Rosemary & Thyme Crusted Prime Rib Roast

The last time I ate prime rib was at Christmas, when we were visiting Dan’s family. It was amazingly delicious, and I’ve been wanting to reproduce it in my kitchen since then. But, prime rib roasts are huge and it’s just me and Dan in the house most days, so I haven’t really been too pumped about cooking a ton of meat just to have a few slices for dinner.

Still, my craving for a nice juicy roast hasn’t faded, so when I invited a few friends over for lunch today and one of them jokingly suggested I make prime rib for us to enjoy while we played Settlers of Cattan, I jumped at the chance to do it. Surely four people would put a significantly bigger dent in a 7lb roast than two?

For the record, when your lunch guests are 1) a person who doesn’t eat much meat and 2) someone who doesn’t like the feeling of being very full, your giant rib roast won’t get eaten as quickly as you like, no matter how delicious it is. It’s a good thing Dan likes beef, because he’s going to be eating a lot of prime rib sandwiches this week.

The roast turned out to be juicy and delicious, but I probably could have kept it in the oven a little longer. Dan and I like our meat to be a little bloody, but I think prime rib is usually a little less rare. I was running a little late with my cooking this morning, and you really can’t rush meat.  Fortunately my friend Carl likes his meat rare, and there were plenty of browned bits on the ends of the roast for Emily (who likes her meat well done, yuck) to eat. Served with a little au jus and some horseradish sauce, I think this was a pretty enjoyable lunch for all.

Rosemary & Thyme Crusted Prime Rib Roast (Adapted from The Secret Life of a Chef’s Wife)

Ingredients:
– 1 7lb prime rib beef roast
– 1/4 cup chopped rosemary and thyme, combined
– 1 tbsp salt
– 1 tsp pepper
– 1 tsp olive oil
– 1 tbsp minced garlic
– 3 large carrots, chopped
– 2 stalks of celery, chopped
– 1 medium yellow onion, chopped into chunks

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350.
(2) Spread chopped carrots, celery, and onion  in an even layer on a large baking/roasting pan. Set aside.
(3) In a food processor, pulse together herbs, garlic, pepper and salt until finely chopped. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and gently pulse until a paste forms.
(4) Starting from the bottom of your roast, smear your herb/garlic rub all over the meat.
(5) Place your roast on top of the bed of aromatics (carrots, etc.) in the roasting pan, and tent with aluminum foil.
(6) Cook for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, removing foil about half-way into cooking.
(7) Remove roast from the oven, and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
(8) Slice and serve with pan juices, horseradish sauce*, and some fresh vegetables.

*To make horseradish sauce, mix about 1/3 cup sour cream with 1 to 1-1/2 tsp horseradish. Season with salt to taste.