New Year's Eve Smoked Rib Roast

Are you hosting a New Year's Eve gathering?  Even if you're gathering is just you and your family, this rib roast is the perfect main course.  What's better than enjoying a savory cut of prime rib with your friends and family?  This recipe is extremely easy and it's very hard to mess up.  Rib roasts boast a generous amount of fat which makes it a perfect candidate for slow smoking, indirect grilling or roasting.  I prefer to smoke the roast, this will give the prime rib a slightly smokey flavor on the crust, it also frees up the oven for side dishes.  You'll be the most popular person at the party when you walk inside from the grill, with a delicious rib roast in hand!  I've included a recipe for a creamy horseradish sauce that you can serve with the prime rib. 

Rib Roast Ingredients
Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper (from a pepper mill)
Standing Rib Roast - the size of the rib roast depends on how many people you need to feed.  A 2 bone, roast should feed 4 to 5 people.  If you have a large party, go for a full 7 bone roast.  Generally, it is 1 to 1 1/4 pounds (uncooked) per serving.  If the roast is too big for your grill or smoker, you can cut it in half.
Oak Wood Chunks or Chips
Butchers String

Directions
Take the rib roast out of the refrigerator and let stand for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, set up the grill or smoker for indirect grilling.  You want to have the temperature hold steady at 350 for the duration of the cook. 
The roast will need to be tied to prevent the meat from separating from the bones.  To do this, place the roast bone side down and place butchers string parallel to each rib.  Then use your favorite knot to hold it in place.  And you thought you would never use those knots you learned in Scouts!  If you ask your butcher nicely, they should be able to tie the roast for you. 

Now season the roast on all sides generously with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  You want to have large pepper chunks so adjust your pepper mill accordingly.  If you have a remote probe thermometer, place it in the roast now.  It should be placed in the middle of the roast, between two of the ribs. 

When the grill is preheated, toss your wood chunks or chips in the smoker and then place the roast, bone side down on the cooking grate.  Cover the grill and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 130 degrees.  The general rule of thumb is 15 minutes per pound but you really need to use a thermometer.  Remove the roast from the smoker and tent with aluminum foil.  Allow the roast to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.  You might have to physically fight your gusts from getting to that roast but protect it with your life!  If it's carved too soon, the juices will spill all over and will be wasted.  Resting the roast, allows the juices to settle and it also allows the temperature of the meat to rise to a perfect 135 degrees (medium rare). 

Served with plank roasted veggies and crab casserole

Before carving the roast, you will need to remove the bones.  To do this, roll the roast so that the ribs are pointing straight up in the air, then take a knife and cut downward, close to the bones until the ribs are separated.  They should come off very easily.  Do not throw away the bones!!  Those are treasures that contain some of the juiciest, tender, and smokey meat on the entire roast!  Save those for your favorite guests or for yourself, after all, you do deserve a treat after all that slaving away on the grill!  Now, carve the roast into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces and serve with the horseradish cream sauce.  If you have guests that do not like medium rare meat, give them the end pieces of the roast.  They will be a little more done then inside of the roast.  If that is still do rare for them, calmly collect yourself, don't kick them out of your house and finish their piece with a quick sear on non-stick skillet. 

Horseradish Cream Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup prepared horseradish (I usually get one small jar of hot and one small jar of mild and mix them)
1 teaspoon of salt
Fresh Pepper from a mill

Directions
Place the heavy cream in a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until thickened.  Fold in the horseradish, salt and a few grindings of fresh pepper.  Now refrigerate and serve with the prime rib.  It also make a great sandwich condiment for roast beef sandwiches or left over prime rib sandwiches.  Yum!