Rib Roast

"During my first trip west of the Mississippi, I had dinner at an extraordinary restaurant called The Fort, in Morrison, Colorado," says Marcia Walsh of Westford, Massachusetts. "I enjoyed both the ambience and the food, especially the rib roast." The vegetable-herb coating gives the roast extra flavor. This is an easy holiday entrée.

Buffalo meat can be very red, even when cooked to medium-rare. Don't be alarmed — this is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has to do with the animal's diet and how little fat is marbled through the muscle. While testing this recipe, we learned that buffalo meat varies in quality; the purveyors whose meat we like best are Wild Idea Buffalo Company (866-658-6137; wildideabuffalo.com), Jackson Hole Buffalo Meat Company (800-543-6328; jhbuffalomeat.com), Arrowhead Buffalo Meats (877-283-2969; arrowheadsteaks.com), and D'Artagnan (800-327-8246; dartagnan.com). Before you begin roasting your buffalo, roughly calculate the total roasting time: Plan on about 16 minutes per pound once the oven temperature is reduced to 350°F (20 minutes per pound for beef), but start checking the temperature of either type of roast about 30 minutes before you think it will be done. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 5 1/4 hr (4 3/4 hr for beef)

If you aren't a restaurant chef or caterer, you probably don’t want to cook a 40-pound round roast, which is what most Buffalo chefs use. But a nice eye of round, 4 to 6 pounds, works fine.

All the flavors of Ayesha Curry’s mom’s braised oxtails, repackaged as a festive prime rib roast.

This totally make-ahead rib roast is rubbed with a punchy mixture of rosemary, anchovies, and garlic.

Cutting the meat into two smaller pieces reduces cooking time, but it’s the roast first, brown later “reverse sear” that’s game-changing in this recipe.

This stuffed ribeye roast recipe (or rib eye, depending on who you ask), is a holiday showstopper.