Prime Rib & Yorkshire Pudding

When prime rib is on sale at the grocery store I always grab one and toss it in the freezer.  One of our favourite meals is prime rib served with Yorkshire pudding - heart attack on a plate, but oh so delicious!  Pure comfort food on a ridiculously cold Sunday evening.   When purchasing a prime rib the general rule is 1 rib for every two people.

Prime Rib

Ingredients

prime rib (I used a 2.5 lb, 1 rib roast)

freshly ground sea salt & pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 500°F. Generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over the roast. After 15 minutes on 500°F, reduce the heat to 325°F. When I did this my kitchen was a little smokey and I had to open the back door for a few minutes to avoid the smoke alarm going off.  To figure out the total cooking time, allow about 13-15 minutes per pound for rare and 15-17 minutes per pound for medium rare. Remove it from oven and let rest 20 minutes, covered with aluminum foil, before carving into thick steaks. The roast will continue to cook while it is resting. A lot of people miss this step when cooking good cuts of beef.  Patience...

While you let your meat rest (that's what she said), cook your Yorkshire pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding  (makes 6 muffin sized puddings)
Ingredients
1 1/2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp butter

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat egg with milk. Stir in flour. Set aside. Divide butter evenly into the 6 cups of a muffin tin. Place tin in oven to melt butter, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove tin from oven, and distribute batter evenly among buttery cups. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake 25 minutes more or until puffed and golden.

* these deflated as soon as I took them out of the oven. Great flavour, but didn't look as good as others' I've made.  Perhaps if I left them in for a few minutes longer it would have worked better...

Gravy

To make the gravy, remove the roast from the pan. Place pan on stove on medium high heat. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour into fat. Stir with a wire whisk until the flour has thickened and the gravy is smooth. Continue to cook slowly and stir constantly. Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken stock and/or milk (depending on how much gravy you need). Season the gravy with salt and pepper.

Serve prime rib and Yorkshire pudding with a fresh, steamed vegetable like broccoli or asparagus.  COOK.EAT.BE MERRY.