By Paul Suplee, MBA, CEC, PC-3

It is hard to look down at the little time and date stamp on my computer and realize that March will soon be departing us.

Boy, time flies when you’re having fun. Wait, is anyone having fun out there?

I hope you are, and as the weather is breaking and daylight savings is fully in effect, it will be time again to shed the layers and think about fun times ahead.

Yesterday, it was 70 degrees and sunny, while today it will be in the 50s. Our ADD state simply can’t reconcile the time of year and we are all the sufferers for it. Yet, the palm trees are trimmed, awaiting new sprouts from the turf, and the grass seed that was strewn last year is starting to take hold.

It amazes me how it is winter until that one day when you come home from work and realize that your yard, which has been brown for months, all of a sudden has a greenish hue to it. And then and only then do you realize that spring is here.

But as the weather is still senseless, I am sure that we will have an April snow shower or at least another frost. I mean, why wouldn’t we at the Mason-Dixon?

But, while it is still chilly (at least on occasion) go ahead and try this closed-oven prime rib.

I had seen this for a couple years, but never took the time to make it. Namely, that is because I am the only one in the house that eats roast beef. Steaks are one thing, but roast beef apparently another altogether. So, I simply never made it.

The time came, the weather was right and I decided to give it a go. The secret here is to sear the outside of the roast, giving it a beautiful crust and allowing the inside of the roast to slowly come up to temperature.

As an aside, I do not recommend eating prime rib rare. To me, it absolutely needs to be medium rare and up.

There are fats in the rib roast that need to render and melt, and that cannot happen until the roast hits around 129 degrees. So, make sure that it gets to that point.

One glorious little cheat that I found is a thermometer probe called the Meater and it is phenomenal. Simply by inserting it to the proper depth in the roast, this oven-proof gadget will allow you to monitor the internal temperature from your phone. Man, I love technology.

With the ability to set the temperature that you would like to reach, it alerts you about 10 degrees prior, as it is calculated to take into consideration the carryover cooking.

What this means is that the meat will continue to cook even after you pull it from the oven. Ergo, pulling it a few degrees early will allow the meat to slowly come to temperature and rest at the same time.

And when the dust settles, or in this case the smoke clears, you will have an amazing rib roast unlike any other that you have cooked. I have cooked hundreds if not thousands of rib roasts in the numerous hotels, clubs and restaurants since 1983, but I am rather impressed with this technique.

And as the grills will soon be brushed off and fired up, take the time to make one last comfort meal for the season. There is much to be said for that.

Closed-oven Prime Rib

serves 6

4# bone-in rib roast

¼ c. Kosher salt

3 Tbsp. Granulated garlic

2 Tbsp. Onion powder

2 Tbsp. Dried thyme

2 Tbsp. Dried rosemary

2 Tbsp. White pepper

• Pull the rib roast out of the icebox 2 hours prior to roasting. Allowing it to slack will let it roast more evenly. According to universal safety laws, you have four hours to start worrying about little germs, but as you’re going to place this in a 500° oven, anything that may have started to encourage itself will quickly be smote

• Blend the spices and salt well, and coat the rib roast and allow to sit the entire duration with this wonderful-smelling concoction

• When the time is right to roast the beast, preheat the oven to 500° F

• Place the roast in, cooking it for 5 minutes per pound, never opening the door

• When time is up, turn the oven off and let it sit, but do not open the oven. That ruins the process

• Here is where I do cheat a little bit. Months ago, I purchased a wonderful kitchen tool called the Meater© which is an oven-proof probe that you insert in your meat and monitor from your phone. From here, just watch the internal temperature slowly rise, getting it to around 130° internally

• When it hits this magic number, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes before slicing. Be sure to use the drippings in a pan gravy or au jus

• Serve with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, pureed cauliflower or anything else that suits your fancy with roasted beef

• Either way, get this out of the way before the weather turns for good. I don’t know about you, but roasted meats always feel like a cold-weather feast

—Paul Suplee is a Professor of Culinary Arts
at Wor-Wic Community College and
owner of boxcar40 and boxcar on main.
Visit him at www.boxcar40.com;
www.boxcaronmain.com