[Recipe] How to make the perfect prime rib with au jus

As the Easter weekend is here, skip the turkey and try making a prime rib roast.

A perfect prime rib roast to me is one that has a nice dark crust, well seasoned, and the meat is moist and tender. The end pieces will always be more well done than the center. I kept the seasoning for the prime rib simple with lots of salt, pepper and fresh thyme.

Making a roast for a large gathering may be intimidating but it should not be. If I can do it, so can you!

The recipe below is based on a 20 pound prime rib roast done medium rare. I bought the prime rib from a local butcher, but this cut is available in many groceries stores, particularly during the holiday season.

Here are the rules for making the perfect prime rib:

1. Leave the meat out to rest before seasoning and before roasting.
2. Cook the meat low and slow first and then before serving, brown the meat at the highest possible setting in your oven. For a smaller roast, I would sear the meat first on the stove top before putting it in the oven.
3. Like most roasts, make sure there is enough liquid at the bottom to keep the meat moist and to help make an amazing gravy or sauce.
4. The general rule I use for cooking the prime rib is approximately 17 minutes for every pound. So if you have a 5 pound prime rib, it would take almost 1.5 hours, 10 pounds would take almost 3 hours, and a 20 pounds would take about 5.5 hours to cook. Do invest in a good instant-read thermometer, and take out the prime rib when it registers 125 F (51 degrees C) for medium rare.

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Prime Rib with Au Jus

Cuisine Canadian

Author Mary Tang

Ingredients

• Prime Rib
• Vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper
• 8 sprigs of fresh thyme - remove the stems for 4 and leave 4 sprigs whole
• 1/2 bottle of red wine
• 1 cup of water
• 3/4 of a 946 ml box of beef stock
• 3 carrots - peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 onions- peeled and quartered
• 2 celery-cut into 2 inch pieces
• 6 white mushrooms-remove stems but leave whole

Instructions

1. The night before cooking the prime rib, leave the meat uncovered in the fridge.
2. On the day of cooking, take out the meat 2 hours before cooking. Salt and pepper the meat generously and leave sitting on the counter.
3. Add the carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, red wine, beef stock, water, and 4 sprigs of thyme into the bottom of the roasting pan
4. Add fresh thyme all over the meat and add olive oil to make sure the meat is moist.
5. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
6. Place the meat on a roasting rack on top of the roasting pan and roast for about 5.5 hours or until the center of the roast registers 125 degrees F (51 C) for medium-rare.
7. Check periodically to make sure the meat is not dried out (baste it with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme if needed) and make sure there is enough liquid in the pan.
8. Remove the meat from the oven and pour the ingredients in the roasting pan through a fine mesh strainer. Reduce the liquid in the pan for the au jus. Taste and adjust with salt as needed.
9. About 20 minutes before you plan to serve the meat, turn the oven to 500 to 550 degrees F and place the prime rib on a rack with the fat cap facing up and cook for about 6 minutes to brown the skin all over.
10. Remove from the oven, let the meat rest for about 10 minutes, carve and serve with the au jus.

In the oven it goes

I served the prime rib with a side of basmati rice with parsley butter and fresh herbs, extra hot horseradish and tons of sides like the roasted potatoes with fresh figs (recipe for the potatoes here).

Prime rib

If you make this, tell me how yours turned out.

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