The roast was stupendous, crispy brown on the outside, with tender, pink, full prime rib flavor on the inside. We had a three-rib roast weighing 8 lbs (they go up to 5 ribs and 12 pounds). Stevens suggests seasoning it at least a day and up to three days ahead with salt, dry mustard and chopped rosemary, and let it sit uncovered in the fridge. You take it out three hours before roasting, start at 425 for 20 minutes, then turn it down to 325 for one to two hours, until it gets to an internal temperature of 120 for medium rare. Then let it stand 20 to 40 minutes, as the temperature continues to rise and the juices spread back through the meat.
Stevens explains how to shop for standing rib, why you tie it between the ribs (so the slab of fat won't come loose and flip back), and two different ways to carve it. I took the easier way after presenting it to the dinner guests out of the oven, and carved it in the kitchen, cutting along the bone to remove the eye of the beef whole and then slicing it into half-inch slabs. It was gorgeous.
She also had a great recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts with a sauce made of butter slowly browned with mustard seeds and with capers and lemon juice added. You toss the sprouts out of the oven in the sauce and it made for a really yummy accompaniment to the beef.
Roasting is a great way to cook and this book is so useful even for these very simple recipes and techniques because our generation simply doesn't have the savoir-faire that comes from doing all these things regularly and often.
Earlier in the week we used her recipes for pan-seared salmon fillets, finished in a hot oven, and roasted potatoes, with just salt and oil, but very good.
Like her earlier book on braising, this book won James Beard and IACP awards for single subject cookbooks.
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