Dark Days - Week #5

Dark Days #5
Christmas Eve we were lucky enough to have the evening to ourselves. We decided to splurge on making some prime rib(no we did not go for the full size roast from the recipe, just picked up a nice 2 bone roast). We served it with oven roasted baby bok choy (Full Circle Farm, Carnation, WA) and mashed red potatoes (Full Circle Farm, Carnation, WA).
For dessert we had peach crepes made from local flour and frozen peaches from the summer. For a little decadence we added some Smith Brother's whipped cream on top (WA).
Roast prime rib au poivre
1 9 pound prime rib beef roast (about 4 ribs), excess fat trimmed (Painted Hills, OR)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (organic)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (organic)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon mixed whole peppercorns, coarsely crushed (not local)
1/3 cup minced shallots (organic, WA)
3 ½ cups beef broth (homemade)
1/3 cup Cognac or brandy (not local)
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Place beef, fat side up, in shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle beef all over with salt. Mix mustard and garlic in a small bowl. Spread mustard mixture over top of beef. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons crushed peppercorns over mustard mixture.
Roast beef 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 125 degrees for rare, tenting loosely with aluminum foil if crust browns too quickly, about 2 hours 45 minutes. Transfer beef to platter. Tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Let stand 30 minutes.
Pour pan juices into 2-cup measuring cup (reserve roasting pan). Spoon off fat from top of pan juices, returning 1 tablespoon fat to roasting pan. Reserve pan juices.
Place roasting pan over 2 burners on medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté until soft, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Add beef broth, then Cognac or brandy (mixture may ignite). Return pan to heat and boil until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Add reserved pan juices and remaining 1 teaspoon crushed peppercorns; whisk to blend. Transfer pan juices to sauceboat.
Carve roast and serve with pan juices.
Serves 10. Taken from The Bon Appetit Cookbook (2006)