A Tasty Christmas Tradition
Like most traditions, this particular bit of salty beef extravagance began many years ago. My parents are nomadic folk, and due to their wanderlust lifestyle, Christmas is always at my home. One time, my mother withdrew a crinkled up page from the vault otherwise known as her purse. The title, written in her meticulous handwriting, on this mysterious bit of paper was "Salt Crusted Prime Rib." There is an actual recipe written on the paper, but as anyone who knows my family can attest, that bit of writing was only a guideline, not instructions. I will do my best to relay a usable recipe from the chaos that occurs in my kitchen each and every Christmas.
Step one: Select the prime rib. While this step seems somewhat obvious, it usually turns into an all day shopping and texting circus, and most often culminates with me being simultaneously amused and frustrated at my parent's being flummoxed by the simple act of procurring a hunk of beef. Everything from weight, size, how many people we are going to feed, do you have a pan big enough for that, I think the other place's beef looked better, and would Martians approve of this, have been discussed whilst shopping. Okay, maybe I added the last bit about the Martians. I solved this dilemma last year by raising the beef myself.
Next, when your children or pets get you out of bed before dawn; throw the prime rib onto the counter to come to room temperature. The salt encasement part works better on room temp meat. Evicting the cats to the outdoors with a Christmas spirit-like flourish until the rib is safely ensconsed into the oven is recommended. Trust me.
After Christmas present opening, breakfast, an impromptu game of hockey with an orange juice jug cap in your kitchen, and the first family spat of the day, it is time to prep the roast for roasting. I usually get the job of amused observer, as Dad is supposed to be readying the roast, but mom tends to jump in and do most of the work for him.
I no longer have to purchase salt. My mom always buys such a surplus that we have boxes of salt dispersed throughout the house in excess.
Mixing the salt, egg white, and water to form the crust. Father singing obnoxiously is optional.
Make the salt bed for the roast. It truly helps to have someone with OCD at this point.
Season roast as desired. My brother produced some super-secret special seasoning for this year's roast. I hope that was thyme that I smelled.
Encase the roast like you are burying a beefy time capsule full of your childhood wants and dreams.
It's super important to seal the roast in the salt, take special care to make sure there are no cracks. Although, it is probably going to crack somewhere while cooking in the oven, but do your Christmas best.
Remove your salt-encrusted beef mummy from the oven when it reaches 5 degrees below temperature, and after a 5 minute or so rest, crack that thing open like you are a passive aggressive chef with a beef against poultry ovum.
Finally, eat and enjoy. Engage in a good old family fight due to politics or a board game gone awry, and wash, rinse, and repeat the following year!
Salt Crusted Prime Rib
For Every 4lbs of Roast you will need:
4 eggs whites
1 cup of water
one 3lb box of kosher saltPreheat Oven to 500 degrees, line baking tray with aluminum foil.
Season roast with desired herbs, salt and pepper. We like to cut little slits into the meat and insert garlic cloves all over the roast.
Put salt into a large mixing bowl, add egg whites and water, stir
until moistened, but not wet.Place a 1/2 inch layer of salt in the middle of the roasting pan, make sure that your bottom salt layer is slightly larger than the roast.
Place roast on the salt bed, stick a meat thermometer into the roast, and pack salt onto the roast until it is fully sealed.
Place roast into the oven, reduce heat to 425 degrees, and bake that thing for 15 minutes per pound.
When your roast reads 5 degrees off of the desired temperature that you wish to eat it, pull it from the oven and let it rest 5 minutes.
Crack open the crust, slice and serve.
Also, it is a great idea to have the butcher remove the ribs from the roast before this process. Some years we forget. Life happens; so does beef stock.
All photos in the post were taken by the author.
Thanks for reading! I hope that all of you have the most amazing New Year!