Kitchen Experiment #7: $50 Prime Rib Meal for 5, not bad !

When we were living in Chicago, one of our favorites was the charred prime rib at Gibsons Steakhouse. One slice can set you back a good $50 so we end up ordering just a slice of prime rib and a Chicago cut (22 oz) to share. Even with the restrained order, with the drinks, taxes and tip, our bill ends up outrageous. Since my kids eat meat at sordid quantities, I was forced to experiment on making prime rib at home for economical reasons.

Method:

Using Costco's bone-in AAA rib eye cut which I snagged for $45, I first tied the meat with kitchen twine and seasoned it generously with rosemary, thyme, sea salt and pepper.



I seared the meat on all sides to lock in the juices, after which I popped it inside the oven for some serious slow roasting.



For a side dish, I tossed some colorful baby carrots in olive oil, salt and pepper and blast roasted them.



For the finishing touch, I made some gravy by sautéing some baby bellas, adding a canned mushroom gravy mix, adding the flavorful drippings from the meat and simmering until incorporated. This is the preferred gravy in this house more than the thinner jus.



Time to slice ! The meat turned out juicy and perfectly pink to our liking.  With horseradish cream on the side, my boys relentlessly devoured it. The great thing about this meal is that it only set me back $50 ! Definitely not bad for a prime rib meal !

 

Results:

Kitchen Experiment #2: Trying to replicate a favorite steak dish from a restaurant 8,000 miles away

My 8-year old son has been bugging me the past few days about craving for steak. He remembers the steak we used to have at a restaurant in Manila called Mamou. I knew that unless I buy a dry aged cut of Angus beef, my experiment of coming up with something close to that will fail. Nonetheless, I had to try to satisfy his craving with whatever ingredients I could easily find.

Method:

I chose rib eye slices from Costco. I'm a rib eye devotee and so are my husband and kids mainly because of the extra moisture brought about by the heavy marbling. With the help of some basic seasoning and cooking gadgets, I took a stab at transforming these pieces of meat into chunks of heavenly bliss.



My basic seasoning repertoir consists of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. All of us prefer our meat unadulterated and free of any heavy rubs.



After generously seasoning the meat with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, I laid them down onto a very hot grill pan to get a good char on both sides. I wish I had grapeseed oil on hand which has a neutral taste and works best when cooking at very high temperatures.



Once I got the char I wanted, off the slices went to bask in a 350°F oven until my instant read thermometer reached 135°F (I was aiming for a Medium Well). A generous dab of butter as soon as they got out of the oven was a must as well as another sprinkling of sea salt. I served the steak with sautéed fresh mushrooms, mashed potatoes (using Betty Crocker Butter and Herb -- didn't have energy left to make it from scratch) and summer sweet corn.

Steak by Mamouommy!



Results: