Prime Rib for dinner and breakfast!

One of the fun things about getting married is how, now, there are items all around the house that remind me of a person because that person bought me that item for our wedding. I have lovely turquoise Victorian tumblers from Authoress, a coffee table made of mango wood from my aunts and uncles in Vietnam, and a shiny All Clad roaster from our good friend, Mike. To break in said roaster - and to have a last little hurrah before I had to go back to work - I decided to make prime rib.

Prime rib is so fancy that it sort of intimidates me every time I make it, but I have a recipe that's pretty much fool proof.

Garlic Prime Rib from allrecipes.com

I basically follow the recipe except for a few changes:

• My roast is 5lbs instead of 10
• I use fresh thyme instead of dried (I learned that dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor so if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of a dried herb, you'll need 3x as much if you're going fresh)
• I always add extra garlic (I like to cut up thin slices of garlic, make slits in the meat, and slide the garlic chips in)
• And, per the reviews, I use the following cooking times: 460 for 12 minutes, 400 for 8 minutes, and then 325 for 20 minutes / pound (I take out the roast when my meat thermometer reads 130 so that after resting, the inside is a nice medium rare)
• For the au jus (which is SUPER key - seriously, this stuff is mouthwatering), I use Bobby Flay's thyme au jus recipe here (to make less than the quantity specified, I only use a cup and a half of red wine and a can of low sodium beef broth)

Voila! Fool proof:

The outside may look burned, but it's not. It's a very tasty crust. You'll probably be peeling off the pieces to snack on even before it hits the table. For sides, I decided to try two new recipes: Grilled Romaine and Creamed Corn.

I know, grilling lettuce may sound weird, but with fresh pecorino romano, it was very yummy (thanks to my cousin for the recipe). Warm, slightly wilted, slightly crunchy - I am going to make it again this week.

The creamed corn was also a hit with my new husband. The changes I made were: I used one can of corn (drained) instead of frozen, I used one cup of 2% milk total (no heavy cream), I added one sugar cube because that's what I had lying around, and I started with 1 tablespoon of flour, but added a little more because I wanted it thicker. Next time, I'll just add less milk.

Best part about making prime rib? Leftovers for breakfast! Or, breakfast for dinner. Steak and poached eggs, anyone? I made the mashed potatoes by first boiling the potatoes in the microwave - something else I haven't done before. Learn how here. Then, I just heated up some milk, butter, and garlic on the stove and poured the hot concoction over the potatoes I mashed with a fork. Served with fresh fruit!