Go outside your typical Fourth of July grilling menu this year with a bold, meaty, oven-roasted addition. I often describe prime rib as America's greatest gift to the world. Our beef is something special, and we should celebrate it as the true centerpiece of the dinner table every day (with Meatless Monday as the exception!). So why not make one of the tastiest beef cuts, prime rib eye, the focus of your Independence Day celebration? It's the perfect holiday for slow-cooked meat and grand presentations to celebrate the land of the free.

In this porcini-rubbed prime rib eye recipe, the porcini spice rub from "Molto Batali" (Ecco 2011) forms an immeasurable earthy component to the rub, making it rich and delicious. Equal parts of salt and sugar help develop the char and create a "steakhouse" caramelized crust. The red pepper flakes provide a bit of heat for those who like it hot.

When it's properly cooked, you are heroic; if it's overcooked, you are in the doghouse (at least with my boys) so be careful. This dish celebrates the flavors of the American melting pot and while it takes a little time, it is totally worth it for the ultimate expression of porcine succulence.

Now that you've found a recipe with a little more sophistication than hotdogs and hamburgers for your American celebration, you have to up the alcohol from flat college beers to what the adults really crave in the heat of summer. Serve this prime rib with one of those bottles of wine that has a cork instead of a screw top and you will have yourself one memorable Fourth of July meal.

Porcini-Rubbed Prime Rib Eye

Serves 8 to 10 as a main course

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes

1/4 cup porcini mushroom powder (make your own by simply grinding dried porcini in a spice grinder)

5 garlic gloves, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

One 4- to 6-pound boneless rib-eye roast (ask for the small end), well-trimmed

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, mushroom powder, garlic and olive oil. Stir well to form a thick paste with the consistency of wet sand. Rub the paste all over the rib eye, coating it evenly. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 12 hours.

Remove the rib eye from the fridge, unwrap it and let it stand at room temperature for one hour. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan, rib side down and far side up, and insert a meat thermometer in a thick part. Roast for 30 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 325 F and continue to cook until the meat reaches 5 to 10 degrees below the desired final temperature (125 F for a final temp of 135 F for medium-rare). Remove, and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

(Mario Batali is the award-winning chef behind twenty-five restaurants including Eataly, Del Posto, and his flagship Greenwich Village enoteca, Babbo.)