After almost three weekends of rains, weather finally cooperated for mothers world-wide. We drove to Fredericksburg for Mother’s Day. As self-proclaimed exceptional Mom, I didn’t think that one day was enough, so I demanded a weekend of festivities.
While packing, D and Beans gave me this shirt. I am Vikings fan, and my favorite character, Lagertha, is a shield maiden.In keeping up with my favorite TV shows theme, they also gave me three dragons. I am now officially Mother of the Dragons!Went to Inwood Estates Vineyard for brunch and wine tastinghad a meat and cheese platter and of course, wineI particularly liked the set-up of this winery. It has a tunnel like entrance with al fresco design. Very Italian.We strolled around Main Street then had some gelato at Clear River Pecan Bakery
Beans was finally awake in the afternoon and we got ready for dinner. Dinner was at The Nest. Click the link for my entire review. It was heavenly!
Happy faces after a scrumptious dinner!
Sunday morning, I was greeted with more goodies!
I had lovely cards and Moscato called Mama Moscato! So appropriate!
That’s not all! They took me outside and had this set-up:
A swing! Note the pillow which has a painting of a lavender garden. It was hanging up a tree which commands a full view of our forest and overlooks the hill. Oh the books I can read in this thing! Can.Not. Wait.I fit!
Lounged the whole day, sipping my Mama Moscato. It’s days like these that really make me cherish my role as Mom. It’s my most challenging but most rewarding in all the many hats I wear. I cannot imagine what my life would have been if Beans was not in my life. As a working mom, I often feel like I don’t do enough. But I raised my son well enough for him to realize that a good Mom is a happy Mom. He understands that it’s important for me to have my own life and pursuits. Like when I’m writing this blog when i could have been preparing his dinner. He will heat up our wonderful left-overs and will not make me feel guilty about it. Truly, I am blessed.
I remember the days when I wasn’t much into cooking that we would get our “prime rib fix” during holidays at the Four Seasons. They always had a dinner special at $75/head. With drinks and tax, that was an easy $300 dollar. Ouch!
It got me into thinking on how hard could that really be to make. The culture that I grew up in is not into serving bloody meat, no matter how good the quality. So I had to do a lot of research and read a few thousand blogs on what (and what NOT) to do.
Surprisingly, my first prime rib was a success. I used my culinary Mom’s (Martha Stewart), and she didn’t fail me. As I keep making it, I personalized it, as what cooks often do.
This New Year’s Eve of 2016, I made one again. I have to say, this is my best by far.
You would need a prime rib (obviously). It comes bone-in or boneless. I use bone-in this time because that was the only kind left with the size I had in mind. The three of us are huge steak eaters but I wouldn’t go with more than 2 people per bone, which is the standard. I picked a 5 pounder because I need the left-overs for another recipe.
Thaw the meat to room temperature—-this is not even an option. There’s quite a bit of “musts” to mind when cooking this. It serves well because you don’t really want to make avoidable mistakes specially when dealing with these kinds of meat that don’t exactly come cheap.
While thawing, I like to rub it with salt. I read that it was supposed to draw out excess moisture and dissolve some enzyme that contribute to toughness.
I use Himalayan salt because Facebook is all over it with its supposed therapeutic effects. Couldn’t hurt…and it looks pretty too.
There are so many recipes with different seasonings but I always end up loving my basics: lemon pepper for the tangy taste, garlic salt because I believe that garlic is the cornerstone of every good dish, and a dash of onion powder. Quantities may vary. I have yet to have an “over-seasoned” prime rib, so don’t be stingy.
Heat up an iron skillet on high and add a generous amount of olive oil. At this point, start up you oven till it reaches 500F. When skillet is hot, sear your meat on every side. If you are confident about the heat of your pan, 3 minutes should be enough.
you want to have a little bit of brown all over, with the corners getting a bit golden
Place in a roasting rack. You don’t really need one if you are using bone-in meat, but I like to use a rack just the same. You may add some seasoning if it has fallen off while searing.
Pop into the 500F oven and cook for 25 minutes, after which, turn the heat low to 300. What happens after this now solely depends upon how you want your meat : bloody rare or well done (gasp!). If you like your meat well-done, then let me just stop you right there. A well-done prime rib is a crime. I am certain you can end up in jail for that here in Texas….Seriously though, if you want to end up with medium-rare to medium, allow 15 minutes per pound. This is a very good guestimate that I use. Bottom line is, you have to end up with 120-130 in your meat thermometer (another “must” when cooking prime rib) for it to be considered medium.
If anything, this is the most stressful part of making prime rib—the constant checking of temperature. I don’t use a leave-in meat thermometer because I read that it is less accurate. So I check my meat every 15-20 minutes.
I take it out of the oven 5-10 degrees before my goal temperature because while resting, it still actually is still cooking in the inside.
This one reads 113. Perfect!
Now cover this with foil and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes. That’s another “must”. Never cut your prime rib fresh out of the oven—-says everyone who has made prime rib roast. Just trust me on this.
Should I commit a felony and sit on death-row, I will request this as my last meal. Look how nice and red it is in the middle and golden on the outside, with just the perfect amount of bloody….
My Billy loves gravy so I use the drippings to make one. It is so easy. Just add about 2T of flour onto the drippings. Cook flour for about a minute, then add 1 C of beef stock. As sure as the sun rises tomorrow, if you add stock onto flour cooked in grease, IT WILL THICKEN. So just keep stirring till it does. You can add sautéed mushrooms too.
