This coming Thanksgiving I will be doing a prime rib and was thinking about doing a pistachio-herb crust. I noted online that one of the cooking methods that attracted me was to roast the prime rib it at 500F in an oven for 25-30 min and then turnoff the oven and let it rest/cook in the oven for 2 hrs. My question is whether the pistachio nut crust can handle 500F without turning into a funky or burnt flavor? I have noted on other pistachio crusted recipes that the crust can handle 400F but the 500F temperature mark is pretty high…Thank you, Gary
Pistachio contains a lot of unsaturated fatty acid, which can be oxidized at high temp. It will taste bitter and is very bad for your health.
General I will not roast any nuts above 350F for extended period.
If you really want to do a nut crust, I will roast the meat first. And make a maple rosemary glaze mixed in toasted crushed pistachio (I like pecan for this). Brush the glaze on to the meat in the end and finish in the oven for another 5 min.
Thanks David. You confirmed what I thought might be the case. I like your suggestion for the nut crust. Is the maple herb glaze a maple syrup with other fat source(mayo, butter, etc) or maple syrup by itself?
For 1/4 cup of maple syrup, I usually use 2 tablespoons butter. Add a little Worcestershire Sauce and s&p. For the rosemary, I like to use the whole spring. So you can infuse the flavor and pick it out in the end. Add the crushed nut to the glaze in the end, otherwise it will be burned.