Spicy Rib Roast
Episode 111: Cattle Call
Recipe: Spicy Rib Roast
Although my wife is normally not an aficionado of roast beef, she loves this recipe. The spicy rub — garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, cayenne, dry mustard, and paprika — is the reason why.
The roast should be from the smaller, less fatty end of the rib section. Cleaned of the layer of fat on top, the meat is roasted in a hot oven, then allowed to rest for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour in a warm oven before serving so it is totally pink throughout.
Serves 6 to 8
RUB
3 large garlic cloves
1 piece ginger (about the same size as the combined garlic cloves), peeled
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1 3-rib beef rib roast (about 7 pounds), all visible fat trimmed from top (about 6 pounds trimmed)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sturdy red wine
1 small bunch watercress, washed and dried, for garnish (optional)
1/2 cup Basic Brown Sauce (see recipe below)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
FOR THE RUB: Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Rub the mixture over the top and sides of the roast.
Place the roast meat side up in a small roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the meat bone side up and roast for another 30 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven, and leave the oven door open to cool the oven to about 140 degrees.
Transfer the roast to a platter. Skim off and discard all the fat that accumulated in the roasting pan. Add the water, wine, and brown sauce to the drippings in the pan and stir to melt the solidified juices.
Return the roast, bone side up, to the roasting pan with the juices and let rest in the warm oven for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
To serve, carve the roast into thin slices. Arrange on the watercress, if using, on individual plates or a platter, and serve with the juices.
BASIC BROWN SAUCE
Makes about 2 quarts
A basic and essential ingredient for the cook, brown sauce is added to other sauces or used to create a sauce for meat or poultry. Mine is slightly thickened with flour, which loses its raw taste through the long cooking process. The sauce can be made with all chicken bones or with turkey bones.
4 pounds veal or beef bones (shins, necks, tails, etc.), cut into 3-inch pieces (you can have the butcher do this)
1 pound chicken bones (necks, wings, backs, etc.)
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
6 garlic cloves, crushed but not peeled
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, dissolved in 1½ cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
8 quarts cold water
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon crushed dried thyme
Put the bones in a large stockpot and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 15 minutes, until they are browned and have rendered some fat. (There should be enough fat on the bones and in the skin to brown the bones.)
Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook for another 15 minutes or so, stirring, until the bones and vegetables are lightly browned.
Drain the bones and vegetables in a colander to eliminate the fat and return them to the pot.
Add the flour mixture, tomato paste, water, wine, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaves, and thyme to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer slowly, uncovered, for about 3 hours, until reduced to about 8 cups. Skim off and discard the foam that comes to the top after 30 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine strainer.
The sauce can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or it can be divided among small plastic containers and frozen.
ALTERNATE METHOD: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the bones in one layer in a large roasting pan or on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour, stirring the bones to brown on all sides. Sprinkle the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic on top and roast for another 30 minutes.
Drain the bones and vegetables in a colander and discard the fat. Add the bones to a stockpot. Deglaze the roasting pan or cookie sheet with 2 to 3 cups water and heat to melt the solidified glaze. Add to the stockpot.
Continue with the recipe, adding the flour, tomato paste, the water, and the other ingredients.
Copyright © 2011 by Jacques Pépin. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
