Garlic-butter rib roast: The highlight of a holiday feast
“This impressive, flavor-packed rib roast is perfect for a celebration,” said John Somerall in Food & Wine. “The secret? A compound butter made with garlic, anchovies, herbs, and shallot. Half of it is slathered all over the roast before it goes into the oven; the other half is rolled up into a log, chilled, and then sliced into medallions to serve with each slice of beef.”
Recipe of the week
Garlic-butter rib roast
2 medium garlic heads, cloves peeled 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives, plus more for
serving 5 anchovy fillets, drained 2 tbsp kosher salt, divided 4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided 2 cups (1 lb) unsalted butter, softened 1 (5-lb) boneless rib-eye roast, fat cap trimmed to ½-inch thick
4 to 6 cups beef broth
2 tsp cornstarch
Flaky sea salt, for serving
Place garlic cloves in a food processor and process until almost a paste. Add shallot, rosemary, thyme, chives, anchovies, 1 tbsp salt, and 2 tsp pepper. Pulse until shallot is finely chopped, about 5 pulses. Add butter, and process until combined, about 1 minute. Transfer half of butter mixture to a sheet of parchment paper, roll into a log, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. Let remaining mixture stand at room temperature up to 4 hours or refrigerate in a covered bowl for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before continuing.
Season rib roast evenly with 1 tbsp salt and 2 tsp pepper. Using a spatula, spread butter mixture from bowl evenly over roast. Transfer roast to a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Add 4 cups beef broth to pan. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450. Roast rib roast until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 325, and continue cooking until thickest portion of roast reaches 130 degrees, 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours. Occasionally check liquid level in pan, adding broth as needed to maintain a depth of at least ¼ inch. Transfer roast to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour pan juices through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan; discard solids. Bring juice to a simmer over low, skimming off fat as it rises. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 3 tbsp of the warm beef juices until smooth. Whisk mixture into juices in saucepan; continue simmering, whisking, until sauce is thickened and coats back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; cover to keep warm.
Slice roast against the grain; arrange slices on plates. Top each with gravy, a ½-inchthick round of chilled herb butter, chopped chives, flaky sea salt, and 2 or 3 grinds of pepper. Serves 6 to 8.