When it comes to the holidays, folks love pulling out all the stops to prepare a meal that’s a feast for both the belly and the eyes. Sure, turkey is an obvious choice, but Prime Rib Roasts are one of the most popular cuts we sell as the year comes to a close. And while a Prime Rib Roast makes for a show-stopping meal, they can unfortunately cost a pretty penny! But we believe that budgetary restraints shouldn’t make a negative impact on your holiday dinner, especially in a year like this one, when feasts are likely to be more modest anyway. That’s why we love the Chuck Eye Prime Rib. Just about 1 or 2 ribs away from the ribeye, the chuck eye runs a bit smaller in size but has all the same great flavor. It’s just as tender and tasty as a ribeye (or prime rib roast) and costs half the price. Give it a shot and let us know what you think!

4 pounds chuck eye

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Herbs de Provence

1. Season meat one or two days ahead of time. Liberally cover meat with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, pressing the seasoning into the surface of the meat to ensure it sticks. Lastly, cover with herbs de Provence. Let meat sit, uncovered and refrigerated, for 24 to 48 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 250 F.
   Note: If you have plenty of time, you could even make the oven lower than that, so that the meat cooks really nice and slowly.

3. Transfer chuck eye to a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven until the internal temperature reached 128 F. This will take about 2 hours in a 250 F oven; longer for a lower oven. Once meat has reached 128 F, remove from oven and let rest for at least 2 hours.

4. When it’s nearly time to eat, prepare your charcoal grill with both charcoal and wood, creating a high heat source.

5. Grill meat until a nice char has been achieved on the exterior. Because the meat has already been brought up to medium rare in the oven, don’t be afraid of flames – the purpose here is to create a nice, tasty crust. Furthermore, because the meat has rested for so long, you shouldn’t worry about overcooking it.

6. Once a pretty crust has been achieved, remove meat from grill and let rest another 10-15 minutes. Slice into 1” – ½” thick pieces, and serve with au jus, horseradish cream sauce, and a great bottle of red wine.

From sprinkling flaky salt on a thick-cut heirloom, to snacking on little sungolds like we’re snacking on popcorn, we believe there is no wrong way to eat a tomato. But there are many ways to eat them right. When combined with at least one (if not all) of the following — salt, olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, Duke’s mayonnaise, lemon or cheese — tomatoes can never lose. Which makes salad a real winner: it hits each and every one of those ace tomato accompaniments, making it possibly the best tomato salad on planet earth. This salad goes beautifully with a simply seasoned and beautifully grilled steak, a fresh baguette from your favorite local baker, and a chillable red wine.

1 medium-large tomato, any variety
2 squash (yellow, striped, or whatever you like best)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, microplaned or grated
2 tablespoons Duke’s mayonnaise
1 – 2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 – 3 tablespoons of your favorite soft herbs, rough chopped or torn (basil, parsley, chives, oregano, dill, or cilantro)
½ fennel bulb
2 – 4 tablespoons fat (butter, olive oil, avocado oil, bacon fat, or whatever you have on hand)
¼ cup castelvestrano olives, pitted and sliced or rough-chopped
Freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

1. Slice the squashes in half, lengthwise. Season the cut side with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Using the tip of your serrated tomato knife, carefully remove the core. Slice the tomato in half, and then slice each half into thin ¼” wedges. Carefully transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add grated garlic, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and soft herbs. Gently mix to combine and set aside.

3. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium heat. While it’s heating up, prepare the fennel: face it cut-side down and, leaving a bit of the core in-tact to keep it from falling apart, slice fennel into ¼” slices. Season with salt.

4. Once the cast-iron is hot, melt 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan and spread fennel out in an even layer so that every piece is touching the surface of the pan. Lay another cast-iron skillet on top to press the fennel down, ensuring a hard sear. Cook for 5 – 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Once golden and beautiful, remove from pan and set aside to cool. Leave fennel pieces as-is with the root piece in-tact, or feel free to chop the root off, creating smaller fennel pieces. Add fennel to tomato; stir gently to combine.

5. Increase heat on cast iron to medium-high. Use a paper towel to pat the squash dry, removing any excess moisture the salt may have drawn out. Once skillet is hot, add another tablespoon of fat to the pan if necessary, and then lay the squash cut side down onto the pan. Just like the fennel, set secondary cast iron and set on top to get a sear across the entire surface. Cook until color is golden brown, 5 – 10 minutes. Once golden color is reached, turn heat down to medium-low and let squashes finish cooking until tender but not falling apart; about 4-5 minutes more. Remove from heat and cool. Once squash has cooled enough to touch with your fingers, slice each half into half-inch moons.

6. Use a slotted spoon to strain tomato-fennel mixture from their juices, reserving the liquid for later. In your favorite serving bowl, create a long mound of tomato-fennel mixture on one side, and do the same with the squash on the other side.

7. Scatter olives on top and use a micro-plane to shave Pecorino or Parmesan cheese across the surface of the salad. Feel free to drizzle reserved tomato-fennel liquid on top for additional dressing, or reserve for another use.

Sure, grilling meat is great but have you tried grilling other stuff? Like vegetables? Fruits? Breads? Pizzas? Pop Tarts? Okay, we can’t say we’ve gone that far, but we can say we’ve tried our hand at the rest of ‘em, and second to meat, vegetables rank very highly on our list of favorite grillables. Just letting a vegetable hang out in the heat and smoke can transform it into something that seems wholly different than what it was before. So, with that in mind, why not use the grill to transform another dish we know and love so well…into something that seems wholly different, too? Please see: the Grilled Cabbage Caesar Salad.

1 head green cabbage
1/3 cup roasted & salted peanuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan
1 generous handful homemade croutons, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

DUKE’S CAESAR DRESSING:
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
½ cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan — optional
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, microplaned or very finely minced
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1. Using a large chef’s knife, cut cabbage into small wedges, about 8 per head of cabbage, keeping the core intact. Season liberally with salt and pepper and let sit, uncovered and unrefrigerated for 2 hours.

2. Prepare your grill. When the charcoal is hot and ready, dump it all onto one side of the grill instead of scattering it evenly across the bottom; this creates a gradient of heat that allows you to control how quickly the cabbage will cook.

   *Click here to learn more of our handy grilling tips.

3. Coat cabbage wedges with olive oil. Grill, cut-side down, directly on the hottest spot of the grill, until good color forms. Don’t be afraid of getting them into the flames for darker color! Flip over until grill marks form on the other side. Move the cabbage into the indirect heat to finish cooking until tender to the touch. Remove from grill and rest for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the Caesar dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients together until combined. Set aside.

5. Cut the core out of the cabbage and discard. Then cut each wedge in half, crosswise. Spoon Caesar dressing on the bottom of a serving plate, like you’re making a bed for the cabbage to lie on. Arrange cabbage on plate, on top of the dressing. Dollop cabbage with more dressing wherever your heart desires. Top with chopped peanuts, grated Pecorino, chopped croutons and freshly ground black pepper.

In a time when dreaming of travel to far-off places feels far-off in and of itself, this salad transports us — albeit acutely momentarily — to somewhere in smack the Mediterranean. A dish filled with fresh flavors of the region like juicy summer squash, briny-sweet peppers and bright, punchy herbs, it’s a great summer dish. Although intended as a side dish, when paired with a couple slices of grilled bread and a chilled bottle of vinho verde, this salad could make a play as a light dinner for two.

2 zucchini or yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup peppadew peppers, chopped
3 jarred roasted red peppers, sliced
2 cups arugula, packed
1 sprig basil, about 8 leaves, torn
1 sprig mint, about 8 leaves, torn
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

BALSAMIC DRESSING:
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

1. Season zucchini with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Let sit for 15 minutes.

2. Grill zucchini over direct heat until grill marks begin to show and desired color is reached. Remove from grill and cut each half into 1” half-moons. Mix grilled zucchini with chopped peppadews and roasted red peppers. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

3. Make the dressing. Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl until emulsified. Set aside.

4. Mix arugula, basil and mint in a shallow serving bowl and dress with balsamic dressing — be careful as you may not need all of the dressing. Then top the salad with zucchini and pepper mix and serve room temperature.

Hands-down the most utilized muscle in the cow —those fellers are nommin’ on grass all dang day! — beef tongue is an incredibly flavorful “off-cut” that tastes clean and beefy and not at all like what you might think from an “off cut.” That being said, due to the strength of the muscle fibers, it does require a lonnng braise in order to become nice and tender. But don’t let that turn you off – it’s totally worth it. Although braising the tongue takes between 5 and 7 hours, the execution is simple and merely requires planning ahead. Even a novice cook could execute this with relative ease. 

Hot tip: if you prep salt the tongue the night before, and put it in the oven to braise in the morning just ahead of heading to work, it’ll be in great shape by the time you get home.

BEEF TONGUE:
1 beef tongue
plenty of kosher salt
2 – 3 large carrots, chopped into 2” pieces
2 – 3 stalks of celery, chopped into 2” pieces
1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise
1 onion, quartered; or a large bunch of green onions, chopped
2 large bay leaves
about 8 sprigs oregano or thyme
1 quart apple cider vinegar* see note
1 quart water* see note

SANDWICH FIXINS
Hoagie rolls, toasted
Chimichurri
Good mayonnaise like Duke’s or Kewpie
½ red onion
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup water

1. Generously season the entire surface of the beef tongue with kosher salt. Re-wrap in butcher paper or seal in a plastic bag, and let sit refrigerated overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 325 F.

3. Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and herbs to your largest Dutch oven. Nestle salted beef tongue on top, and then pour equal parts apple cider vinegar and water over top until tongue is submerged. Bring the liquid to a boil, setting the Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cover and transfer to oven to braise for 5 – 6 hours, or until soft and tender to the touch. Depending upon the size of the tongue, it may need up to 7 hours in the oven.

4. Remove from oven, remove lid, and cool until comfortable to the touch.

5. Once the beef tongue has reached a temperature where it can be handled with your hands, remove it from Dutch oven. Reserving the remaining liquid for later, use a strainer to separate the liquid from the vegetables. Discard vegetables. Using a small knife to get started, peel skin from the tongue and discard. If the tongue is still slightly warm, the skin should peel off easily. Trim the bottom of the tongue to remove any unsightly bits.

6. Cut the tongue in half, crosswise, then slice lengthwise into ¼” – ½” inch thick pieces, to fit the hoagie roll.

7. If the tongue has cooled for too long and needs to be warmed up (it’s best when served warm), add the tongue to a skillet and pour a glug or two of reserved braising liquid to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high until the liquid is simmering, then turn the heat to low until you’re ready to compose sandwiches.

8. Slice red onion into thin crescents and add to a bowl with 1/3 cup red wine vinegar and 1/3 cup water. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.

9. Toast hoagie rolls. Spread mayonnaise on the bottom side of the roll. Layer sliced beef tongue on top. Drizzle chimichurri overtop the beef tongue, and finally finish with quick-pickled red onion slices on top. Close the sandwich and then cut it in half, doing so on a sharp bias.

A bright and zesty sauce that comes together in a blender in mere minutes, we’re believers in keeping a container of chimi on hand at pretty much all times. Use it as a sauce to accompany a steak, a pick-me-up for a batch of freshly roasted or grilled vegetables, or a dressing to up the ante on your typical garden salad. This recipe is extremely flexible, so feel free to make adjustments. If you want to tone down the heat, leave out the jalapeños; if you don’t have a blender, just chop everything up with a knife; if you’re out of parsley, swap it for chives or arugula, or even double up on the cilantro. But. If you’re one of those cilantro haters…you may just want to pick another sauce.

4 cups cilantro, packed and then roughly chopped
1 cup parsley, packed and then roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup pickled jalapeño peppers, drained and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

1. Mix salt and water together to make salt water.

2. Add all ingredients to blender and process until smooth.

Dubbed by us as “The Season of the Sandwich,” summer is the perfect time of year to begin honing in on your at-home sandwich artistry. And what better way to up the ante than to make your own deli-style roast beef? A dead-simple recipe that combines quality beef with our special Bone Rub seasoning, your artisanal, small batch, hand-crafted roast beef sandwiches are sure to become the envy of every poor schmuck without one. Whether you’re at the beach, the lake or the river, we can bet you’ll be packing roast beef sandies by the cooler-full.

Sirloin Tip (Ask your butcher for what size, as it will depend on the number of people you’re feeding. You could also use: top round, bottom round, eye of round, chuck eye, Denver steak, or clod heart for this recipe)
1 container BBB Bone Rub
Oil for searing*
1 Sharp knife
Sandwich Fixins

1. Season beef with Bone Rub, pressing the seasoning into the exterior of the meat to help it stick. Be sure to season all sides. Let sit overnight, uncovered and refrigerated.

2. Remove seasoned beef from fridge and, using a paper towel, gently pat dry to remove excess moisture, being careful not to remove seasoning in doing so. Here’s how we suggest you do it: Fold a large piece of paper towel in half to make it “two-ply.” Gently wrap the meat in the paper towel, pressing or patting it into the surface of the meat to absorb moisture. Let the paper towel-wrapped meat sit for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to its highest possible temperature (ours was 500o F) and stick a cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat up alongside the oven.

4. Gently remove paper towel from the beef and discard. Drizzle oil over the surface of the beef and carefully press it into the meat. Be mindful here – you don’t want to smear it, as that will inevitably wipe off the seasoning; you want to keep as much seasoning on the meat as possible. Think about caressing the oil into the entire surface of the meat!

5. Once the oven and cast iron skillet have preheated, use a pot holder or kitchen towel to remove skillet from oven; it should be smoking hot. Transfer seasoned, oiled meat to the hot pan, and press down firmly to bring more surface area into contact with the skillet. The goal here is to get a nice crust on the outside of the meat. (Hot tip! If you want more of a crust, pour additional oil into the skillet; this will essentially “fry” the exterior of the beef, creating a crispy crust. Just remember, you’ll have to find a means of discarding the excess oil.) Transfer skillet with beef to oven.

6. Roast beef on high for 20 – 30 minutes, turning and temping periodically, about every 5 – 10 minutes, to ensure a hard sear on all sides and to avoid overcooking. At this phase, you are simply aiming for color and crust on the exterior of the beef; you should not be aiming to cook the entire thing through quite yet. Once the exterior looks sufficiently crusty, remove beef from oven and immediately transfer to a wife rack set atop a sheet tray to cool down and halt the cooking process.

7. Turn oven down to 225o F. Once oven has reached temp, transfer sheet tray and wire rack with beef to oven and finish cooking for another 15 – 25 minutes, temping after 15. When the internal temperature of the beef has reached your desired level of doneness (we prefer medium rare at 125o F), remove from oven and cool completely.

8. Using your sharpest knife, slice beef as thinly as possible, just like they do at the deli counter. Note, if you can’t slice it paper thin, you may want to chop it smaller, so it’s edible in a sandwich form.

9. Use roast beef for your favorite cold-cut sandwich — we like ours with Duke’s mayo, yellow mustard, American cheese and butter lettuce — or come up with your favorite Philly Cheesesteak-style grinder sandwich — ours came together with melty fontina, Duke’s mayo, grainy mustard, and BBB giardiniera.

An extra B in BBQ? It can only mean one thing: extra, better BBQ. Featuring our BBBQ Rub, which does the majority of the heavy lifting in bringing sweet heat and crispy crunch to the surface of the pork, the most challenging part of preparing this recipe will be monitoring your beer intake while you spend a couple of hours at its side. Be sure to use either a smoker or a charcoal grill to prepare this recipe — gas grills will unfortunately not cut it here — and have fun trying out different types of wood to see which ones you like the most. That’s all part of the fun!

3 pound Pork Loin
3-4 tablespoons kosher salt
3/4 cup BBBQ Rub
1 bottle Your Favorite Barbecue Sauce

1. One day ahead, season the entire surface of the pork loin with kosher salt and press into the meat as if to stick it to the surface. Recover with butcher paper and let sit, refrigerated for 3-4 hours.

2. Using a paper towel, pat dry the surface of the pork, removing any excess moisture that has precipitated from salting. Rub entire surface of the pork loin with BBBQ Rub and, similar to the method with salting, press the seasoning into the surface of the meat. You may find you need more or less seasoning than the suggested3/4 cup; that’s totally fine, just use as much as you need to cover the surface of the meat, fat cap and all. Re-cover with butcher paper and let sit, refrigerated overnight.

3. The next day, prepare your charcoal grill or smoker: When the charcoal is hot and ready, dump it all onto one side of the grill instead of scattering it evenly; this creates a gradient of heat that allows you to control how quickly the meat will cook. We also threw 1 hardwood log on there to offer an additional smoky element; you could also add wood chunks or chips until your desired level of smokiness has been reached.

4. Grill the pork loin, settling it over indirect heat instead of directly on top of the flames. Utilizing the side opposite the heat source will allow the meat to cook more slowly and stay juicier along the way. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours, flipping the meat about every 15-20 minutes to ensure even cooking, while also getting a nice crust on all sides. If you notice that the meat is cooking too quickly, simply pull it off the heat and let the grill cool down a bit, then resume. If the grill becomes too cool, add more coals to stoke the fire. You’re going for a final internal temperature of 140 F (Med Rare) to 155 F (Med Well), so when you’re about 15 degrees away from your desired final temp, begin basting the meat with barbecue sauce; about 30 minutes. Remove from grill.

5. Loosely tent pork loin with foil to rest until ready to serve; at least 15 minutes.

6. Slice thinly and serve with barbecue sauce.