Hey Turkey....Where's the Beef?

Well, Thanksgiving is over. For better or worse, whatever you cooked, ate, drank, and enjoyed is done for another year. Well, maybe not totally over if there are those great leftovers to snack on. We could have another session on things to do with those, but I’m full…

Anyway, as readers will recall, I had my reservations on hoopla with a fowl, so instead I went for the beef. In doing the research for Thanksgiving, a recipe in the latest Cook’s Illustrated (the one suggesting boiling your turkey) caught my eye:

 

It caught my eye for a couple of reasons, first because of the title – not only the dreaded “best” word, but indeed the “THE best”. One and only… Wow… that’s a pretty bold statement. THE best of all time!. The other reason that I liked it was that it offered a non-poultry option, something I had been looking for. And the clincher was it followed the “low and slow” technique, something I’ve never tried. So what the heck, with company coming, let’s try something you’ve never done before! . The lead-in article said that it was based on a recipe by British chef Hester Blumenthal who prepares his steaks from a prime rib cut by searing it with a torch, then roasting it in a 120 degree oven until the internal temp reaches 120 degrees and hold it there for 18 hours!  He then cuts and sears for a steak...

The theory is that the low heat produces an incredibly flavorful, moist and perfectly cooked roast, and there is talk about the low temperature and enzymes and so forth. The recipe in CI recognized that most home ovens won’t go below 200 degrees, but the clever guys under Chris Kimball devised a method to let us home schlubs get the same result. Sear it (in a pan), put it in the 200 degree oven and when the internal temp hits 110 turn off the oven and leave the roast in there for an hour, then pull it and let it set. Claims that this gets the roast to rare (~120 degrees).

Okay, lets rock! So, I obtained a three rib (~7 Lb.) roast on Monday, then Tuesday rubbed it with Kosher salt,

And put it in the fridge to “dry age” until Thursday morning when it had a nice dry exterior.

That brought me to the point of browning/searing it before putting it in the oven. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like that operation. Bringing a pan to high temp on the cooktop and then putting the item in there to sear is fine for the meat, but the counter top doesn’t fare too well. Usually results in coating it with grease and causing the lady of the house angst. So, I figured what the heck, let’s try the blowtorch technique. After a search of the basement (I KNOW it’s here someplace!) I finally found the torch, and verified it’s operation.

Somewhat concerned over brandishing an open flame in the kitchen (House Burns to the Ground in Bizarre Thanksgiving Accident!), so I decided to use the always helpful flat trunk top of the Flutter Mobile (right over the gas tank which didn’t enter the mind).

Held my breath and lit the torch and applied it to the meat.

It was surprisingly easy, and resulted in a nicely browned roast, and didn’t raise the interior temperature of the meat past the surface..

With the oven set up on “pure convection” and proper temperature

In it went!

I tried to invade the oven as little as possible for my trusty instant read thermometer, and when I did I had MFO handle the door. Pop it open, pop it closed, to keep the temperature up.  I am considering getting one of those remote reading things so you can just leave it without opening the door, but then you only get the temp in one point.. Don’t like that..

So finally when I hedged my bet a little I turned off the oven when the average internal temperature was a little over 115. At this point, I didn’t want to release any of the heat in the oven, so left it for the hour. And finally removed it from the oven

And left it on the counter to firm. By this time the guests arrived and we enjoyed libations and a lovely cheese platter, spiced olives, dry sausage, and salted nuts. By the time we got around to slicing the roast it was rosy rare, moist and evenly cooked. MFO’s “first” was a Grits Soufflé which turned out beautifully (Bon Appétit recipe):

As with all soufflé’s it looked beautiful out of the oven, but had “fallen” by the time its portrait was taken. We combined our dishes with our guests and assembled a lovely groaning board.

So all together we touched all the bases. We had beef, turkey, two salads, two “dressings”, some lovely bread, mashed redskin potatoes, gravy (courtesy of the bird), and a “traditional” recipe from each group. Theirs was classic herbed bread “grandma’s dressing” which was great, and MFO contributed her time honored “green 7-Up salad”. Desserts were either a pumpkin or apple pie, although most people eliminated the “or” in favor of “and”.

Wines included a Pommery NV Champagne, a 2010 unoaked Chamisal Chardonnay and an ’03 Barossa Valley Syrah, “the Standish” that was unearthed from the cellar at the digs. All were just fine, and in fact they were DWTHYL qualified.

I will definitely try the rib again, maybe at new years, but I will try to let it go just a bit longer as I would have preferred it just a “leeeeeetle” less rare. It has been just great cold however.

And again, the food was secondary (sort of, kind of) to the joy of sharing time with good friends. And we did raise our glasses to friends and family no longer present. Although it was not that Grand Cru…

As I said, I hope your experience was as enjoyable as ours. And now, life returns to whatever “normal” means to you..  but of course we all know what it means to

DFD