Garlic Studded Prime Rib

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as filled with food and family as mine was! It was another Thanksgiving and another year I cooked the Thanksgiving meal. One of my favorite aspects about the Thanksgiving meal is that you get to eat and cook "special occasion" food full of fat, cream, butter and salt. Diets better be left at the door because you are about to eat some full flavored and full fat food that will put you in a legit food coma. 

As an annual tradition, my family's Thanksgiving center piece has and always will be a Prime Rib. Juicy, fatty and flavorful. If you like meat, this is one for you. I make this Prime rib like I always do, studding the whole thing with 2  heads of garlic and seasoning it simply with salt, pepper and garlic powder. This is literally a 3 ingredient dish if you don't count salt, pepper and olive oil as ingredients since everyone should have those on hand.

Prime Rib is one of my favorite Thanksgiving main courses and is a definite show stopper. Place it in the oven and literally forget about it. It's all about timing. Make sure you have a schedule made up to when you want to eat dinner and when you place the Prime Rib into the oven. Get it in at the right time and you'll be eating like a king.

AJ's Secret:

• I use a two temperature cooking method. The first 30 minutes begin at 450 degrees F to sear the meat and give it lots of flavor. The remainder of the cooking period is at 350 degrees F to evenly cook the meat from the inside out.  
• As a general rule, cook the Prime Rib about 15-20 minutes a pound. For a medium cooked roast, remove the roast when the internal temperature is about 140 degrees F. It still has a bit of pink but not overbearingly bloody. If you're more of a pink lover, remove the roast when the internal temperature reaches about 130 degrees F.

Garlic Studded Prime Rib

Recipe by Me

Ingredients

1-10 lb Prime Rib Roast

2 heads of garlic

~ 3 tbsp Olive oil

~2 tbsp Kosher Salt

~1 1/2 tsp Pepper

~1 tbsp Garlic Powder

Directions

3 hours before roasting, take out the prime rib from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven the oven to 450 degrees F. While the oven is heating, quickly rinse the Prime Rib under cold water just to ensure it is clean. Dry with paper towels. Once dry, transfer the prime rib to a large roasting pan (a roasting rack is not necessary) and set aside. 

Take the 2 heads of garlic and remove the peel from each clove. Proceed to cut the individual garlic cloves in half or into thirds. With a small paring knife, cut small slits that are about 1 to 2 inches deep into the meat and begin to insert the pieces of garlic into each slit. Make enough slits to use up all the garlic.

When the Rib roast is completely studded with garlic cloves, evenly spread olive oil to cover the meat completely. Then, evenly spread the kosher salt, pepper and garlic powder so that every inch of meat has seasoning.

Place the seasoned and studded roast into the oven and bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue to cook the roast for about 15-20 minutes a pound. For a 10 pound roast to get to medium, it should take about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches about 140 degrees F. For more of a medium rare, remove the rib roast when an internal temperature reaches about 130 degrees F.

Allow the roast to rest for at least 30 minutes before carving to prevent the juices from running out.

-Aaron John

Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs for days, Swedish Meatballs to be exact. When I think of Swedish Meatballs, the first thing that comes to mind is Ikea. I'm not the only one right?

Many years ago, I made a trip to Ikea, like many of us have. While pushing the cart and following those useful arrows on the ground I overheard a teenage girl talking on the phone about Ikea's Swedish Meatballs. "Girl, have you had these meatballs at Ikea? Girl, they are the BOMB. Girl, I'll go and bring you some."

Why I remember word for word what she said, I have no clue but the way she said it just got me laughing. At the time, I couldn't focus on the fact she was talking about the Swedish Meatballs. I could only focus on the fact she kept saying "Girl" to begin each sentence!

Well, it's now time to stop thinking about "Girlllll..." and start thinking about Swedish Meatballs!

Swedish Meatballs

Recipe by Marcus Samuelsson

Ingredients
For the meatballs 
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/3 pound ground chuck or sirloin
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the sauce 
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup lingonberry preserves
2 tablespoons pickle juice

To garnish lingonberry preserves quick pickled cucumbers

Directions
Combine the breadcrumbs and heavy cream in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for about five minutes, until softened. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, veal, pork, onion, honey and egg, and mix well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 Add the breadcrumb-cream mixture and mix well. With wet hands (to keep the mixture from sticking), shape the mixture into meatballs the size of a golf ball, placing them on a plate lightly moistened with water. You should have about 24 meatballs.

 Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning frequently, for about 7 minutes until browned on all sides and cooked through. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.

 Return the skillet to the heat, whisk in the stock, cream, preserves and pickle juice, and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about five minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through.

-Aaron John