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.