Perfect Prime Rib

I made this prime rib yesterday and have been hearing conflicting ways on how to make the perfect prime rib. The fact of the matter was a reliable source that tried all 3 roasts has informed me that mine was by far the best. So how do you make an excellent prime rib?

Prep: 3 hours

First of all the roast has to be good. This does not mean a true USDA "prime"rib but get a good piece of meat. Make sure you ask the butcher to separate the ribs from the roast. If you have already gotten the roast and the ribs are not separated this is okay, you can do it yourself. Simply start cutting at the beginning of the ribs and cut the roast away from the ribs. Easy. Next use kitchen string to tie the ribs back to the roast. These ribs will act as a rack holding the roast off of the pan when you go to cook it. It should look like the roast below when done with the ribs detached but tied back onto the roast.

Also: DO NOT TRIM THE FAT! The fat is what flavors this piece of meat. Your butcher should have trimmed most of the excess fat and left a healthy amount on the roast.

Next you want to be sure to leave the roast out of the fridge for 2/3 hours before you are ready to cook it. If at all possible you want the meat at room temperature before going into the oven.

When the roast is ready to go in I like to dice a bunch of garlic and rub the outside down with it. I also like to place some fresh rosemary sprigs on the roast and rub maybe a little salt and pepper as well. A trick I use that some may frown upon is to "inject" the roast with garlic. I do this by taking a clove of garlic and smashing it slightly so that it releases it's oils. I then take this clove and jam it deep into the roast. My mom used to own a garlic injector but she has long since lost it and does not know where to get one. If anyone knows where I can get one please let me know in the comments!

For the record, if all you do is rub some salt/pepper on the roast that is fine as well but the garlic really is what can make your good roast great.

Cooking:

Now onto the part that really seems to confuse people: cooking times.

First of all you should not attempt this roast without a meat thermometer.

Next, crank the oven up. Way up. You want it at 500 degrees. Place your roast (Ribs should be on the bottom of the roast creating a rack) in a baking pan and place it in the 500 degree oven for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark you want to turn the oven down to 325 degrees. This is when you start timing your prime rib. The times are as follows.

15-16 minutes per pound for a rare roast.

17-20 minutes per pound for a medium rare roast.

I do not recommend trying to cook your prime rib well done! This meat is best with some rare in it, you can always take your slice and pan fry it or even cook it in au jus to your overdone temp.

The best way to know when to take out your prime rib is obviously the temp. Using a meat thermometer you do not want to remove the roast until the thermometer ready 115 degrees in the thickest part of the roast. I would not let it get past 125 internal temp before pulling the roast.

The most important thing is to let the roast sit for 20 minutes after you have taken it out of the oven. This is very important as the roast will continue to cook once removed from the oven.

After your roasts 20 minute resting period is over you want to cut the kitchen string and remove the roast from the ribs placing it on a cutting board. Cut your individual steaks and enjoy!

Ralek Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Seminar 12/7/2010 - Mile High Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Left: Me and Ralek.

Last night I was privileged enough to learn Gracie Jiu-Jitsu from Helio Gracie descendant Ralek Gracie. The son of Rorion Gracie, nephew of Royce Gracie, and grandson of the great Helio is 24 years old and trains out of the Gracie Academy Headquarters in Torrence California. Ralek has a 3-0 Mixed Martial Arts record with wins over the likes of Kasushi Sakuraba and has fought in K-1 Hero's and Dream fight organizations. He is on an incredibly high and elite level of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and I am honored to have attended the seminar.

Please keep in mind, I am a white belt that has trained off and on due to injury for about a year. If some of what he taught seems elementary this is just my take on things. I assure you, the guy is GOOD.

Ralek started by breaking down a simple mount escape, the trap and roll. Basically, when someone has you mounted the idea is to trap one of their arms, trap the same side leg, bump up with your hips and roll toward the direction of the limbs you have trapped. The fact that you have trapped their arm and leg on one side means that they are unable to "post out" or stop themselves from being rolled onto their back, allowing you to take away their dominant positio while you take an advantageous position. This is a seemingly simple move that anyone with a few hours of Jiu-Jitsu should know and that many know does not work every time. Ralek took the time to break down the move in a very precise fashion and explained how with more practice and better technique it can be an extremely effective move.

A few tips I learned about the bump and roll from Ralek:

1) When trapping the leg place your foot on top of their foot. Also, bring the elbow of the arm that is controlling their elbow to your knee. This traps your opponents leg completely so they have very little chance of using their leg to post out.

2) When bridging bridge as far as you can with your non trapping foot on the ground and when you are at the top of your bridge turn your hips. Bridging is basically arching your back upward. If you are trapping the left arm/left leg you will bridge upward and to the left all while using your right foot to push off the mat hard. Before I just kind of bumped up and rolled into my opponents guard, if it worked, if not I was back on my back or my opponent was now fighting for my back. Now I have learned to bridge hard and regardless of the outcome if I turn my hips to go to my knees at the top of my bridge I can escape most of the time.

3) Often times your opponent is struggling to keep their position and ends up nearly getting to your back, which is bad. To remedy this, once you have turned your hips and your knees are on the mat just sit up and you will be in their guard.

So those were a few touch up tips that Ralek taught us and I am very glad to now know. He was emphasizing that he only learned after years of rolling with his brothers and family that the trap and roll is a highly effective move and there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Learn the technique inside and out. He showed us ways to bait your opponent into compromising their base and use their reaction to dictate how you use the trap and roll escape. While many go to the elbow escape immediately after a failed trap and roll Ralek says don't give up that easy. Keep perfecting the technique and you will be using the elbow escape as a back up less and less and having more and more successful trap and roll escapes. This was easily my favorite part of the seminar.

I may post more but for now I wanter to jot down some of the seminar more for my own records than anything.

I also wanted to say that Ralek was extremely patient, kind, and helpful. He hung out after the seminar and shook hands, chatted with people, and took pictures with us.

This was a great seminar and if Ralek is in town I suggest you do your best to get him to do a seminar!

How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

There are many tips and tricks to cooking hard boiled eggs. Some say using eggs older than 5 days helps the shell peel off easier after boiling.* Others say to lay the eggs on their side the night before you hard boil them and the yolk will be better centered after you cook them (this is a good tip when cooking Deviled Eggs). I don't think either of these practices could hurt but below is the fool proof method that works for me every time.

1)Take a pot or saucepan and place enough eggs in the saucepan to cover the bottom of the pan. You do not want to stack the eggs as this will cause them to crack when boiling.

2) Fill the pot/saucepan with enough cold water to cover the eggs with about an inch or two of water. Using cold water will keep the eggs from cracking.

3) Put the pot on the stove on high until the water is at a fast full boil.

4) Once the water is at full boil turn the stove heat off and cover the pot/saucepan with a tight fitting lid for 17 minutes.**

When you remove the eggs from the saucepan it is very important that you cool them quickly in a cold water bath. Moving the eggs directly from the hot water in the saucepan to a cold water bath causes a layer of steam to build inside of the egg shell which helps the shell peel off MUCH easier than not rapidly cooling the eggs. I have also read that this helps reduce any greenness in the yolk.

Enjoy!

*Before cooking there are ways to estimate an eggs age. If you place an egg in water and it lays on its side it is a very fresh egg. As eggs age air pockets form inside of the egg which will cause the egg to stand on end if placed in water. Ideally, an egg that stands on it's end is a a few days old and will be the best for hard boiling. If you place the egg in water and it floats it is a bad egg and needs to be thrown in the trash. Either way, the best way to get the shell to peel off easily is to rapidly cool the eggs after cooking in a cold water bath.

**For soft boiled eggs you can cook them for 5 minutes, about 8 minutes is good for a medium cooked egg.

Easy and Delicious Deviled Eggs

I am in my third week of the Atkins diet and was super excited when I learned that Deviled eggs are a great low carb meal. After a few batches I have come up with a pretty good recipe that is simple, low carb, and delicious!

Prep time - 30-40 minutes.

Carbs - Around 4 Net per dozen eggs.

What you will need -

1 Dozen Hard Boiled Eggs

1/2 Cup Real Mayonnaise

1 tsp White Vinegar

1 tsp Ground Dry Mustard Seed

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Prep -

Remove shells from eggs and cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove egg yolks and place in mixing bowl and mash with a fork. I prefer to mash them with a fork as when I used a whisk the mixture tended to clump up inside of the whisk. Mix in the rest of your ingredients. Once mixed to a paste put the mixture into an icing decorating bag and fill your empty egg whites with the mixture.* Sprinkle a little Paprika on the eggs for garnish and a little bit of flavor and you are ready to eat!

* If you do not have an icing decorating bag you can put the mixture into a plastic freezer bag and cut the corner off. Alternatively you can use a small ice cream scooper and scoop the mixture into your hard boiled egg whites.

Shopping for the Right MMA Backpack

As you move forward in Martial Arts you inevitably will accumulate a lot of gear and I am no different. I would consider the amount of gear that I have acquired as "light" but it is still a lot of stuff and I was looking for a way to store it and transport it all easily. After doing some searching and research I came up with a few choices of a good gear bag for all of my stuff. What were my criteria for a "good" gear bag? Glad you asked...

Mobility - At this time I do not own a car so mobility is very important. This pretty much means a traditional duffel bag is out. I may ride the bus, get a ride with my coach, or ride my bike for any given training session. I also will usually be leaving from work. This brings up one key point in my search - I am looking for a backpack and not a duffel bag.

Durability - I am willing to shell out a few extra bucks for the right bag, but that bag better be tough. The bag is going to need to survive everything from dirty soaking wet gi's to inclement weather and everything in between.

Storage - If possible I wanted to find a bag that would fit all of my gear if needed. In a perfect world this bag would not only serve as something to transport my gear in but store my gear as well. This means that the bag should be able to hold at least one heavy gi, heavy boxing gloves, some compression shorts, light MMA gloves, MMA shorts, as well as have storage for smaller things like tape and hand wraps and wet storage for my soaking wet gear after a training session. I would hate to go through all of the trouble of finding a great bag only to ruin it after a few sweaty training sessions. I also would love it if when at home my MMA gear can live in the bag at all times.

So those are my 3 main criteria. I am looking for a Backpack that holds a ton and is super durable. It should exist, right?

A few honorable mention criteria, these are criteria that are not deal breakers but would be nice in a tiebreaker: Style and additional functionality. Basically, if two bags have all identical features but one looks cooler/does more, I have to go with that bag.

I found 3 potential bags, each with pros and cons. I am going to list them from least favorite to favorite, the final bag being what I purchased and why. I will provide links to the bags at MMAWharehouse.com as it is the only site that I found that has all 3 bags and the site I ordered from.

So, on to the bags...

Bad Boy Gi Backpack - Around $50

This bag is super cool. Made from the same sturdy material a Bad Boy Gi is made out of and made to hold, you guessed it, a gi. I have never owned anything from Bad Boy but know people who do and as far as I know they have never had any complaints. The bag looks durable, mobile, and pretty cool, but does it have the storage I am looking for? Going by the pictures I see, not even close.

While this bag would be great if all I did was train Jiu Jitsu and all I needed was storage for my kimono, this bag would easily be my choice but going off of my criteria, this bag lacks the storage that I am looking for. While this may be the coolest looking bag of the group, it is far from cool enough to make up for a lack of storage. This still looks like a great bag, just not for me at this point in time.

This bag can be found at MMAWharehouse.com

Jaco Convertible Equipment Bag - Around $120

This bag is pretty sweet. When I initially started my search I was looking for a duffel bag with shoulder straps and this is pretty much it. Great storage, good mobility, and it looks durable to me but only time would tell. This bag also meets one of my bonus criteria, it looks pretty damn cool.

There is one major feature that sets this bag apart from the rest: It is a convertible. Yeah, this backpack turns into a duffel bag complete with a duffel bag shoulder strap and tons of storage - very cool. This would be great for days when I need a light backpack or other days, possibly a tournament, where I need a bag that I can fill to the brim full of equipment, water, change of clothes and whatever I may need for the day.

While this bag looks terrific, and I almost bought it, I ended going up with a bag that did all that this bag does and more.

This looks like a great bag and can be found at MMAWharehouse.com.

This brings us to our winner....

Datsusara Battlepack 02 - Around $100

I can't tell you how close I was to buying the Jaco bag, which by the way would have probably not been a bad choice. I mean, I did one last search, just to see what else was out there, and I stumbled onto this piece of awesomeness - the Datsusara Battlepack 02.

This is like the Swiss Army Knife of backpacks. Features include too many pouches to mention, laptop storage, external storage, media player storage, super durable hemp construction, all kinds of general storage, sternum strap and hideaway hip strap, included "nasty bag", straps for add-ons and a ton more. I mean, this bag meets all main criteria, bonus criteria and much much more.

Let's look at the criteria and see how this bag does:

Mobility - Yeah, it is a backpack. I have yet to receive the bag but I am expecting it to be pretty large but that is okay, I wanted storage. More room means bigger bag. The strap construction looks similar to a bag I have now and love and with the hideaway waist strap and sternum strap this thing is ready to go on a hike or bike ride any time.

Durability - This bag is constructed of hemp canvas which according to the manufacturer is highly durable and anti microbial, an added bonus. It is military spec (whatever that means) and just looks rugged. As with anything, durability will be measured over time but this bag looks like it is built right.

Storage - This thing will hold two gi's. One external, one internal. External storage (super cool) can come in useful for wet stinky gear as well and just look cool the rest of the time. While holding the two gi's it can fit my large boxing gloves, small MMA gloves, training shorts, compression shorts and a TON more. This bag might have more storage than the Jaco without being convertible. Sweet.

Bonus Criteria - This bag meets both - good looks and tons of added functionality. While this bag may have taken last place in the looks department it still is not a bad looking bag and as far as additional features, this bag takes the cake. Included nasty bag (for wet clothing), external storage, tons of pouches, removable logos, hideaway waist straps etc... See of those weird little loops all over the bag? Those are for add-ons that can clip onto the bag. Everything from extra pouches to canteens to medical kits can be attached to this bag so not only is it already loaded with features you can also add more as you please! This bag has more features than I ever thought a bag could have. This was the kicker with this bag that propelled it above the Jaco as my choice - it meets all criteria and then some.

The bag can be found at MMAWharehouse.com.

and Datsusara even posted a video walkthrough on YouTube that really sold me on this bag (I will post the vid later).

So needless to say I am glad I shopped around a bit. While I am sure the Jaco would have been fine the Datsusara Battlepack just had everything I wanted and a ton more. It is a super cool looking bag with a tactical influence that really hit the mark as far as what I was looking for. Tons of storage, great mobility, built to last and a ton of added features with a sleek black on black color scheme. I ordered the bag yesterday and am expecting it soon. I will have to post some pics and reactions but I am pretty sure I will be happy with this bag.