Front Burner: Prime time for beef
Photo by Lou Freeman for 7-Day Menu Planner.
The turkey may reign supreme at the Thanksgiving table, but when Christmas rolls around, old Tom has nothing on the king and queen of all beef roasts.
At meat counters across Southwest Virginia, standing rib roasts and beef tenderloins are the top-selling cuts of beef in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Although not all families choose beef for the holiday dinner, sales of those two roasts can hold their own against alternatives such as duck, ham and seafood.
But one does not enter lightly into the preparation of either cut, because the price is pretty heavy. In our family, the adults chip in $10 apiece for a standing rib roast — otherwise known as prime rib — that usually rings up at about $80. I’m so fearful of ruining the high-dollar cut that I have never cooked it myself. I leave that up to my father, who somehow manages every year to turn out a beauty that satisfies both my aunts, who like theirs bloody, and my sister, who likes hers well-done (or “ruined,” as the aunts put it).
But self-doubt should never prevent cooks from attempting a new recipe, and the truth is that neither of these roasts is as difficult to cook as we may think. In fact, it’s more challenging to make other holiday staples such as yeast rolls and fudge than it is to prepare a nice roast.
The key to delicious results, according to experts I consulted, is to have proper equipment and to remember a few important steps.
To continue reading this column, click here.
Click the links to see recipes for:
Aaron Deal’s Beef Roast Dry Rub
Aaron Deal’s Beef Roast Marinade
Does your family have beef for one of your holiday meals? If so, what cut do you prefer and how do you like to prepare it?
December 12, 2012 - 6:00 AM
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Excellent tips. Thanks.
We’re going to make a corned beef for New Year’s…from scratch. We’ve never done that before, so we’re really hoping it works!
After hosting Thanksgiving and going all out like we normally do, I think we’re having a Christmas pizza…
For some reason, I can’t continue reading your column because “click here” takes me nowhere!
Sorry about that, Tosh. That link should be working now. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
OJ, that sounds good. I love corned beef but I’ve never made it from scratch with a brisket. I’d be interested to know how it turns out. It might be good advice for St. Patty’s Day!
we always do a Christmas lasagna. very festive! Red sauce, green peppers & white noodles/cheese
I had long subscribed to the “don’t salt beef until after it’s been cooked” theory, until I read a recent Food Lab article. The author, an Alton Brown-like food science geek, explains that salting a steak 40 minutes before cooking is ideal. It does, indeed, draw the moisture out of the steak in about 20 minutes, but if left 20 minutes more, allows the juices to be reabsorbed and actually tenderizes and flavors the steak from the inside. Think of it as a dry brine for red meat. You can view the whole article here http://bit.ly/UIZS61 for some more excellent tips in case you’re having a more intimate gathering. My ex-wife and I used to celebrate Christmas dinner with steak and lobster.
I’ve had Rett’s tenderloin on several Christmas Eves and it’s always fabulous.
Otherjohn, I’ve looked at doing a Corned Beef for St. Patrick’s day before, but I always think about it too late. Most recipes require the meat to “corn” in the fridge for several days. Please let me know how yours turns out…I’d love to try it.
OJ, I’ve made a corned beef from scratch from a recipe I got from a cooking magazine and it was delicious. The only bad thing about it was it was hard to stop eating it! Good luck!
I will be cooking a rosemary crusted NY strip roast for our family Christmas Eve dinner this year. I fixed one a few years ago and then we had a ham the past few years, but by popular decision this year I’m cooking the roast again. My family will be chipping in on the cost, because it ain’t cheap.
The only problem is most of us like our beef rare or med. rare while some others like theirs well done. I’m trying to decide whether to cut off part of the roast and put it back in the oven to cook longer or buy a separate small roast to cook for them. It kills me to “ruin” IMO a beautiful piece of meat, but you’ve got to give the folks what they want.
Jeff, I followed, partially anyway, Chef Michael Symon’s recipe for cooking a turkey breast for Thanksgiving, by salting it all over the night before cooking. He does that instead of brining and it left the meat very moist after cooking. I’ll be doing that from now on instead of brining.
For anybody who wants a less expense option, I made incredibly tasty roast beef two years ago using a round roast and the same basic cooking method as detailed here. Except I think that you turn the heat down even lower to cook it more slowly.
gdad, I was listing to an NPR show a couple of weeks ago and they had a couple of cooks from the test kitchen of Cooks Illustrated. They talked about cooking a roast at 125 for hours and hours, and said that though it was a less expensive cut, it turned out tender and delicious. I don’t even know if my stove goes that low.
My favorite holiday beef treat is hand cut tartare. This year we’ll probably do that with a few other special-occasion small plate type meals for Christmas afternoon.
The recipe that I’m using calls for cooking the roast at 450 for 15 minutes then turning dowm the heat to 250 and cooking it for 2 to 2 1/2 hrs longer.
Kristen and Debbie, my recipe also calls for 450 for 15 or so and then about 225-250. I dry rubbed it first. Really good.
Other john, where will you get the nitrate salt?
Gdad, the first time I made mine it turned out really good too. I’m hoping this 2nd time will be a repeat. I have to work Christmas Eve, so I’m going to take my lunch hour a little late that day, go home and put the roast in the oven and it will be ready to take out when I get home.
Kristen, I don’t know about Other John’s recipe for curing corned beef, but the recipe I have called for pickling salt which you can get at Kroger.
Clarification, my curing recipe called for Morton’s Quick Tender salt.
I bought some Brussels sprouts at Kroger for my family dinner tomorrow night. The cashier, a teenager, said “Brussels sprouts?” and gave me a look like I was crazy for buying them. He asked the teen who was bagging if he liked them. The boy said no, but kept his head down.
I found it amusing, but at the same time, I was thinking it’s really not a cashiers job to critique what their customers buy.