Prime Rib

As I arrived back in Midland from my family trip to Florida, I saw that Jack's Farmers' Market had boneless rib roasts on sale.  Since I needed something to eat for the few days in town before leaving for New Orleans, I figured what the heck.  After all, my brother, Steve, told me about the roast he made for Christmas and it sounded really good.  Now, this was my first attempt at making prime rib, so I started out doing some research.  After my debacle with the ham in the crockpot, I decided to actually roast it in the over (as it should always be done).  But there are a lot of different recipes out there and it was hard to decipher the best way to prepare it.  So, I contacted my brother and got his input.  First things first, you must do a dry brine with these cuts.  That means rubbing the meat with kosher salt and placing it, uncovered, in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (in this case, I did overnight - about 10 hours). 

Once you have it brined, you then must take it out and allow it to come to room temperature, at least 2 hours.  Now, my poor brother tried to make yorkshire puddings in between roasting and searing the roast and ended up with an oven fire, so he didn't get to sear.  But I managed to do all the steps, so here's how it works.  Oh, and did I mention that this recipe is only 3 ingredients?

Prime Rib Roast

• 5-5 1/2 lb boneless rib roast
• Kosher salt
• Fresh-ground pepper

 The night before roasting, prepare a dry brine.  Rub the roast on all sides with kosher salt and place, uncovered, in refrigerator.

The next day, pull the roast out and allow to come to room temperature, at least 2 hours on the counter. 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Season roast with pepper (remember that it has already been salted).  Place on a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour.  Without opening the oven, turn off the heat.  Allow to sit for 1 hour.  Then turn oven on to 400F and set timer for 1/2 hour.  This will allow for the sear.  Once done, pull from over and place on a cutting board.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes before slicing (although, there was still a bit more blood after slicing than I like, so 30 minutes might be better).

Note: Although this picture shows close to medium-rare, it is still a bit more cooked than I prefer, so I would probably shorten the cooking time just a little.  But it was still closer to medium-rare than medium, so it was all good.

Roasted Veggies

I had half a refrigerator full of zucchini, eggplant, and peppers, plus a few heirloom tomatoes and a large onion left.  I just ran out of ideas for things to make, so I decided to roast everything.  Then I'd have time to figure out what to do with them (or, I could just eat them as a side).  This time, I roasted the peppers whole and then chopped up everything else and roasted them separate.  In the end, I decided to take my rainbow of peppers and dice them to add to the rest of the vegetables, but they sure were pretty after roasting them whole.

Roasted Sweet Peppers

• 4 large bell peppers*, mixed colors

Wash peppers and cut any blemishes.  Place on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Heat oven to broil.  Place peppers under broiler and broil about 4 minutes each side until the skins are bubbled and black.  Place peppers into a Ziploc bag and allow to sit for 20 minutes sealed.  Then open the bag and allow peppers cool to handling temperature.  Cut away the stem and core, remove any ribs and remaining seeds.  Peel the skin by pinching and then pulling away.

*CSA ingredients


Roasted Vegetables

•  2 medium zucchini*
• 3 small summer squash*
• 2 small eggplant*
• 1 large onion*
• 1 ancho chili*
• 4 orange heirloom tomatoes**
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash all vegetables.  Dice into large dice and split between 2 Ziploc bags.  Drizzle with about 1 Tbsp olive oil per bag.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.  Seal each bag and shake to coat the vegetables.  Transfer each bag to a 13" X 9" pan.  Roast vegetables for 40 minutes, stirring twice. 

*CSA Ingredients
**Farmers market ingredients

Pie Pumpkins

Today I roasted a pie pumpkin that I received a couple weeks ago.  This is a very easy procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Remove stem and cut pumpkin in half.

2) Remove seeds and pulp from center of pumpkin; set aside.

3) Place pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a prepared baking sheet, prick in several places with a fork, and bake at 350F until a fork easily pierces the skin and flesh (about 45 minutes for a small to medium pumpkin; longer for bigger pumpkins)

4) Turn pumpkin halves over to cool.  When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh out into a fine sieve and gently turn over to drain excess fluid (the pumpkin I roasted did not have excess fluid and was quite thick.

5) Place flesh into blender and blend until smooth (add liquid if necessary).  And viola!

Now, the flesh is not the only treat from pie pumpkins!  You can also clean and toast the pumpkin seeds!

1) Separate the seeds from the pulp; rinse well and drain in a colander.

2) Spread the seeds out on paper towels to dry.

3) When dry, preheat oven to 325F.  Spread the seeds on a prepared baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt (and other seasoning as you see fit: i.e. chili powder, cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, etc.)

4) Bake until browned, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring at 10 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container.

Roasting away!

Tonight's fun was roasting a chicken in the oven.  The fun part of this is that I have never actually done this before.  I am so fond of my crockpot, I have always roasted my chickens either in that or on the grill (indirect heat).  So, I looked up a recipe on Saveur.com and adapted it by what I had available.

Oven Roasted Chicken

• 1 4.5-5 lb free-range whole chicken*
• 1 honey tangerine
• 3 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 stick fresh butter, room temperature*
• 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
• salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450F.  Spread butter over entire chicken with your hands.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Place chicken in a roaster.  Cut tangerine in half, squeeze juice over chicken, then place tangerine halves in chicken cavity along with thyme sprigs and roasted garlic.  Roast for 10-15 minutes; baste and lower oven temp to 375F.  Roast 30-45 minutes, basting 2-3 times until skin is brown and crispy.  Thermometer inserted into thigh should read 165F.  Turn oven off, crack door and allow chicken to rest 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

*CSA ingredients