It can happen that some of us get a little tired of having roast turkey every single Thanksgiving, as good as it can be. We’ve got a couple weeks to think about it, so I might suggest an entirely different idea. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino, who is always open to new ideas for Thanksgiving, has some thoughts about a good old Standing Rib Roast.
As Jerry says, “It’s truly a noble dish, but don’t get me wrong. There’s a good reason so many people love turkey for Thanksgiving, especially if you can get it from one of our local farmers. The quality is just wonderful. But if you do want a good alternative, the Standing Rib Roast is a class act all the way. And a good place to start is by talking to your local beef-raising farmer and get one ordered. It will be super fresh and very high quality, for sure.”
Now to be clear, the standing rib roast is the center portion of the beef’s rack of ribs, usually 3 to 7 ribs included. And the meat connected to those ribs is the famous “prime rib”. This is arguably the most flavorful and succulent cut of the entire cow, and what we’re doing is cooking it bone-in. Now there are several benefits to cooking bone-in. First, and most obvious is that the ribs give the roast some solid structure. Secondly, the ribs insulate the meat and allow for a slower more tender roast. And thirdly, the ribs themselves have a lot of connective tissue, like collagen, that slowly breaks down and melts and becomes part of the flavor of the prime rib meat.
Let’s take a look at how you prepare the standing rib roast. First, let’s trim off any excess fat on the top of the meat. Leave some, because it will contribute to flavor, but we don’t want a one inch thick cap of fat there. After that there are two schools of thought: one is that you leave the entire roast intact, that is you don’t separate the meat from the ribs; the second is that you do sever the meat from the ribs, but then you tie at all together for roasting. There are two advantage to this approach: one is that you can season all sides of the roast, and two is that it makes carving the meat a whole lot easier when you bring it to table.
We will point out that if you remove the ribs entirely, you no longer have a standing rib roast. It’s just a prime rib. Which isn’t a bad thing but I think that would negate the point of buying the roast bone in.
One thing to consider is asking your butcher to “French” the rib ends which makes a nice presentation. What this means is to remove the excess meat between the rib ends and tidy them up. When you finish your roasting, it will look very handsome indeed.
There are some recipes that call for the roast to be covered with a dry rub, or a more sloshy rub, something mustard based for instance to give it a nice crust. And if you cut off the ribs first, you can slather the rub all over the roast, and still re-tie the ribs to get their benefit in cooking.
What about our approach to actually cooking the roast? Again, two approaches. Sear first, or sear second. We prefer to cook low and slow first at around 200°, and get the interior of the roast up to about 118°. Then I would take it out and let it rest at room temperature, then put it back, still slathered up with your crust coating, and cook it in a 450° oven for about 10 minutes or so, just until the crust browns and forms up.
In either case, save those pan juices because they are useful for making the classic accompaniment, Yorkshire pudding. As Jerry notes, it’s a simple recipe: equal part eggs, milk and flour and heated oil in a muffin tin. Super easy.
And another classic for rib roast is horseradish sauce. Again, super easy: sour cream, a little mayonnaise, some horseradish, a little mustard, a little Worcestershire sauce and bang, it’s all done.
If you’re leaning toward trying something different for Thanksgiving, Standing Rib Roast should be at the top of your list of options. If you go shopping for one, check out a local meat producer like Liberty Delight Farms who will be glad to take your order.
