3-rib prime rib roast of beef, cracked and tied
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. herbes de Provence
(thyme, marjoram, oregano, and savory)

2 cups medium carrots rough chopped
2 large onions rough chopped
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves separated
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried

Au jus:
½ cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
salt and fresh ground pepper

Garnish: Watercress

The Roast: Have your meat specialist crack the back of the ribs. Have him trim between the ribs, cleaning off the bone about two inches from the end. Then have him tuck the meat under and tie it back to the untrimmed ribs, tying between the trimmed ribs.

Roasting: Preheat the oven to 425º. Set the roast rib side down in a roasting pan and rub with salt and herbs. Roast for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325º and continue to roast for 15 more minutes. Remove roast from the oven and quickly place the carrots, onions and garlic and herbs around the roast. Continue roasting for and additional hour or until the roast reaches and internal temperature of 125º. The roast will be medium rare at the ends and rare in the middle. Remove form the oven and let the roast rest for 20 minutes to let the juices retreat into the meat. When ready to serve slice a piece of meat off the smaller end of the roast, carefully remove the twine and set it standing up on it’s cut side creating a standing rib roast. Place the roast on a platter and garnish with watercress.

Au jus: Skim any fat off of the roasting pan and set the pan over the heat. Add the wine and the beef broth stirring and scraping up all of the browned bits from the pan. Strain into a bowl pressing the aromatic vegetables to extract their flavor.

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup flour
½ cup milk or more
½ tsp. salt
5 eggs
In a food processor blend the flour, milk, salt and eggs for two minutes. Stop and check consistency. The batter should be the thickness of medium cream. Add more milk if necessary. Place batter in a storage container, cover tightly and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray or liberally grease the 8/ 4 ounce ramekins well with vegetable spray and place them on a sheet tray. Place sheet tray on the middle rack in your oven for several minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk the flour, milk, salt and eggs until smooth. Remove hot ramekins from the oven and immediately fill each Ramekin with 1/4 cup of batter. Immediately return hot ramekins to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until puffed, golden brown and crisp. Remove puddings from oven, carefully pop them out of ramekins and serve them immediately. .

Chef’s Note: Traditionally, this pudding is cooked in the hot drippings from the rib roast after the roast has been removed from the oven. The baking instructions are the same as for the individual puddings. After you have removed the roast from the pan and removee all but a few tablespoons of the drippings, spoon the batter on top of the hot juices and return it to the oven. The pudding is then cut into serving size pieces. Personally, I like the individual puddings for presentation purposes, but remember, you must serve them quickly as you would a souffle (they will deflate).