From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The Silver Fox and I live in an area where cattle and sheep are raised. That would be immaterial, save for the fact that availability makes them dirt cheap during the holiday season. In one of our local markets, standing rib roasts were actually cheaper per pound than ground beef. Now, the only person less capable of resisting a bargain than me, is the Lord of the Manor. To make a long story short, on an errand meant to pick up a quart of eggnog, he passed the meat counter and came home with three rib roasts. We were on the verge of creating a herd of our own when they joined the two I had already purchased and stored in the freezer. As it happened, I spoke with my youngest daughter on Christmas morning, and she was in the middle of preparing her holiday dinner. She mentioned that she was using a Paula Deen recipe for her rib roast. While I had other plans for the day, I was curious about the technique she was using and made a mental note to explore it further. Years ago, Anne Seranne developed a recipe for a closed oven rib roast that appeared in the New York Times. It made a delicious roast that I stopped using only when we had smoke detectors installed in the house. The 500 degrees needed for her technique managed to set off the smoke alarms in my kitchen and I couldn't stand the noise. The Deen recipe my daughter was using was similar, but the meat roasted at a lower temperature. I had to try it. I love it when simple things produce spectacular results and I'm happy to report that this is a great recipe. It is effortless and truly foolproof if you remember two things. The meat must be at room temperature before roasting and once you put the roast in the oven, the door cannot be opened until you are ready to serve the meat. I did very slightly change the original recipe. I applied my own version of a salt rub to the beef the day before I planned to roast it. The rub, of course, adds flavor, but it also makes a wonderful crust that covers the surfaces of the meat as it roasts. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. It produces a really nice, nearly effortless rib roast. Here is how it is made.
