My Christmas Eve Dinner

I ordered a boneless prime rib roast from my butcher, 4 to 5 lbs, for my wife & my Christmas meal. I picked it up Tuesday it was just over 5 lbs. I plan to do it Christmas eve. I found a recipe by Guy Fieri from Food Network for a dry aged roast that looked simple. Most dry aging recipes call for controlled temps & humidity but this one looked much easier. His recipe called for wrapping the roast in cheese cloth, place on a wire rack & plate, in the fridge for 24 hours, remove the cloth & discard then wrap again & back in the fridge for 6 to 9 days. Trim off any unwanted fat & any discoloring before cooking.

My roast will only be aging for 4 days but Guy’s recipe was for a 7 to 10 lb roast. Since my roast is just 5 lbs I hope the 4 days will be enough to give it a flavor boost. Guy’s recipe has the seasoning & au jus but my plans are different. I will season my roast with salt, 4 color pepper corns, garlic, & a little oregano. My au jus will be beef broth, carrots & onions along with pan drippings.

It’s Christmas eve & our dinner is over. I am sitting here just slightly overstuffed! No one home for my Christmas dinner but the wife & I, we did talk to our children & grandson via video on Skype so it seems more like Christmas now.

It was a sunny day about 38 deg here so it was a good day to cook my aged prime rib roast on the smoker. I baked some no knead bread this morning and had baked potatoes and a shrimp salad. The shrimp salad was Key West pink shrimp on ice berg lettuce and a dressing of ½ Bookbinders shrimp cocktail sauce and ½ Hellmann’s real mayonnaise.

I unwrapped the cheese cloth from the roast & trimmed up some, seasoned with kosher salt, fresh ground 4 color pepper corns, course garlic powder, & a little oregano just after lunch. I tied the roast just to be sure it held together & back in the fridge.

I decided to sear it first so I took the fire bricks out of my Traeger to make sure the temp. would come down after the sear. I preheated the smoker on high. It was at 410 deg when I put the roast on, in a rack. I got my pan ready, with some carrots, onions, garlic, & a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. After the roast had seared for 20 min I placed it & rack in the pan and added a quart of beef broth. I edged the temp down a notch at a time in the next 20 min until I was at 275 deg. I put my baked potatoes in to be done when I planned for the roast to be done. About an hour into the cook roast was coming up to fast so went to 250 deg. After the roast was at 120 deg IT I went back to 275 deg & it was done 130 deg IT 5 min past the time I planned, just over two hours for my 5 lb. roast.

I double foiled the roast & let rest 20 min. while I got the pan juices strained & in a sauce pan simmering on the stove, cut the bread & plated the shrimp salad. Even though it only aged for 4 days instead of the 6 to 9 days recommended it was some of the finest prime rib I have eaten in a long time. My wife thought so too. Doneness was just right for my wife, it looked a little rare for me but I had an end slice & after pouring the hot au jus over it was good. Eating rare beef is just a sight thing with me; I know it tastes better on the rare side. Next time I will go for at least 7 days on the aging.

We both really liked the dressing on the shrimp salad. The idea was from Rachel Ray but she was 2 to 1 cocktail sauce & mayo and had lemon juice & zest added. I thought the Bookbinders sauce was sour enough & like the milder 1 to 1 ratio. My no knead bread was a plus too.

Prime Rib Roast

Wrapped for Aging

My No Knead Bread

Meat Side after Aging

Trimmed and Seasoned

Tied & ready to Cook

After the Sear

Sliced to serve

My Plates & Brew

Smokin Don