasting in the oven simply increase the temperature to 400°F. We now have a 110° roast and we need to get it to 135 for medium rare, 145 for medium and if you must 155 for medium well to well. Once the oven temp reaches 400, place the rib roast in the oven or if it is already in there, leave it there. Now turn the oven off and don’t open the door. This will form the outer crust and continue to cook the roast. Set the temperature alarm to 10° less than that of your desired doneness. (i.e. 125°F for medium rare) When the alarm goes off, remove the roast and cover. Allow to sit for 30 minutes before carving and serving. The meat will continue to cook while resting and should rise the final 10 degrees during the process. If something went sideways and you are at your desired temperature when you remove it from the oven, still allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes or you will loose all the juices when carved. Simple, right!? It really is, trust me.

Serves 8 – 12

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