Boneless Beef Rib Roast Still Has Bones
A rib roast is the quintessential Christmas meal centerpiece. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
With the cost of a rib roast approaching car-payment territory, the pressure's on to cook it perfectly, just the once, for a festive Christmas dinner.
Why the beef? If your clan likes to gather 'round a hunk of protein for big holiday meals, turkey is so last month. Ham, lamb or maybe a side of salmon is due in the spring. A rib roast slips right into the December slot, offering tender and tasty bites in one package, thanks to its luscious fat and marbling.
Joe Palma knows how to treat the meat right — not just because he's top chef at Bourbon Steak in Georgetown's Four Seasons Hotel, but also because he grew up eating it every Christmas in Brownsburg, Ind., where his grandmother would cook the roasts with only garlic, salt and pepper.
"These days, it's probably the one time of year you're going to have it, so enjoy the visceral experience," he says.
At a recent tutorial, the tall, easygoing chef, 35, began with unexpected advice: Home cooks should choose boneless rib roasts rather than bone-in. With the slow-roast, high-heat-to-finish method he prefers, you don't have to roast the meat on the bone for more flavor. Most significantly, Palma says, you won't be paying for weight you can't eat.
A bone-in rib roast from Costco, with a fairly wide "eye" of meat, adequate marbling and a good fat cap. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
The first thing to look for, he says, is that good marbling, or veining of fat through the muscle. It will keep the meat juicy as it cooks; it's easy to see why rib-eyes, carved from the rib-roast cut, are the most delicious and fatty steaks around. Buy USDA Choice or above; this is not the time to scrimp. The inner section, or "eye" of meat (which gives the rib-eye steak its name), should not be too big, and the roast ought to be about the same thickness from one end to the other. However, if you're at the meat counter and like the look of a roast with one end that is smaller than the other, Palma says, figure that will allow you to offer a range of doneness for your guests.
[Which rib roast fared best: one from Costco, Wegmans or Wagshal's Market?]
You may notice that rib roasts can vary in shape. The cut close to the chuck (fore) section of the animal will be larger and will have more fat than a roast cut from the short loin side that comes just after the rib section. The meat itself should be nice and red, unless it has been dry-aged, in which case it will have more of a dull, winy color.
If you do choose a bone-in, or standing, rib roast, figure on two ribs for every three people you're serving, the chef says. Better yet, if your butcher is custom-cutting the size you want, ask for the last cut to extend all the way to the next rib; that way, you'll get more meat. The bones can be trimmed, then tied back onto the roast (for flavor), but again, that's not necessary for Palma's approach.
His Christmas Day game plan for an early evening meal starts soon after a mid-morning breakfast. The roast is seasoned all over with salt and pepper, then rubbed with a simple paste of Dijon mustard and a scary amount of salt and pepper. ("It won't taste all that salty," he says.) Fresh bay leaves go across the top, cut into strips for maximum coverage and aromatic qualities. If you add a split head of garlic in the roasting pan, under the meat, you'll have garlic confit, of sorts, to use in the vinaigrette and serve with the roast.
The meat cooks low, slow and evenly, at 200 degrees for three hours or more, filling the house with a perfume that calls to the Cro-Magnon deep within. The chef's roasted fingerling sweet potatoes could go in the oven in a separate pan after the first two hours. Check the roast's temperature at that point; it'll be on track if it registers 115 degrees or so on an instant-read thermometer. Otherwise, crank up the oven to 300 degrees. If the meat has gone beyond that internal temperature at that point in the process, Palma will hoist it from oven to refrigerator or freezer to shock it for a short time and retard the cooking. He learned that trick while he worked for the intimidating Yannick Cam from 2004 to 2006 at the now-closed Le Paradou.
"It works," Palma says. "Fear will make a man do all sorts of things. I still pull that trick out of my pocket every now and then."
Roasted Fingerling Sweet Potatoes With Pecan-Ginger and Garam Masala Butter. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
Grilled BBQ Kohlrabi is an atypical yet wholly appropriate side dish to accompany a Christmas rib roast. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
While the meat is in the oven, the condiments and sides can come together. Garam masala butter and a pecan-ginger streusel add a holiday touch to the potatoes. Palma scores big points with any kohlrabi fan by tossing chunks of the peeled vegetable in a barbecue sauce and grilling them just until crisp-tender.
The chef re-engineers horseradish sauce — a typical roast-beast accompaniment — by whipping the sinus-clearing root into a blend of soft-peaked heavy cream, buttermilk and fresh tarragon.
He likes to let the meat rest for a half-hour once it has reached 120 degrees. Meanwhile, he turns the oven up to 500 for a final burst of high-heat roasting, which crisps up the mustard crust and helps render enough pan drippings for Palma's intense vinaigrette, with shallot, some of the roasted garlic, red wine vinegar and more Dijon mustard. The roast can rest for 40 minutes or so, until people change into dinner attire.
A bone-in, prime-grade rib roast from Wagshal's Market. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
Bourbon Steak executive chef Joe Palma points out a section of clear gelatinous fat, which should be as thin as possible because it doesn't render much, in a semi-boneless rib roast from Wegmans. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/For The Washington Post)
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/forget-the-bones-and-other-secrets-to-the-perfect-holiday-rib-roast/2015/12/10/25096d30-9d00-11e5-bce4-708fe33e3288_story.html
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