Labor Day Prime Rib

Here we go again with another Prime Rib, this one is being cooked with some new spices and idea I got from "Big Daddy's House" on the Food Network.

I rubbed the rib with garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, peppercorns, smoked paprika, fennel seed and oregano. Everything was ground in a mini chopper except for the kosher salt addition.

Using my cast iron pot, I seared the meat on high, all 4 sides for 2 mins each. Internal temp at beginning of roast was 57 degrees, this is because I had the roast sitting at room tep for two hours prior to searing. Then pop into an oven at 325 with my remote meat thermo set for a stopping point of 125 degrees.

Mother's Day Prime Rib

Here's may latest attempt at creating rare/medium rare prime rib. This method is slow roasting, and it goes like this:

1. I'm using a 5-pound roast, take out of refrigerator and let rise to room temp for 2.5 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

3. Heat up a cast iron roaster to very hot, and add some oil in the bottom. Seer the roast on all sides for 3 minutes each. Sprinkle liberally with cracked pepepr and salt.

4. When all sides are browned, transfer to baking rack and slow roast in oven at 200 degress for approx 45-55 minutes per pound. Insert meat thermometer and pull roast at 125. Tent with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Try this method, take pictures and send me your comments on how tender your roast came out. Enjoy!

***UPDATE***: Everything I wrote here worked well, except for the timing. This piece of meat cooked way faster than 45 minutes per pound. Unfortunately, we decided to go out and do some shopping, and when we got back the thermometer was already at 137, not to mention what it probably rose to as it rested.

So obviously it was not tender nad it was not juicy. Definitely cooked medium which I do not like. Bottom line is cook with the thermometer, pull it at 125 degrees and don't leave the house while it's cooking, duh?!

Post for a Friend

On Monday April 28, 2008 we received very bad news that a family member of ours, Mark, was diagnosed with Lung Cancer at age 53. I wanted to mark this day for the purpose of remembering important dates and milestones in our lives. As I get older, I lose track of what happened in what year.

We don't know Mark's prognosis yet, we should know more this week. I also included a picture I took of Mark at his 50th Birthday Party three years ago.

My mother attended his 50th party with us, and she died two months later after a heart repair operation. She had no idea that within two months she would be dead, and Mark would be diagnosed with a deadly disease within three years.

Update: (May 9th). My 44th birthday came yesterday, and Carol made a great dinner of homemade Manacotti, meatballs, garlic sticks from Petty's Meat Market, and a dessert of cannoli, which is one of my favorites.

Today we heard about Mark's condition, he has Stage 3 lung cancer, and a lump under his arm which means the cancer is in his lymph nodes. Not good.

Update: (July 1, 2008) Basically, 64 days later and Mark died today. He was rushed to the hospital from his job at Percepta, with a lot of blood loss. I don't know if he ever regained consciousness, but he died at around 5:00PM tonight.

53 years old, stage 3B lung cancer, dead. Think about that the next time you reach for that cigarette.

Baby Back Ribs Recipe

I'm going to chronicle my latest attempt at Baby Back Ribs. I bought the three slabs from Sam's Club and I believe they were $2.89 per pound. A very low price, but we'll see if the quality matches the value.

Today I pulled the membrane off the backs of the ribs, slathered on some BBQ sauce and sprinkled them with onion powder, garlic powder and chili powder. They are now wrapped in foil and going back into the fridge.

Tomorrow (Sunday April 27, 2008) I will remove them from the fridge and allow them to warm up to room temperature before baking them in the foil at 200 degrees for 4 hours. After that, the ribs are transferred to a hot grill (or broiler, haven't decided yet) for a quick crisping. Hopefully they will fall off the bone. They should certainly taste good with the spices I've used.

Update: Baked them in foil for 4 hours, and put them under the broiler for 10 minutes to crisp up. They were tender and tasty, but not the best I've made. I think the 4-hour bake is the correct process, but a very hot grill might be better than the broiler for crisping.

Name Your Dog After Your Worst Enemy

Where did I come up with this? Actually, it came to me while I was sleeping. I decided to jot this down so I wouldn't forget it.

The rationale is this: Name your dog after your worst enemy, and then you won't be so heartbroken when it dies!

Don't Mess Around with Jim

This fish was whole when it was brought into the boat. Omega Man took a bite out of it while we were headed back into the inlet. Copius amounts of roast beef were consumed later in this same trip.

Christmas Dinner - Prime Rib Recipe

I wanted to share my recipe for Prime Rib, and document it for myself as I only do this once per year.

This roast was boned and tied, but I'm not doing this next year. The 2007 Prime Rib was cooked a little too much for my liking, and I want to have the bones attached next time. The other thing I tried was cutting slits into the meat and inserting garlic cloves, and I'm not doing that next year either. I think slicing into the meat makes it cook unevenly at the top, and I only noticed the garlic flavor when slicing the meat.

5-bone Rib Roast, cut from the Delmonico End of the whole rib

Sprinkle top of roast liberally with:

Garlic powder, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder (nice color)

Let the meat sit out of the refrigerator for at least an hour, probably two. I made the mistake of beginning my 2007 roast at an internal temperature of 48 F, and I believe this is one of the factors in being overdone at the ends.

Use a meat thermometer (I use a wireless probe) and make sure it is centered in the meat. Roast at 325 and pull the meat from the oven when the thermometer reads 125 degrees. Any more than that, and you will get medium or well done. For a rare center, pull at 120.

Let the meat rest for a minimum of 20 minutes, tented with aluminum foil. Cut the bones away and slice yourself some mammoth slabs of beautiful prime rib.