Thank You, Charley: Prime Rib Roast

Its Veterans Day!  Thank you to the brave men and women who fought (and continue to fight) for freedom.  It is because of their efforts that I am able to live the way I do.  I'm also grateful that their honor and bravery have given us a holiday to day.  Yay!!!

Since we are knocking on the door of the holiday season, I thought I'd give you something to think about.  Towards the end of last week's post, I mentioned being undecided about what to do for our Thanksgiving meal this year.  And this year will actually be special because I get the Ds all to myself while Mr. Dependable is away on another trip.  No more having to ush them to dinner at the ex-out-laws.  Anyway, another option to buying a pre-made meal from the market would be to find a nice buffet in town and have dinner there (I suppose I'll include The Rents).

I don't know if the Ds are big on turkey either.  I know D1 is a real carnivore and loves prime rib.  This got me thinking that yet another option would be to forgo turkey altogether and just go for the beef.  I make a pretty wicked prime rib roast!

I need to admit that the roast and recipe you see here is NOT the roast I grew up on.  It is a roast that I was introduced to as an adult, after I got married.  Mr. Dependable and his family are yacht club members, and one of the foods the yacht club is known for is prime rib.  Yacht club prime rib is still made the way Charley did it back in the 1900's (2nd half, but still 1900's).  Charley was the cook at the yacht club back in the days when the yacht club had 3 dinner entrees:  prime rib, prawns, and lobster.

Ex-MIL had somehow gotten hold of Charley's secret and would make this roast for special family gatherings.  I never ate much of the roast when she made it because it was never cooked enough for my taste; it was cooked to HER family's liking, but I was, obviously, not family.  And really, I figured stuff she'd give me was poisoned anyway. . .like when she tried to kill me with her devil's condiment-laden "ham gravy".  That fucking thing was full of mustard!

One of the first cookbooks I purchased when I returned to Hilo was a fundraising cookbook for one of the local elementary schools, Ha`aheo School.  In the cookbook was a recipe for Prime Rib Roast submitted by Lorraine Murakami Ishimaru, a Ha`aheo alumnus.  The recipe appeared very similar to the way ex-MIL made her roast.  When I made the recipe one night, Mr. Dependable couldn't believe I had asked the wicked witch for her recipe.  I told him I did no such thing and explained I had found the recipe in a cookbook.  Hah!

A few years later, I had the opportunity of working summer school.  The summer school principal was Carole Ishimaru, Lorraine's daughter.  When I mentioned the roast to Carole, she promptly explained that her mom and Charley were good friends, and the recipe in the cookbook was the same recipe Charley had used to prepare the roasts at the yacht club!

History lesson pau!  Lets go on to the roast itself.  You will want to buy the best roast you can find.  My favorite is a rib roast, but in trying to placate The Rents, I have prepared a New York roast in the same manner, trying with great restraint not to express my disdain the entire time.  Why eat a New York roast when you can have a rib roast for the same price.  Thats stupid.

The best way to season the roast is to do 1 plane at a time.  I see a rib roast as having 5 panels:  2 ends, a fatty side, the underside (opposite the fatty side), and the small side.  Of course, I am not a butcher so this is my vocabulary.  So season 1 plane with garlic, brown, sugar, salt, and pepper (in that order), and then move on to another plane/panel.  The brown sugar will help the salt and pepper adhere to the meat.  Be generous with the seasonings, including the brown sugar.  Place the seasoned roast on a rack, and roast for the given time.

I will need to ponder this a while longer.  While I like turkey and trimmings, just looking at these pictures of the last roast I made is making my mouth water.  I really need to make my way to the west side. . .for BOTH Costco (the only place I know of on this island to get Prime meat) and Sansei (refer to last week's post).

 click on recipe title for printable recipe
Prime Rib Roast

     rib roast (allow 1 lb of meat per person)

     brown sugar
     minced garlic
     rock salt

     pepper

     

Rub brown sugar and garlic on all parts of roast.  Rub rock salt and pepper all over.  Place, uncovered, fat-side-up, in a roasting pan.  Bake at 325 degrees to desired doneness.  Let stand 15 minutes to firm meat before carving.

For rare, 30-32 minutes per pound.

For medium, 34-37 miutes per pound.

For well done, 39-42 minutes per pound.

A New York roast will cook in about half the time due to the shape.