Well this is a first.  Two great meal blogs in one week.  But it happens.

When available, I will often order prime beef roast at a restaurant.  It is a timing issue because the perfect roast must be warm pink on the inside and crusty on  the outside.  Later in the evening the beef is over done and chewy.  When done right it is wonderful.  It takes the right restaurant to make it happen.  Old Ed’s in Toronto was a master at this but they closed down 30 years ago. 

Over the years we have cooked countless roasts of beef.  Sean has made some of the best roast beef that I have enjoyed, but still not quite Old Ed’s .  At home we normally have had the traditional round or rump roasts which can be very nice.  Whenever we saw Standing Rib Roasts at the butcher they were far too expensive to contemplate. 

In the last week there was a convergence of concepts.  Our latest Fine Cooking magazine had a cooking plan (more involved than a simple recipe) for the perfect slow-roasted beef standing rib roast.  Meantime our local Thrifty grocery store, which just opened a couple of weeks ago and is normally too expensive, put on a sale to attract new customers.  One day sale of Standing beef rib roasts at less than half the normal cost.  We bought a 5 lb roast for only $28.  Normally this is $55 hence the reason we have never bought it before. For two of us, a huge roast, but you cannot do justice for a standing rib for anything smaller.

I followed the cooking plan (which involved 5 hours of cooking time)  We had it tonight for dinner with Yorkshire pudding (thanks to Pat) potatoes and peas.  Absolutely fabulous.  Never had a better roast at any restaurant. 

The crust was deep brown and crispy with a wonderful flavour.  The interior was warm and pink and juicy enough to cut with a fork.  Heaven for a carnivore.  We should have had at least 4 other people joining us to enjoy the meal. 

We have enough for at least 2 more meals and maybe some sandwhiches which actually makes this a bargain.  We contemplated inviting people over but we were planning to watch the Rider football game in the afternoon and not sure that would have been accepted by our BC friends. 

So we have lots of food and a wonderful recipe for a future family meal.

A great recipe if you want it let me know.