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5A Wednesday, January 16, 2013 – Daily News County Fare & tasty fresh Cooking prime rib Teaching structures rather than recipes roast: a revelation By Russ Parsons Los Angeles Times (MCT) The standing rib roast, aka prime rib, is the king of roast beefs. A choice roast sells for $10 to $15 a pound; a prime roast can go for up to $25 a pound. (The "prime" in "prime rib" refers to the cut of meat; it does not signify that the meat has been graded prime by the USDA.) With such an expensive cut of meat, you want to be sure you don't mess it up. Until recently, I'd been a high-heat roaster, starting my beef in a 450-degree oven, then turning it down to 350 for the duration. Over the years, I'd heard tell of folks roasting the meat at a very low temperature for a very long time, but I'd always been turned off by the recipes because they invariably started with browning the meat in a pan before roasting it. I understood the reasoning: meat cooked at a low temperature never browns, and who wants to eat a rib roast that lacks a crisp, crackling, brown crust? But who wants to sear an irregularly shaped sevenpound roast in a pan on the stovetop? Not me. Then, I came across a recipe on chow.com that cut the Gordian knot. It has you roasting the meat at 200 degrees for 4 to 6 hours, and instead of browning the meat before roasting, you brown it just before serving. I tried the recipe recently, and it worked like a dream. Instead of the usual medium-well exterior and rare center, the meat was a uniformly pink medium-rare throughout. It gave up virtually no juice when carved — all the juice stayed in the meat. I am a changed woman, and I offer my adaptation of the recipe herewith. Bear in mind that this recipe requires a meat thermometer, preferably an instant-read or an electronic probe thermometer, the former available for less than $10; the latter, less than $20. ——— SLOW-ROASTED PRIME RIB 2 tablespoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 2 to 4 cloves garlic, pressed (optional) 1 (3-bone) standing beef rib roast (6 to 8 pounds) ——— 1. The night before you plan to serve the roast, combine the salt, pepper and garlic (if using). Smear the mixture all over the meat. Place the roast on a large plate or baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight. 2. The next day, remove the roast from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour. (The longer it stays out, the shorter the cooking time will be.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and arrange a rack in the lower third. Place the roast — fatside up, bones-down — on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan. It's important that air circulate around the meat while it cooks so you may have to elevate the rack by placing 4 scrunched-up balls of aluminum foil underneath it. Roast until the center reaches 120 degrees, about 4 to 6 hours. 3. Place the roasting pan on a wire rack, tent the roast loosely with foil and set aside for an hour. During this rest, the meat will continue to cook and the juices will settle evenly throughout the roast. Go ahead and cook anything else you're serving. About 30 minutes before dinner, increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. 4. Take the foil tent and crumble it into a ball. Place the ball under the bones of the roast to prop up the lessexposed area of fat. Roast at 450 degrees until a dark brown crust forms over the entire top surface, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the roast to a cutting board and carve immediately; it does not need to rest again. To carve, carefully cut the meat away from the rib bones in one piece, then slice into 1⁄2-inch portions. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Q&A: It doesn't have to be hard to open a squash By Kathleen Purvis The Charlotte Observer (MCT) Q: Now that the winter squash season is here, what's the trick to peeling butternut and spaghetti squashes? They're so hard, I don't know how to use them. After hiding all that flavor and those nutrients inside them, nature certainly didn't make hard-shell squashes easy to open. You could keep one of those pumpkincarving kits around. The saw-tooth blade can help open a winter squash. But an easier way to tackle hard but smooth-skinned winter squashes is to start with the microwave. Use a metal skewer, a strong fork or the tip of a small paring knife to poke several holes through the skin. Then put the squash in the microwave for about 3 minutes. That will soften the skin a little, so it will be easier to cut it in half for roasting, or to use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin and dice the squash. A spaghetti squash can be poked and microwaved the same way. Instead of peeling it, though, cut it in half, scrape out the seeds and either bake or steam the halves until it is soft enough to use a fork to release the long strands. Storing citrus fruits Q: I was given a big box of grapefruits and oranges for Christmas. What's the best way to store it so it will last the longest? A: While citrus fruit will keep for a couple of days at room temperature, the best way to store it is in the refrigerator. If you can find the space, the vegetable drawer is the best spot. It should keep there for several weeks. Don't keep the fruit in a plastic bag or an airtight container, which can make it get moldy or soft faster. Mesh bags that let air circulate are fine. Look through the fruit regularly and use the ones that are getting soft. If you're going to juice it, bring it back to room temperature and you'll get the most juice. And if you can't use the fruit fast enough and you don't want to waste it, both the zest and the juice can be frozen. LOS ANGELES — Meghan and Carter are getting married. Like so many friends of my daughter, they are bright, funny and, sometimes, almost preternaturally serious. A couple of weeks ago, they asked my wife if we would talk to them about how to stay married — and about how to cook. The first, I'll leave to Kathy; after almost 34 years, it's still a mystery to me. But the cooking part is right up my alley, and, even better, I figured it would give me a chance to try out some of the ideas I've been on a soapbox about for the last couple of years. A basic knowledge of cooking — not the intricacies of fancy restaurant dishes or the parsing of various ethnic cuisines — seems to me to be fundamental to a happy life, whatever your relationship status. A good meal gives such great joy, why would you want to leave it to the hands of a stranger? So Sunday night, Meghan and Carter came to the house for a cooking class. But instead of doing the usual thing and walking them through a couple of recipes, I wanted to try something different. I love recipes as much as the next guy, but it does seem to me that they are an imperfect way to learn to cook. Sure, a well-written recipe can teach you how to re-create a specific dish, but that's a different thing from actually knowing how to cook, isn't it? What I wanted to try out was more along the lines of teaching the structure of a dish, how it is put together. Rather than the details of a recipe (1/2 teaspoon of this, 1/4 cup of that), I wanted to see if I could teach them to prepare a dish by explaining its general outline, allowing for (even encouraging) the kind of freedom to experiment and personalize we all want to enjoy when we cook. Instead of teaching them to make Marcella Hazan's roast chicken stuffed with lemon (a wonderful recipe, by the way), could I teach them how to roast a chicken — the broad outline, the key points and how to think about the various possibilities? If I could do that, they would learn dozens of dishes rather than just one. Besides roast chicken, it seemed to me that if I could do the same with a couple of other very basic dishes — a simple salad and a vegetable pasta — they would have enough to cover almost any mealtime eventuality, from a weekend dinner party to a quick bite after a long day at work. We started with the chicken, because it would take the longest to cook. (Lesson No. 1: You rarely prepare one dish straight through; think about how to organize your time so you can stay busy. And Lesson No. 2: Clean up after yourself as you go along.) In the bottom of the roasting pan, we scattered fennel and onion we'd cut into wedges, which allowed some basic hints on how to hold a knife and how to use it carefully to avoid cutting off fingertips. Of course, we could have used potatoes or other root vegetables instead — same technique but a slightly different result. Later on, I showed them how to judge by look and feel when a chicken is done (and how to use an instantread thermometer to be brought out more flavors. I added a squeeze of lemon — just a teaspoon made a big difference in the taste. And finally, I had them toss the salad with their hands, adding the vinaigrette just a little at a time, so they could appreciate how little dressing it takes. We needed less than two tablespoons of vinaigrette to lightly coat and flavor a half-pound of greens. Just as it was, the salad was delicious, but we wanted to make it a little different, so Meghan scattered red grapefruit segments over the top, then Carter did the same with chopped pitted Medjool dates. A couple of hours, three basic ideas and hundreds of delicious possibilities. Let's hope everything in their marriage will be that easy. Romano. That makes dozens of possible dinners, all of which can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. But maybe the most interesting of the dishes we made was the most basic — a green salad. We started by going out to my garden and tasting different greens, some sweet and soft, others bitter and crisp. "Lettuce" isn't just "lettuce." We rubbed a cut clove of garlic around the bowl to get the scent but not the harshness. Then we moved on to the vinaigrette. Using lettuce leaves as tasters and starting with a quarter-cup of olive oil, I added sherry vinegar a little at a time until we decided we had the right balance (a little less than the classic 3-to-1 oil-to-vinegar ratio). Then I added a bit of salt, to demonstrate how that sure), and a basic poultry anatomy lesson (in other words, how to carve). The vegetable pasta is so simple and quick you can prepare the whole thing in the time it takes the noodles to cook. But it's also incredibly flexible. We made it with broccoli rabe, but it could just as easily be made with broccoli or cauliflower, or with cooking greens (chop them small and add them just for the last couple of minutes). We made the simplest sauce — just olive oil, red pepper flakes and whole browned garlic cloves — but it could have been made with sliced garlic and capers, or with Italian sausage or pancetta browned in the oil, or with sun-dried tomatoes or slivered prosciutto added after. Instead of Parmesan we could have used pecorino WE ACCEPT FOOD STAMPS WE FEATURE BLACK CANYON ANGUS BEEF 8049 Hwy 99E, Los Molinos, CA "Your Family Supermarket" NO CARDS REQUIRED FOR EVERYDAY LOW PRICING OR SALE ITEMS We appreciate your business - and we show it! HOURS: 7AM - 9 PM DAILY Prices good January 16 thru January 22 USDA Choice Boneless Beef Tri-Tips Fresh Bone-In, Pork 1/4 Loin Chops 169 Boneless, Pork Chuck Roasts Sirloin Roasts 349 $ 139 $ lb. lb. USDA Choice, Boneless Beef Leg 1/4's $ 499 $ 384-1563 Meat Specials We Accept EBT 199 $ lb. lb. CUSTOM CUT MEATS AT NO EXTRA CHARGE Fresh, Ground Chuck (Not to exceed 15% fat) 329 $ lb. lb. Produce Specials Russet Potatoes 10 lb. bag Juicy, Sweet Fresh, Sweet Red, Ripe Honey Bartlett Tangerines Pears Premium Roma Tomatoes Cameo Apples Fresh Acorn, Spaghetti, or Butternut Squash 179 99¢ 99¢ $ ea. 99¢ lb. lb. 79¢ lb. lb. 79¢ lb. 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