lawry's prime rib

[katrina]

hi everyone!

i have a request to prepare a prime rib roast (with the salad & the sides) similar to lawry's prime rib. i live in the philippines and i've never eaten at lawry's! i checked out the website for recipes but i was wondering if anyone had inputs on this.

thanks!

[Smithy]

I have fond memories of Lawry's prime rib, where I ate many times. Unfortunately, that was years ago and years before I became interested in cooking. Here's what I remember: the roast was coated with a fairly thick layer of coarse salt. The outside surfaces therefore had a thick salty crust that you'd knock off before tucking into the meat. The crust seems to have helped contain juices inside the roast, and the meat next to the outer layer still had some of that salty flavor. I'd say the salt flavor penetrated no more than 1/2 inch into the meat, however. The roast was done dark on the outside and ends but still rare on the interior, so you could choose how done you wanted your meat. I don't know what sort of oven heat they used to get it that way. I get the best results here at home by cutting the ribs off (to save effort after cooking the meat) and then tying the roast back onto the ribs as a rack to keep the bottom of the roast off the hottest cooking surface. I usually use high heat to prevent the interior from getting overdone. But I don't know if that's what Lawry's did.

I keep Lawry's Seasoned Salt on hand at home, but I really don't remember it being used on the prime ribs. I think the seasoning may have been simply coarse salt. Can you get their salt? If not, I can post what the product label says as to ingredients.

[katrina]

the recipe on the lawry's website says to use the lawry's seasoned salt. i'm still looking for it but so far haven't found it. would appreciate you posting the ingredients. is the sauce a simple jus?

are you also familiar with their salad dressing? a friend said it's just thousand island.

thanks a lot!

[Smithy]

The ingredient list for Lawry's Seasoned Salt is as follows:

"Salt, sugar, spices including paprika and turmeric, onion, cornstarch, garlic, tricalcium phosphate (prevents caking), paprika oleoresin (for color) and natural flavor." It also says, in large conspicuous letters, "contains no M.S.G." which goes to show how poor my memory is. Of course, they're being cagey about some of the seasonings, but you can probably come close if you try combinations of the ingredient list through the garlic. Remember that the ingredients are listed in order of quantity, so salt is the main ingredient, sugar is the second-largest fraction, and from there you get to have fun with the other seasonings. Paprika provides obvious color and flavor.

I looked in my copy of "Dear S.O.S." and found that Lawry's had provided a recipe for prime rib. It's been adapted in this cookbook for a smaller roast (8 - 10 pounds) than Lawry's usual 15-lb behemoths. In case it's useful (I haven't looked at the recipe on their web site) here's the essence of the recipe:

Preheat oven to 325F. Place prime rib fat side up in baking pan. Rub with rock salt, then with seasoned salt. Roast until meat thermometer registers the appropriate temperature for desired doneness (130F for rare, 140 for medium rare, and so on). Rare worked out to 18 - 20 minutes per pound, medum rare was 22 minutes per pound, etc. They note to be sure to insert the meat thermometer into the center of the roast for the most accurate reading. I'll add that you shouldn't leave the thermometer in the meat between readings, because in my experience the metal stem heats up the meat surrounding it and elevates the reading.

They add that you should let the roast stand for 20 minutes before carving.

I'm pretty sure their sauce is the simple jus, but I don't remember it clearly. Good, pungent, creamy horseradish is an excellent addition, but I may have picked that up in a later life.

Sorry, I don't remember anything about their salad dressing! It may well have been thousand island, since I don't remember it and that's about all I used at the time.

[Blether]

It's been a hilw since I was at Lawry's, and I've only been three or four times. I do remember the meat as being American-style, grain-finished beef. Maybe that's obvious to you already.