Kevin and I were going to go to Yellowstone National Park in Montana with a couple of friends and the group wanted to meet before our trip to finalize our plans.  Kevin and I decided to host a dinner at our place and ,putting my foot in my mouth, at the last minute I said that it would be “Montana Inspired”; of course we don’t know what the heck that meant!!  After doing some research and realizing that buffalo, elk, and antelope aren’t as easily available plus we were grasping at straws, we decided that we would make a standing rib roast.  It was either that or hamburgers.

At this point I have to admit something that you should never do, but we tend to always do: we tried out this recipe for the first time on our guest, not knowing how it would come out!  Kevin and I have never had Yorkshire puddings before, hec, we didn’t even know what it would look like (turns out it looks like a pop-over which is a type of bread)!!  However this turned out to be a truly amazing meal, I can even go so far as to say that it was a show stopper!!  This recipe is long, but don’t fret, it includes a gravy (the sauce), the meat, and the bread (the Yorkshire pudding) all that you to add to make this a complete meal is a salad or some roasted vegetables.  We paired this with homemade macaroni and cheese as well as a summery peach, feta, and field greens salad.

This recipe calls for a 5 pound rib roast which is huge and we were only feeding five so we decided to half the size of the meat, but kept everything else the same.

Ingredients:

Roast:

1 (5-pound) French-cut rib-eye roast, trimmed
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Sauce:

1 cup water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Madeira wine
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Puddings:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
5 large egg whites
2 large eggs

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
   To prepare roast, rub roast on all sides with garlic. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place roast, fat side up, on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Insert meat thermometer into thickest portion of roast. Bake at 450° for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° (do not remove roast from oven); bake an additional 1 1/2 hours or until thermometer registers 145° (medium) or desired degree of doneness. Place roast on a platter; let stand while finishing sauce and Yorkshire puddings. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons drippings from pan for puddings; set aside.
2. 
   To prepare sauce, wipe the remaining drippings from pan with paper towels, leaving brown bits on the bottom of pan. Combine the water and 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl. Add Madeira to pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, scraping bottom of pan with a wooden spoon to loosen brown bits. Add flour mixture; cook for 1 minuteor until slightly thick. Stir in broth and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cook 2 minutes. Keep warm.
3. Preheat oven to 450°.
4. To prepare puddings, coat 12 muffin cups with reserved pan drippings. Lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add thyme and remaining ingredients to bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared cups, but only fill to 3/4 of the muffin cup. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375° (do not remove puddings from oven); bake an additional 15 minutes or until golden. (serves 10-12 depending on how you slice the meat)