Prime Rib and Yorkshire Puddings

My family and I split half of a grass-fed Black Angus cow this past summer. I've been making my way through the 75 or so pounds I claimed from the animal. This past week I found a 4.5 pound prime rib in the freezer and decided to make it along with traditional Yorkshire Puddings.

My technique for roast beef is a little different than most, but, it makes a tender, moist, perfectly cooked roast every time. The secret here is to have an accurate digital meat thermometer. I use a Nu Temp remote probe which I would never be caught without when making roasts, chickens or turkey. I have three transmitters that are all monitored by one receiver base. In my opinion this system is the creme de la creme of remote temperature transmitters, it's reliable and simple to use, the perfect combination.

Anyway, onto the technique....

Season your prime rib generously with salt, freshly ground pepper and garlic powder. Insert your temperature probe into the middle of the roast ensuring the probe is in meat and not a fat pocket. Put the roast in a metal pan with about 1/2 an inch of water in the bottom of it and place it into a preheated 200°F oven. These are the guidelines I follow for doneness: 125°F for rare, 135°F for medium, and 145°F for well-done.

Once the roast has reached your target temp, turn the oven up to 450°F and let the roast brown on the outside. When the oven hits 450°F, take the roast out of the oven and tent with foil to rest until the Yorkshire puddings are done. Slice to your desired thickness, and serve with horseradish.

Simple, no?

Yorkshire Pudding recipes can be hit and miss. When I first tried making Yorkshire Puddings they always seemed to turn out flat, like hockey pucks. I had quite a few bad batches using various recipes until I stumbled across Jamie Oliver's recipe. I have adapted the technique to suit my needs while I've left the ingredients as-is.

Ingredients:

290 ml milk
115 g all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
enough vegetable oil/lard/beef drippings to cover the bottoms of each section of a 12 cup muffin tray

Directions:

1. Whisk together all the ingredients except the oil.
2. Let it rest for 30 minutes (I rest it longer in the fridge and take it out 15-30 minutes before I'm going to use it).
3. Preheat oven to 450°F.
4. Add oil/drippings to the muffin tray and let it heat in the oven for 5 minutes or until the oil starts to smoke. I actually put it in the oven while it's coming up to temperature as the roast is browning.
5. Gently stir the batter to re-combine it and transfer it to a measuring cup for easy pouring.
6. Remove tray from oven and quickly pour the batter evenly into each cup.
7. Cook for 20 minutes at 450°F on the middle rack of the oven. Do not open the door to peek or they won't rise.

This roast was cooked to 133°F and rose to 136°F while resting under foil after it browned.

Semi-Lazy Sausage Stuffing

Thanksgiving just passed and I thought I'd share my sausage stuffing recipe in time for Christmas (or Thanksgiving to those of you in the USA). This recipe is relatively easy and makes a pretty darned good stuffing for a larger crowd. I used to cube my own bread and add poultry seasoning and chicken stock to moisten the mixture. Using the Stove Top is much easier and my family loves it. I wait until the stuffing mixes are on sale (they always seem to go on sale around the holidays) and stock up. Because I make my own sausage I can feed an army with this recipe for about $10.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of pork breakfast sausage meat (I make my own sage breakfast sausage, a Jimmy Dean clone)
8 boxes Stove Top turkey stuffing mix
5 cooking onions finely diced
3 ribs of celery finely diced
8 ounces button mushrooms sliced
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1. Cook the breakfast sausage in a large pan making sure to break apart any large lumps until it's just cooked through and not brown.
2. Strain the meat and reserve a little of the fat to cook the onion, celery and mushrooms until they're softened but not brown.
3. Prepare the Stove Top according to the package directions.
4. When the stove top is ready, search out the biggest bowl you can find and combine the Stove Top with the cooked sausage, onion, celery, mushrooms, and mushroom soup. Stir to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into a large disposable aluminum tray or multiple casserole dishes making sure not to pack the mixture into the container. Cover with foil or the lids to the casserole dishes.
6. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 350°F

Enjoy with some home made turkey gravy and you're set!

These shots are of the stuffing before it was baked in the oven: