Leftover Prime Beef Ribs

We had "Roast Prime Rib" for Christmas Dinner.  Hopefully we all know that  a "Prime Rib Roast" is rarely prime grade beef.   I ordered a beautiful roast from Fresh Market. They had three grades of beef, I got the middle one, so it should more properly be called a "standing rib roast." It was a lovely big piece of meat. I'm only sorry I don't have a picture of it to show you. The butcher at Fresh Market cut the roast away from the ribs, then tied it all back together so we got the advantage of the flavor of cooking on the bone without Tom having to figure out how to carve it in between bones and all.

Actually I had never cooked one before. But I went online looking for the best way to do it.  There were several ways described but I decided on the fast sear, then low finish. I started it at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then turned it down to 325 until the instant read thermometer read 125. I took it out and let it rest while I made a nice pan sauce with a port wine reduction. I can say with a total lack of modesty that it was delicious and tender and absolutely wonderful.

When it was all over I had a goodly chunk of beef left, and put that away for later. And then there was the rack of ribs... I'd once, long ago in France, had dinner at a friend's house whose mom had served beef ribs. Of course, coming from the South, I'd only known pork ribs. Later she told me they had been left over from a Sunday rib roast. So I took the rib rack and cut between the ribs.

 

I put them on a baking sheet and brushed them with olive oil.

 

I mixed up worcestershire sauce, pressed garlic, and some whole grain mustard and brushed that on. I couldn't help but add a touch of brown sugar. Most of the online recipes called for fine dry bread crumbs, but what I'd had in France appeared to be fresh crumbs. I had an end of a Tuscan loaf and I used that. Its course texture wouldn't blend into fine crumbs, so I used the coarse ones I came up with. I sprinkled them on top.

 

After about 15 minutes in a very hot oven, they were crispy and just heated through.  The meat around the bones was still medium rare, but the outside was nicely browned and very tasty.  Such a great and easy way to use what might have been discarded.

There is still some good meat left on the ribs, so they'll go into the crock pot tomorrow with onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf, and I'm pretty sure I'll get a good beef stock for some soup later this week!

Pot Roast for St Patrick's day...

I love pot roast. I know some think of it as only winter comfort food. But my mom made it frequently all year round, so I am not bound to that way of thinking. Recently a friend and I were talking about pot roasts and she said her mom made one with coffee, that it was an old "country" dish.

I got to thinking about it and decided to give it a try myself, but I wanted to add some sort of twist to it. Looking through my spirits cabinet, I spied a bottle of Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey. Aha! With St. Patrick’s Day coming, what better than an Irish coffee pot roast?

I used instant espresso for the coffee, because I like the darker roast flavor, but any instant coffee will do.

You might remember that I love those bags of prepared mirepoix you can now buy frozen: carrots, celery and onion, all chopped and ready to use. You can also get the same sized bag of little pearl onions.

You could, if you like, cook potatoes in with the pot roast, but I quite liked the mashed potatoes we had. I added zucchini (I mean really, you must have something green for St. Patrick’s Day!) brushed with balsamic vinaigrette and grilled on a stovetop grill pan. It made a delicious dinner for any kind of weather.

IRISH COFFEE POT ROAST

3 ½ to 4 lbs. boneless chuck or rump roast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bag (12 oz.) frozen mirepoix mix (see note)
½ cup Irish whiskey plus 2 tbsp. to finish
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tbsp. instant espresso or instant coffee
2 cups beef stock
1 tsp. each ground black pepper and salt
2 bay leaves
1 large pinch ground cinnamon
1 bag (12 oz) frozen pearl onions
¼ cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350o. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, brown the roast very well on all sides in the oil. Remove the roast to a plate.

Lower the heat a little. Add the mirepoix mix and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and just starting to turn golden brown. Add the whiskey. If you’re brave enough, stand back a bit and light with a match and shake the pan until the flames burn out. Otherwise, let it simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Whisk in the flour and stir for a minute or two. Whisk in the stock, bay leaves, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Return the roast to the pan, cover and bake for an hour. Add the pearl onions, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour more, or until the roast is fork tender.

Remove the pot roast to a carving board. Whisk in the sour cream and remaining two tablespoons of Irish whiskey. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Remove the bay leaves, Carve the roast into serving sized portions and put on a warmed platter with as many of the pearl onions as you can easily fish out with a slotted spoon. Drizzle with some of the gravy, passing the remaining gravy at the table. Serves 8.

NOTE: You can replace the frozen mirepoix mix with ¾ cup chopped onion, and ½ cup each chopped celery and carrot.