Suggestions in seasoning a rib roast

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She Eats Cheese

Senior Cook
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
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165
Tomorrow for the last day the kids are off from school I thought I'd make a rib roast. I already know how I'm gonna cook it but I'm looking for a good way to season it. I like something with cracked pepper but I'm wondering how much to coat it with and what other seasonings would complement it. I've got a four pounder which I plan to cook to medium. Any ideas for seasonings?
 
With an excellent cut like that, I shrink from treating it directly with anything but salt, butter, garlic and pepper. Specifically, what seems like a bit more salt than appropriate and what seems the right amount of pepper (which is not very much - use a light hand), rubbed on a night or a day before. The salt will disappear into the meat to good benefit. Then, basting with butter containing garlic a couple of times during cooking. And nothing wrong with selected vegetables riding along in the pan below the meat where they get the benefit of the juices. If your cooking scheme is settled and doesn't call for basting or companions, then just the salt and pepper rub.

Others may differ.

If it was barbecue, I'd be at it with a complex sop. But I don't think there's any herbal flavor that improves something already fine.
 
I've always used a lot of garlic, salt and pepper. I run the garlic through a garlic press, mix it with olive oil and rub it on, then sprinkle the roast with ground pepper and coarse sea salt. I use what might appear to be more salt than appropriate (and pepper too) perhaps it runs off with the juices because my RBs don't seem salty.

Thyme sounds good to me too. I think there's a lot of spices you could mix in. I think the rub seasons only the outer crust of the RB, so most of your RB is not going to be affected by whatever you do with the rub.
 
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i'm with robo. just s&p and thyme. although, i would make a compound butter with the thyme, smearing it all over the roast to start.

there's a steak place we frequent that makes a rub of the dry ingredients to put on all of their steaks, adding a knob of butter just before serving.. a lot of people have tried to figure out their signature seasoning guessing a half dozen herbs and spices or more.
but one night i went in just before they closed and saw the chef stripping fresh thyme leaves from their stems and mixing it into a bowl of salt, then cracking a load of peppercorns into it.. then he made my steak with that mix, again adding a bit of butter. and that was it! no crazy combo of things, just s&p, thyme, and butter.

thyme adds an herb-y component without overtaking the flavour of the meat.

do not use rosemary, which a lot of people think is interchangeable with thyme. it's not. it's too strong.

if you are going to add garlic, i would add parsley as well. they work together.

hth. :chef:
 
Nothing fancy. Let the beef stand on its own. I usually use nothing more than salt, pepper, and some garlic on rib roasts.
 
I make a slit in the fat cap and insert smashed garlic cloves, about 12 - 15. I crack some peppercorns and insert them next to the garlic. I then cover it, and I mean cover it with kosher salt and let it sit until the salt has become wet and then dries, while out at room temperature. Then I scrape off the salt, and lightly cover with oil.

I then cooking using the slow roast method.
 
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