Roast Beast or Family Birthday Happiness

I am starting to fall a little behind with Yes!Chef!’s food blogging.  He’s pumping out great food faster than I can take pictures, edit them, taste the food and blog.  Then, there’s this whole world around me that is begging to be photographed, to say nothing of my photography business.  So many beautiful people, so little time.   I’ve been as busy as our Lavender Bees.  All this to say that I have some heavy duty catching up to do, hopefully in the next few days.

I’ve already blogged a bit on my oldest son’s birthday, but I didn’t mention the main course for the birthday dinner:  Roast Beef (Yes!Chef! calls it Roast Beast), Potatoes Gratin and Lemon Green Beans. Very simple, but oh so tasty. We had made the ice cream custard and caramel the night before the birthday party, so Yes!Chef! got busy the day of the party with the main meal while I made the Cute Cupcakes.

After roasting in a very hot oven, the roast came out to rest a bit.

Turning attention to Yes!Chef!’s favorite potatoes, Potatoes Gratin.  The potatoes are sliced very thin and layered with thinly sliced onions and grated Parmesan Cheese on top.  Cream is poured over the whole dish and then it is popped in the oven to cook.

When it comes out of the oven, it looks like this.  How can anyone resist?

So, while the potatoes and roast are resting, let’s turn to the green beans.  I will interject here that green beans are probably my favorite vegetable to have with dinner.  Yes!Chef! would have Brussel Sprouts every night, for his choice, but as for me…give me the beans.

Usually he blanches the beans the night before or early in the morning before the meal and then he gives them a quick boil right before serving. Then he made a little vinaigrette with lemon juice and grated lemon zest over the top.  Simple, fresh, tasty.

Looks to me like everything is ready to go…Come and get it!

We usually have an extra person or two when we have these family dinners.  I was sorely missing my daughter, who has been in Africa since January, so it was nice to have the extra people.   I think celebrations need to be celebrated with as many people as possible and around the Schmautzhaus, we look for any and every reason to celebrate.  Mostly we celebrate being together. This time, a friend of my youngest son’s was over.  He seemed to enjoy the meal and the celebrating very much.

Since it was a family dinner, I didn’t have the place or the time to set up a for a photo shoot, so the above photo will have to do.  Not very pretty but tasty, nevertheless.

If you want pretty photos (these were taken before and after the dinner):

UPDATE:  Here are the recipes.  Yes!Chef! found a unique method to cook the roast beef that involves no seasoning of the meat before cooking.  We were both skeptical and after trying it, although very tasty, we both felt that seasoning the meat prior to cooking is the best way to cook it. He got the recipe from Whats Cooking America

Ingredients:

Prime Rib Roast (standing rib roast), at room temperature (very important)
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Pat the room-temperature standing rib roast (prime rib roast) dry with paper towels or napkins. Smear the cut ends only of the roast with the butter.

Do NOT salt the outside of your prime rib roast, as salt draws out moisture from the meat while cooking. You can use other seasonings, if desired, but I find it is not necessary. I know that some people do salt their prime rib roast before cooking, but trust me and don’t salt – the result will be a juicy, delicious roast to serve your family and guests!

Place the roast, ribs down or fat side up, in a heavy stainless-steel Roasting Pan or other metal roasting pan. NOTE: Select a roasting pan that has sides at least 3-inches deep. (I do not recommend using nonstick pans, as these pans yield fewer of the cooked-on bits that make the tasty au jus juice or gravy.) The rib bones are a natural rack; you won’t need a metal one.

Sear the rib roast (prime rib) for 15 minutes at the higher oven temperature (450 degrees F.), then turn the oven to the lower temperature (325 degrees F.) for the rest of the cooking time. Every 1/2 hour, baste the cut ends of the roast with the fat accumulated in the roasting pan. Do Not Cover the roast.

About 45 minutes before the estimated end of the roasting (bake) time, begin checking the internal temperature (use a good instant-read digital meat thermometer). NOTE: Play it safe and start checking early, as you don’t want anything to go wrong. This is even more important if you are adjusting for High Altitude Baking.

NOTE: If you ignore every other bit of advice I’ve given, please pay attention to this – For a perfectly cooked rib roast, invest in a good meat thermometer. Internal temperature, not time, is the best test for doneness and you don’t want to blow this meal!

When checking the temperature of your prime rib roast, insert meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of beef, not resting in fat or touching bone. Cook until rib roast reaches an internal temperature of 120 degrees F. (or your desired temperature).

Remove from oven, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let sit approximately 15 to 20 minutes. NOTE: Cutting into the meat too early will cause a significant loss of juice. Do not skip the resting stage.

Here’s Yes!Chef!’s recipe for the potatoes:

Use Russet potatoes and slice them very thin.  Yes!Chef! uses a mandolin to get them thin. Here’s how he layers them:  heavy cream on the bottom of the pan (he uses a 10×14 glass pan and he uses five large potatoes), layer of potatoes, salt, cheese (Parmesan, Gruyere, Swiss…), and cream.  Continue layering this way, but add onions and nutmeg to only two of the layers.  Cheese and cream on the top.  Cover in foil and cook in 425 degree oven until potatoes are done.  Remove the foil and let it brown a bit.  As soon as there is color on the top, remove from the oven and let it rest until it sets a little bit.  He says it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour to cook this size dish.

Green beans:

Blanch the green beans in salty water until color is set (about 3 minutes).  Plunge into ice bath to stop the cooking.  Set them aside until right before serving.  To serve, plunge them into hot water on the stove until warm through and then drain. Toss with butter, salt, lemon zest and fresh lemon juice to taste.  Serve ’em up and watch them disappear.

PS.  we did enjoy the meat for several nights and it was good every single time we ate it.  Here it is the second night (when I had a little more time to set up for the shoot.)