Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m going to share a recipe for salt-crusted prime rib roast that is just perfect as a centerpiece for a New Year’s Eve celebration:
But first, a meditation and some news:
I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas!
If your Christmas went anything like mine, not only did it go in a whirlwind, but it also went not quite as planned. Having done nothing but travel all year, we decided to stay home for the holidays. We planned some fun get-togethers with friends and some time just for the two of us. Most of those went off without a hitch…but not all.
Our weather has been pretty crazy in California for the last couple of weeks. Far Northern California has gotten a half a foot or more of rain and of course, Southern California has been dealing with flooding. We got a couple of inches here in the valley, which came with some big winds and our power got knocked out all day on the 24th. Since there are worse ways to spend Christmas Eve than to lay on the couch napping and reading and to eat all of your meals out, I can’t really complain, but it did put me behind in my preparations for my company on Christmas Day. We pulled it off, but we both crashed on Boxing Day.
Now that the rains have given way to crystal-clear skies, cold nights and brisk, bright days, I am filled with a sense of renewal–as if the rain has washed away some of the dirt and grime not only in the air and on the sidewalks, but emotionally for me, as well.
My year has been very tough and my grief has been deep. As recently as about a month ago, it was not getting better. In fact, I felt I was slipping further into the depression of the grief that has held me hostage since my dog died six months ago, which was then compounded by the death of my dad a month later. We had resisted getting another dog because we didn’t think we were ready and thought we would at some point enjoy the freedom of being dogless. However, that joy, and in fact, any joy, eluded me.
And then about three weeks ago, we learned that this little fellow needed a home–meet Rocky:
We decided to adopt him and just like that–I’m not kidding–it was as if someone lifted a giant weight from my shoulders. Even though I still miss my precious Jino terribly, I can finally see a path forward. We will pick Rocky up on New Year’s Day–new year, new dog, new joy. I am filled with hope as I begin this new chapter.
For now, though, I cook. For our Christmas dinner, I made this very showy prime rib roast in a salt dome:
And it would make a perfect centerpiece for a New Year’s Eve dinner.
Using a salt crust in the cooking of meat is an ancient technique used to make a little habitat in which the meat can cook. The idea is that it seals in the moisture and basically steams the meat, keeping the juices inside and preventing the outside of the meat from drying out and getting too browned or dry. Let me assure you that this method does not make the meat salty–at all! In fact, in my case, I wish I had salted my meat a little more prior to cooking. The trickiest thing about making prime rib this way is actually covering the meat in the salt paste–getting the consistency of the salt paste right in order to be able to get it to stick to the meat required a little patience, but it worked–and at the end, I had a nice, solid salt dome that I cracked open just before serving.
Prime rib is an easy dish to prepare and makes a good show for a big meal. The best part about choosing a prime rib in a salt crust for a celebratory meal, though, is that once you get it prepared and in the oven, it needs no tending for several hours, leaving you to be able to do other things and actually enjoy your party.
Tune in tomorrow for ideas for leftovers!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
