5 Pepper Crusted Standing Ribeye Roast – The EASY Way!

I think is was Oscar Wilde that said a good roast is a joy forever.  Or I *may* have just made that up…

This is officially post #50 since we started Suitcase Foodist back in September.  Yay!

We are fast approaching the holiday season and it’s officially time to decide on what to serve for Christmas Eve dinner.  I humbly submit this Standing Ribeye Roast for your consideration.

1. It is just as delicious as a prime rib – and is less expensive. More $$ for presents.

2. It is SOOOOOO easy.  Based on that concept of loving neglect that I love so much.  This is mostly a make it and ignore it type recipe.  Always better when you are working on other complicated meal parts.

3.  You’ll look extra impressive in front of whomever you are trying to impress – from mother-in-law to new boyfriend to scandalous uncle, this will be a hit.

With a blend of pepper, mustard, salt and garlic, and some thyme thrown in for good measure this roast will cook up to medium-rare (don’t you DARE cook it past medium rare) to perfection.  It is easy and fast enough that it could be in the running for Sunday dinner as well.

Look for a Ribeye Roast that has the fat cap on it – you WANT that creamy fat to give the roast its signature flavor.  As a general rule you want about 1/2 lb of meat for each of your guests.  So… for a little math here: count the people you expect to show up and then times that amount by .5 – we’ll have a little more math later on, so keep the calculator out.

5 Pepper Crusted Standing Ribeye Roast

• 1 Ribeye Roast, Prime Rib Roast, or Eye of Round Roast – with the fat cap intact.  For 6 people you’ll want a 3 lb roast; 8 = 4 lb and so on

Rub: This amount is for a 4-5 lb Roast – increase the spices for a larger roast.

• 1/2 teaspoon EACH: Black Peppercorns, White Peppercorns, Green Peppercorns & Pink Peppercorns.  I bought a blend that hand all of them.  You can also buy them in the bulk spice section of a well stocked specialty store.
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Whole Mustard Seeds
• 4-5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt
• Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil, or Duck Fat or Ghee
• 1 Head of Garlic – optional, but really! Are you the type of person to leave out  garlic?

TOTALLY OPTIONAL, BUT AWESOME: If you plan ahead just a touch you can dry age your roast a bit – it will concentrate the flavor, but you will loose a bit of the density.  Get your roast 2 days before you plan to cook it.  Give it a rinse under cold water then pat dry with paper towels.  Wrap it it parchment paper or cheese cloth and put it in the fridge on a cookie rack over a bowl for 24-48 hours.

When you pull it out, trim the ends just ever so slightly.

Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees – you want it smokin’ hot when you put your roast in the oven.

Pull your roast from the fridge and let it sit on the counter to warm up slightly before you put it in the oven.  Cold Meat + Hot Oven = Dry Meat in the end.

Get your peppercorns and mustard seed together in a mortar & pestle or in a spice grinder and grind them up – they should be still rough.  Add the crushed red pepper and grind a bit more.

Transfer the peppercorns to a bowl and add the salt and rosemary – toss lightly to combine.

Put all the cloves of garlic into the mortar with a sprinkle of salt and grind up to a rough paste. Set aside.  At this point your kitchen will smell of lovely spices, garlic and fresh herbs, and your oven will be moving towards hot enough.

Heat a dutch oven or a roasting pan over two burners (depending on how large your cut of meat is) until it is very hot.  Add the smallest coating of oil.  Sear your roast on all sides – including the fat cap for 30-60 seconds / side – just until slightly browned and caramelized.  It will brown faster if you’ve dry aged it.

Remove the roast from the pan and put it on a cutting board or tray.  Fat cap side up, slice thin scattered scores through the fat cap down to the meat.  Insert a bit of the mashed up garlic into the slices – it will literally melt into the roast and flavor the meat.

Coat the roast lightly with oil.  You could also use melted duck fat or ghee.  Press the pepper/salt/thyme/rosemary in a thin layer all over the roast – focusing on the fat cap at the top first.  If you have to literally roll the roast in the crust concoction, go for it.

Place the roast in your pan fat cap side up – if you have a roasting pan with a rib rack, great.  If not a cast iron dutch oven will work just as well. Me? I don’t have space for a roasting pan in my tiny galley kitchen.

Put the roast in the center of the oven.  Now here is where the math part comes back.  You want to leave it in the oven at 500 degrees for 5 minutes / pound.  My roast was just over 4 lbs, so I had it in the oven for 22 minutes.  If your roast is 8 lbs, it would be in the oven for 40 minutes.  SET THE TIMER.

The second the timer goes off, turn off the oven.  Now, for the most critical part.  It is now your job to keep yourself and anyone else from opening the oven for a full 2 hours.  I MEAN it. DO NOT open the oven on pain of an undercooked roast.  The residual heat will continue to cook the roast low and slow for the perfect medium-rare roast.  You won’t even have to check the temperature – it will be spot on every time.

After the 2 hours are up, pull the roast out and let it rest for 15-20 minutes – just enough time to get all the other pieces of the meal on the table.  Lightly brush off any excess crusted salt.  Serve with mashed potatoes, au jus, horseradish creme sauce, roasted veggies or of course the classic Yorkshire pudding.

Enjoy!

-Lydia, now roasting