Prime Rib Roast
Ingredients
Rub:
15 Dried Bay Leaves, crumbled
⅓ cup Fresh Sage Leaves, coarsely chopped (or ¼ cup dried sage)
⅓ cup Orange Zest (2 to 3 oranges), finely grated
1½-2 teaspoons Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper, freshly ground
½ cup Cold Pressed Olive Oil
Roast:
1 Three-rib Prime Rib of Beef (about 7 pounds), trimmed and “frenched” (roast cut away from the ribs)
Make sure to leave about an inch of fat whether you do it yourself or have a butcher do it for you. You’re paying for the fat and the fat is the flavor
Directions
1. Stir together crumbled bay leaves, sage, orange zest, salt, pepper and the oil in a mortar and pestle
2. Rub herb mixture all over the beef, coating evenly
3. Refrigerate, covered, overnight or up to 1 day
4. About 3 hours before you plan to cook the beef, remove it from the refrigerator
5. Place the roast fat side up and rib bones down in a roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast, making sure that the thermometer isn’t touching a bone (I prefer a remote thermometer.)
6. After browning the roast at a 500 degree temperature in the oven for 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees
7. To figure out the total cooking time, allow about 13-15 minutes per pound for rare and 15-17 minutes per pound for medium rare
8. Leave the roast in oven until thermometer registers 115-120 degrees for rare or 125-130 degrees for medium
The internal temperature of the roast will continue to rise after you take the roast out of the oven
9. Check the temperature of the roast using a meat thermometer 30 to 45 minutes before you expect the roast to be done
For example, with a 10 pound roast, you would expect 2½ hours of total cooking time (15 minutes at 500 degrees and 2¼ hours at 325 degrees). In this case, check after 1 hour 45 minutes of total cooking time, or 1 hour 30 minutes after you lowered the oven temp to 325 degrees. (A benefit of using a remote thermometer is that you don’t have to keep checking the roast, you’ll be able to see exactly what the temperature is by looking at the thermometer outside of the oven.)