I Cannot Get Away From Meat
December 24th, 2008It’s Everywhere
I’m about to get ready for our late Christmas Eve lunch. I just started preparing the rib roast for tomorrow.
I’m completely in love with prime rib. I wish I were more than one person, so I could justify cooking it every week.
My sister felt that Publix and Winn-Dixie would not cut the mustard, so I ended up getting a roast at a local grocery called Milam’s. I don’t usually shop there. They had rib roasts on sale for $8.00 per pound. Unfortunately, they were all huge. They were Angus beef. I don’t know how big a deal that is. The folks who market it claim it’s amazing, but I have owned cattle, and I happen to know that an Angus is just a kind of cow. My grandfather–from whom I inherited my interest in a bunch of beef cattle–had a few Black Angus, and he may have had a few Red Angus. His stock was mostly Charolais; these are big mean white cows from France. The Black Angus cattle seemed very good-natured in comparison. Can’t tell you whether they tasted any better.
I got a nice surprise when I unwrapped the roast. It definitely smelled. So it’s not a brand-new roast. It has some age on it. That’s a break. I made a pile of pressed garlic, and I salted the roast and rubbed the garlic all over it. I wrapped it in foil, and it will be ready to cook tomorrow. I have heard people say you shouldn’t salt meat before you cook it, because it sucks the water out. Thing is, that doesn’t really happen.
I am wondering if wet-aging is better for rib roasts, since juiciness is so important.
The food will be very good; I’m not worried. Can’t be sure it will be outstanding, but very good is fine with me.
December 24th, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Merry Christmas
Cheerful Chanukah
Kickin Kwanzaa
Bitchin’ Beltane
and whatever else floats yer boat, one and all.
December 24th, 2008 at 6:18 PM
A Merry Meaty Christmas to you, Steve.
People who say you shouldn’t salt a roast before you cook it are boobs. The salt penetrates the meat and actually helps tenderize it as it cooks.
We had a (smallish) rib roast here the other day. They were on sale at the local Publix, and I couldn’t resist. I roasted it at 500 degrees for the first 40 minutes, then finished it out at 325, until I had an internal temp of 130. That last was to accommodate the Missus, who won’t eat her beef as rare as I prefer it. It was still nice and pink and juicy, with a wonderful crust…and plenty of drippings for a Yorkshire pudding. Think of a Yorkshire pud as a huge, fluffy popover flavored with beef grease. Tasty.
A little peppercorn-madeira demi-glace, and we had a meal fit for a king. You would have been pleased.
December 24th, 2008 at 6:27 PM
Steve, we’re having the same thing. Around the St Louis area they’re called Delmonico roasts.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:42 PM
“I Cannot Get Away From Meat…”
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You forgot… Spam.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
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Merry Christmas, Steve!
December 24th, 2008 at 10:03 PM
Steve, Merry Christmas from the Wilson Family (Jeff, Barbara, and kids)!
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And Merry Christmas to your father and sister as well!
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We read Luke (Christ’s Birth), sang Christmas Carols, and drank mulled apple cider.
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On the food front, on Christmas Day we’re having Goose (with Orange Sauce), Baked Sweet Potatoes, Scalloped Potatoes (sorry its the boxed kind), Mashed Potatoes, Green-beans, Cheesecake, and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. That ought to be enough for six.
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Merry Christmas again and may you grow in your faith even more in 2009. God bless!
December 25th, 2008 at 10:53 AM
I used to raise Angus beef, too. I liked working with them. They were small and gentle animals. Good dispositions and good momma-cows, which is important when you’re raising off a calf crop.
Angus cattle are smallish, but they’re consistently sized, which helps out the butcher. They tend to dress out about 750 lbs and that size consistency is important when you’re butchering a lot of beef. The cuts tend to be the same and uniformity is the key to business when you’re marketing for the masses.
Some say that Angus tastes best. Any good marbled beef tastes good when it’s treated right.
December 27th, 2008 at 12:28 AM
PawPaw is correct — any good marbled beef tastes pretty good when it’s treated right. That’s why I get my meat from a small slaughterhouse that will hang it properly for me. It does cost a little more (but really only a little when you are talking about a whole Beefmaster or Limousin) but that extra bit of care with the hanging and processing makes the beef pretty good every single time, without exception.
December 27th, 2008 at 4:46 PM
My Father-in-law raised Charolais down in Opelousas, La. Said it was because they could stand the heat better.