Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Sometimes it's fun just to dazzle your own self with a little extravagance and prime rib is perfect for a candle light holiday dinner or a stay-at-home romantic New Year's Eve.
With all good food, fresh ingredients are a must. The Sage and Thyme were snipped from the gardens of Casa de las Rocas Grandes just moments before.
Coat the roast with olive oil, season to taste. I used sea salt, ground pepper, sage, and thyme. Don't skimp, this is the stuff that ensures the delectable crust.
Preheat the oven to 250 F (121 C).
In another life, TWC lived with a blond chick and her vintage 1930's Wedgewood match-light stove. Crank the knob, wait for the stench of raw gas, strike the stick match, wave the flame in the general vicinity of the burner, then yank your hand back in an attempt to avoid singed knuckles. Yes, that's why they're called Kitchen Matches.
The oven thermostat was erratic, wildly out of touch with reality, yet that girl could bake up a Christmas loaf of cherry walnut bread that'd knock your socks off. How? She used an oven thermometer and so should you. Even today's high-dollar modern appliances fail the thermostat test, so don't trust them. Get a good oven thermometer. Or Two.
Stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast. Bake until the thermometer reads about 120 F (49 C). This is tricky, so test a couple of different places to be sure. It ain't rocket science, but unless you want a well done roast you really want the internal temperature below 125 F (52 C). At this point, crank the oven up to the Blast Furnace setting for about ten minutes or so. This will give you the desired crunchy finish on the outside of the prime rib. 135 F (57 C) should get you a medium rare roast.
Remove the roast to a suitable platter and let it rest for ten minutes before carving.
THE WINE?
Any big red Meritage or Cabernet Sauvignon will do justice to a prime rib.
As Always,
The Wine Commonsewer