Roast Beef Sunday and How Mariah Carey Stole My Cat

Our first pet, Sunday

This is a picture of a cat but don’t worry, this is NOT a recipe for cat. Just a quick side story to go along with this family recipe.

Sundays were reserved for family dinners at my house, typically with a roast of some kind.  One Sunday, I went with my Mom to the store and there was a man outside with a box labeled, “Free Kittens.”  Inside the box there was only one scrawny calico kitten left – the runt of the litter. So I begged. I pleaded. I did my best whine and dance routine… And of course we left with the cat.

‘Sunday’ as she was aptly named, became our first official family pet (to be followed by Muffin the golden retriever, a giant tank of tropical fish, and Papillion a short-lived parrot, who has no relation to the name of this blog).  She was a typical cat, aloof yet cuddly and I adored her. But sadly, after my parents’ divorce and our subsequent move from a comfy 4-BR home to a small duplex, Sunday decided to run away.  So much for loyalty in cats.

Two months later we discovered that Sunday had high-tailed it to the nearby country club grounds and moved into Tommy Mottola’s mansion. Smart cat.  Mottola was CEO of Sony Music at the time and was in the middle of getting a divorce so he could be with his girlfriend, pop-star Mariah Carey, whom he had discovered in 1988.

Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola's wedding in 1993, was fashioned after Princess Diana's and Prince Charles

The plot thickens.

Now you may wonder how we knew Sunday ended up living in a golf course mansion with a high powered music executive… Well, it so happened that my Mom was a real estate broker and one day went to show Mottola’s house when she spotted our cat snoozing on his couch.

My Mom proceeded to thank him for feeding and housing our lost cat and told him she would bring Sunday home with her. To that, he emphatically replied: No!  Mottola then told my Mom that his kids had already bonded with the cat and there was no way she could leave with it.  To be sure she didn’t try to come back, he BANNED her from showing the property again!

We never got our cat back and to this day this makes me mad. I do take comfort in the fact that Sunday lived out the last of her nine lives in the lap of luxury despite being ‘cat-napped’.

So that’s the story of how Mariah Carey stole my cat. Well… ok… she was at least guilty by association.

Now here’s the family recipe for a roast that we did have on some Sundays:

Perfect Prime Rib from Cook's Illustrated 1995

Perfect Prime Rib

(serves 6 to 8 )

1 3-rib standing rib roast (7 lbs), first cut, aged, set at room temperature for 3 hours, and tied

Salt and ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat large roasting pan over burner at medium-high heat. Place roast in hot pan and cook on all sides until nicely browned and about 1/2 cup fat has rendered, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Remove roast from pan. Set wire rack in pan, then set roast on rack. Generously season with salt and pepper.
3. Place roast in oven and roast until meat registers 130 degrees (for med. rare), about 3 1/2 hours (or about 30 minutes per pound). Let stand 20 minutes (or longer) before serving.

From Cook’s Illustrated 1995.

Tagged as: mom, mom's recipes