Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wrappin' it up....

Wow... month and a half gone by since my last post... (note to self... get yer butt back in the saddle, dude).

Sorry for the lapse... Thanksgiving rolled around right after my last post, and I didn't think anyone wanted to see yet another turkey, although this year's bird was bodaciously slammin'... And then I went on vacation pretty much all of December... and I mean vacation... pretty much just shut down and put the batteries back on the charger. Didn't do much of anything noteworthy.

Which brings me to tonight... Chilebrown had dangled his post about the rib roast, almost like he knew this was one of my favorite things to eat (if you're gonna eat red meat, eat the good red meat, right?). Made it just look soooo good... I just had to do one too. So I found a nice little one at the store this last weekend, no doubt left over from Christmas ordering... and I figured I'd get a small one, since if'n I totally screwed it up, there just wouldn't be much of a loss.

Well, turns out I shoulda got a bigger one. Yup... it was scrumdiddlyumpcious.

Got it on Sunday, and put it in a pan to age and dry in the fridge. Three days later, it was oh so nicely dried out, probably about 10% water lost, and very firm. Set it out on the counter for an hour or so to even the temp, dusted liberally with salt and pepper, rosemary, and a little basil. Place it rib down/fat up in a pan, and stuck into a cozy 205 degree oven. About 4 hours later... a little slab o' happiness popped out.




Surprisingly it didn't yield up any juice.... not a single drop. So I took some beef stock, added a splash of wine and a pat of butter, and reduced it to make a jus. I won't bore you with the trivial details... the pictures pretty much tell it like it is.







So... I finish this year, 2008, a little bit older, a little bit wiser (there's some that will argue that point), a little more capable in the culinary arts, and a whole lot richer for the friends and acquaintances I've made this year.


  • The Right Reverend Dr. Biggles... thanks for taking the bar and continually pushing it just a little farther each time.
  • Chilebrown... thanks for the comments and the motivation, as well as the posts on things other than meat... after all, man cannot live on meat alone...
  • Salvage... a kindred spirit in the realm of dry curing and preservation. I look forward to picking your brain a lot in the coming year....
  • Zoomie... thanks for the posts and support.

All in all... not a bad year... not bad at all.

And on that note, I bid you peace, prosperity, happiness, and just enough adversity to keep things interesting....