Nothing beats walking in to your local butcher and being able to ask for something to cook long and slow, and get a bevy of options back from someone who is obviously proud of their product. In this case we walked away with a prime rib.
The plan was a very long slow cook surrounded by shallots on a bed of aromatics, and braised in rich beef stock.
When cooking any piece of meat, from steak to big roasting piece, leave it out on the bench for at least half an hour, you don't want to go from fridge to oven (or pan). While the beef is resting on the bench peel a bunch of shallots.
Give the beef a heavy dose of salt and pepper, and finish with a sear on all sides in a very hot pan.
Place the beef on a bed of thyme, bay and other aromatic herbs, surround with peeled shallots and then add about 1 cup of rich beef stock. Cover and cook at 115-125°C for about 4 hours.
The beef was served up with some hasselback potatoes. They are very easy to prepare, just make slices through the potato, making sure not to go all the way through, rub with oil or water and sprinkle over with salt. While the beef is resting crank the oven up to about 200°C and roast the potatoes for about half an hour.
Just before serving, drain off the liquid to a pan and reduce a little and freshen up with some chopped herbs, and adjust the seasoning and finally add the shallots to warm through.
Carve the the beef in to 'steaks' topped with the caramelised shallot and jus.
