Prime Time Rib

In high school, I had it easy. My senior year my hardest class was definitely Zoology which I enjoyed ditching to watch both Ace Venturas with my friend Austin while we chowed down on a bucket of K’n’F’n’C.

After every exhausting school day, I would come home to watch Good Eats and Sportscenter. I learned a lot from Alton Brown, but never really applied it. When I graduated, my culinary specialty was still only mac and cheese. From the blue box.

Lately I have been watching a lot of Iron Chef. America, that is. I got into the Next Iron Chef season 4, so when season 5 started up – “Redemption” – I was there every Sunday night. In season 4, I was disappointed when Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli and Chef Michael Chiarello were eliminated in the penultimate challenge. They were my favorites to watch. I was so stoked that Chef Guarnaschelli was offered “Redemption” and I root, root, rooted for her. I recorded the final 2 episodes on my DVR because I had to head home to Colorado for the holidays, but while I was watching late night TV, they had a commercial for the first competition of the winner of this season’s Iron Chef: Chef Guarnaschelli. Great. All of that suspense went straight out the window. Regardless I had to watch it and was amazed at how at the same point that she was eliminated in the season before, she went into this sort of “robot mode,” where everything she did was insanely precise and quite intimidating.

When I saw the holiday special of The Best Thing I Ever Ate with Chef Guarnaschelli making her prime rib, I wanted to try to make it. It didn’t look too difficult to accomplish. So with my mom’s credit card, try I did. 

Here is what happened in words and pictures.

Here is the recipe for your viewing pleasure.

This is the rib roast that I purchased. It had that thick layer of fat on top with some decent marbling throughout.

I seared the roast on this. That hole on the bottom was no bueno. The grease dripped down onto the burner and smoked out my house.

I made the peppercorn/honey mustard paste and spread it on top. I kind of got messy with it and it went all over the kitchen.

This is the Yorkshire pudding I whipped up after I threw the roast in the oven.

After 10 minutes.

Near the end.

When we pulled it out.

The Yorkshire in the oven. I forgot about it, so that didn’t turn out at all.

The hardest part was definitely cutting it. I didn’t know what to do, so mom jumped in.

It was pretty rare, but really juicy and tasty.

Needless to say, I am no Iron Chef. But I’m willing to learn. And if I ever go to NYC, I’m going to Chef Guarnaschelli’s restaurant, Butter, and I am praying this is on the menu, so I can taste what it is really supposed to be like.

Appendix: also, when I was out getting some meat, I bought some jeans at Hollister, because there isn’t a Hollister store in Reno. I don’t know if it is funny to the workers there or what, but this is the bag I got. 

Thanks Hollister, I do enjoy walking around with a bag of a man who is taking his pants off provocatively. I need to 1) buy jeans at a different store or 2) shop online.