standing rib roast recipe

I love a standing rib roast. Like anything, beef's best cooked on the bone and this recipe is positively drool-worthy. Here's how I do it.

Ingredients
1 rib roast
1 onion
a couple of sprigs of thyme
a head of garlic
olive oil
red wine

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.

Take rib roast from fridge at least 30 mins before cooking to allow to come to room temperature. Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper and rub with olive oil {I used a garlic oil last time - mmmmmmm}.

Slice onion finely and lay in a baking dish to form a trivet for the beef. Add thyme sprigs, and then cut the head of garlic in half widthwise and break into pieces. Dot throughout the onion.

In a frypan, on a really high heat, sear the beef on all sides till it's a rich, deep brown. Remove from pan and place on onion trivet bone-side down - making sure that no onion escapes the sides {otherwise it'll burn}. Now, use a cup of red wine to deglaze the frypan you seared the meat in. Use a wooden spoon to stir through all the yummy bits on the bottom of the pan. Pour this over the meat. You should have a good inch of red wine in the bottom of the baking tray, if not, add some more.

Pop this in the oven for 45 minutes, and then, using a meat thermometer test the meat in the thickest part. 45 minutes to an hour is enough for a rib-roast of around 1.2kg if you like it rare {of course you do!}. When the meat's done to your liking, remove from the oven and cover loosely with a clean tea towel in a warm spot and leave it to rest for at least half the amount of time it spent cooking. This lets all the juices flow through the meat and lets the meat settle into tender deliciousness. If you're impatient you'll be left with a bloody mess on your plate - and that's never pretty.

Now, place the baking tray on your stove and turn the element up high. Add more red wine if you need it, and stirring, cook yourself up a lovely caramelised onion and red wine jus. 15 minutes should do it.

Remove the garlic and thyme, and pour into a gravy boat. Slice the beef into big cutlets, serve with dauphinois potatoes and greens. Sit back and bask in the compliments.