A Splurge Worth Making
Beef prices are at record highs. Here's why prime rib is still worth it once in a while - and how to do it right.
Beef prices just hit a record high — and I still bought the prime rib anyway.
Because some meals are worth the splurge, even when the price tag stings. This one’s for an occasion, not a weeknight — the kind of dinner you build a Sunday around, when the whole family’s finally at the table together. So I went ahead and bought it, sticker shock and all.
And the sticker shock is real. U.S. steak prices hit $12.80 a pound this spring — near an all-time record, up 16% from a year ago. Ground beef isn’t much of an escape either, having touched $6.90 a pound in April, its highest price ever recorded. The reason is simple: America’s cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in 75 years, the result of years of drought and soaring feed costs that pushed ranchers to sell off breeding stock they haven’t been able to rebuild. Relief isn’t coming soon — USDA is forecasting beef prices to climb another 10% or more before this year is out.
So no, a prime rib dinner isn’t a weeknight decision anymore. It’s an occasion piece. The kind of meal you build a Sunday around, or save for when the whole family’s finally at the table together.
And there’s a reason roast beef has earned that occasion status for generations, well beyond what it costs today. It’s one of the oldest celebration foods in the English-speaking world - the centerpiece of Sunday dinners for centuries, the dish that gave the English their old nickname “roast beefs” from the French. It shows up at Christmas tables, holiday gatherings, the meals people still talk about years later. There’s something about a whole roast, carved right at the table, that a stack of individual steaks just doesn’t replicate. It’s communal in a way most cooking isn’t anymore - and worth every dollar of the splurge, once in a while.
## Fabulous Prime Rib Roast Dinner
*Serves 8, with leftovers*
**What You Need**
- 8 lb prime rib roast (about 3 ribs)
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil (for the gravy)
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 cups good red wine
- 10 whole peppercorns (optional)
- 10 medium potatoes
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 lb fresh green beans
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
- ½ cup good olive oil (for the tomato sauce)
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
**Equipment:** medium-sized roasting pan, meat thermometer, large frying pan, medium-sized sieve, small pot, large pot, medium pot, larger strainer.
**Method**
*The Sauce (make ahead)*
1. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the cherry tomatoes, sliced peppers, thyme, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat until the tomatoes burst. This keeps in the fridge for weeks in a sealed jar with the oil - use it on pasta, toast, or chicken too.
*The Prime Rib*
2. Slice the garlic thin, then cut into slivers. Make small incisions in the roast and insert the garlic throughout.
3. Rub the soy sauce all over the meat - it gives a rich, dark colour and cooks off without tasting like soy sauce.
4. Place in a preheated 450 F oven for 15 minutes.
5. Remove and insert a meat thermometer into the center. Reduce heat to 350 F and cook about two hours, or until the thermometer reads 135 F for medium-rare.
6. Take the roast out, tent loosely with foil, and let it rest 20 minutes before carving. Don’t skip this part.
*The Gravy*
7. While the roast rests, chop the onion, carrot, and celery into small chunks. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the vegetables, and cook about 5 minutes.
8. Add the beef stock and red wine, bring to a boil. Add the peppercorns if using. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until reduced by half.
9. Strain through a sieve into a pot along with the resting pan juices. Cook about 5 minutes more over medium heat.
*The Sides*
10. Boil the potatoes until fork-tender, drain, and mash with the mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper.
11. Toss the green beans with the tomato-pepper sauce from step 1 - the oil from the sauce is all the beans need. Roast in the oven for the last 40 minutes of the prime rib’s cook time.
12. Carve the prime rib, plate with the mashed potatoes and green beans, and spoon the gravy over everything.
A few notes from the kitchen: that tomato-red pepper sauce is worth making in a bigger batch than you need - it keeps for weeks and earns its place in your fridge well beyond this one dinner. And don’t skip the 20-minute rest under foil. It’s the difference between juices on the cutting board and juices in the meat.
--# What You’re Missing This Week
## A ham that makes grown men weep, the two French words that’ll save your dinner, and three fast fixes for a hot week
---You already got the Fabulous Prime Rib Roast Dinner above - a splurge worth every dollar, given what beef costs these days. But the good stuff doesn’t stop there. This week’s paid bonus section takes you from a Spanish master carver who wept over a $94,000 ham, to the kitchen habit that separates a calm dinner from a chaotic one, to a few fast bites worth knowing about.
Here’s what’s behind the paywall today:
- **George’s Table** - The man who makes grown men weep over ham. A journey into Spain’s most obsessive food craft, and why it grabbed me the way Bourdain’s noodle stall in Bangkok once did.
- **George’s Snap** - The two French words that’ll change how you cook. A real walkthrough using linguine with shrimp, so you can actually use it tonight.
- **Morsels** - Three fast hits: a five-minute watermelon salad for the heat, the $1.2 billion noodle boom nobody’s talking about, and why real fire is making a comeback in backyards across Canada.
If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, this is a good week to do it.
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