PRIME RIB

[jat]

Hi Mr. Cutlets,

How do I make the BEST prime rib that anyone's ever tasted? How do I get the best

cut and the best meat? Any tips you can offer.

Thanks a million!! jat

[Mister_Cutlets]

Jat,

There's two things you need to do if you want really

exemplary prime rib. First of all, you need to start with

great meat. Ideally, it should be dry-aged, but that costs

a fortune and doesn't really guarantee greatness anyway.

What is important is that the meat be genuinely prime.

Of course, much of what is called "prime meat" today would

have been labelled Choice ten years ago; so look for the

very primest of the prime: ruby meat liberally marbled with

creamy white fat, and bought if possible from either Citarella,

Lobels, Ottomanelli's, Pino's, or one of the other established

premium butchers here in New York.

As for cooking it, I never enjoyed the standing rib roasts or

other oven-roasted treats the way they are traditionally

served. Prime rib is too fatty to served with its broad plane

completely unbrowned; the sight of a vast slab of it, swimming

in its own juice, with slabs of white unmelted fat on the edges,

puts me in a mind to think twice about eating meat three times

a day. I prefer the method you see in French restaurants, where

a double cut is broiled and then sliced up at the table. You get

plenty of deliciously caramelized surface, crispy fat, and all the

succulent, beefy flavor you could want. Be careful about trying

it at home if you don't have a very hot broiler, though. Like

Chef in Apocalypse Now, the sight of beautifully marbled prime

rib turning gray might make you "lose it."

Hope this helps.

yours,

Mr. Cutlets