Excerpt from Times Picayune review:

Prime rib is the boiled lobster of the beef world. Eating it requires no shell cracking or claw removal, but the experience is still primal.

Texturally, prime rib is closer to sashimi tuna than to grilled ribeye steak, a cousin cut from the same part of the cow. This at least is the case when prime rib is served (as it should be) medium rare, which yields meat that looks and tastes as though it were merely warmed, not cooked — a desired trait in a luxury protein that, like lobster, requires little more from a chef than the application of heat.

Prime Rib is also the kind of thing you order when you’re feeling — or want to make yourself feel — flush in an old-money sort of way. This is a service The Rib Room has been providing for more than 50 years.

The restaurant’s name nods to its signature dish, the inspiration for the description above. I’ve eaten prime rib at The Rib Room at least a dozen times in the past decade or so, most recently in late December, when it appeared — as it always does — a deep shade of blush in a shallow pool of dark brown au jus, a spoonful of severely potent fresh horseradish, served tableside by our waiter, at the edge of the plate.

—————————————————————————–

Fry the potatoes in batches so the pot isn’t crowded and the oil temperature does not plummet. Cook the French fries for 3 minutes, until soft but not browned. Remove the fries with a long-handled metal strainer and drain on brown paper bags. Add 2 squirts vinegar/ water solution and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Increase the oil temperature to 375 degrees F. Return the par-fried potatoes to the oil and cook a second time for 2 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Drain on fresh brown paper bags, then place in a serving bowl. Salt the fries while they’re still hot and toss gently to combine. Wrap the fries in a parchment paper cones and stick them in the bottom of mini martini shakers for serving individually.

Add all the ingredients, except the beer, to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Top with beer and garnish with an orange peel.

Combine flour, Cajun seasoning in a large bowl. Remove tips from chicken wings and discard; cut remaining wings in half. Place chicken pieces one at a time in flour mixture to coat well. Heat 2 inches of oil in a deep skillet to 350°F. Fry chicken in batches until crisp and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in honey and Tabasco Sauce and Cane Vinegar. Place warm wings in a large bowl and drizzle with butter mixture; toss to coat and serve immediately.

Place shrimp in food processor and process on high speed for 1 minute; slowly add whipping cream. Remove shrimp mouseline from processor and place in a stainless mixing bowl. Add crabmeat and fresh herbs, shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper and toss lightly together till well mixed. Add some fine bread crumbs and mix again lightly.

Patty the crab cake in 5 0z. portions and place in refrigerator to chill for 2 hours. Remove and dredge each one lightly on both sides with the remaining bread crumbs. In a silver stone pan place 4 oz clarified butter and heat over medium high heat. Sauté crab cakes till golden brown on one side; turn and place pan in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Buttered Popcorn Purée:

1/3 cup popcorn kernels
½ cup 2% milk
½ cup heavy whipping cream
4 oz parmesan rind
1 lb. unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt

Use the kernels to make popcorn, and discard any kernels that do not pop. Bring milk, cream, and parmesan rind to a simmer over medium heat.  Remove from heat, stir in popcorn, cover, and let sit for 20 minutes; remove rind. Puree popcorn using blender. Strain back into saucepan, and return heat to medium.  When hot, add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly, until thick. Add salt to taste.

Green Tomato Jam:

1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, small diced
2 oz garlic, chopped
1 oz olive oil
6 oz cane vinegar
6 large green tomatoes, peeled and seeded
2 oz cinnamon
½ box light brown sugar
1 tbs. cayenne pepper
6 oz honey

Sweat shallots, jalapeno and garlic in olive oil. Add vinegar and cinnamon and reduce by 2/3. Add chopped tomato, brown sugar, and cayenne. Bring to a rapid simmer. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for about one hour, until desired consistency is achieved. Finish with honey.

To serve, add a 2 oz ladle of the popcorn purée in the center of a warm plate. Place the crab cake in the middle of the sauce, make a small quenelle of the tomato jam, and place on the crawfish cake. Garnish with popcorn, shoots and flowers.

Put the flour in a shallow pan and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs, 2 oz each of the chives, parsley and garlic with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Heat 6 oz of clarified butter over medium-high flame in a large skillet. Dredge both sides of the fish and shrimp in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. When the oil is nice and hot, add the seafood and sauté for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the seafood to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Meunière Sauce

1 cup white wine
½ cup lemon juice
¾ cup veal demi glaze
4 tbsp chopped shallots
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 lb. butter (4 sticks) cut into 8 cubes

Put the wine, demi glaze and shallots in a sauce pot and reduce the mixture over moderate heat until liquid is completely gone and only the shallots remain.  Add the cream and combine with the shallot mixture.  With a wire whisk add the butter 1 cube at a time, beating constantly until all the butter is absorbed into the sauce.  Strain through a fine strainer into a clean saucepot, pressing the shallots to extract their flavors.  Finish the sauce with lemon juice.

Crab Reduction

2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, very finely sliced
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 lb gumbo crabs
2 tbsp Cognac
1/2 cup white wine
1-1/2 cups fish stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
2 tsp tomato purée
Pinch paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper
½ cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. Sauté the shallots and carrot for two minutes. Add gumbo crabs, turn up the heat, and cook until they turn bright red, about three minutes. Flame with the Cognac. Add the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock, bring to the boil, and reduce to a simmer. Add the bay leaf, thyme, tomato paste, paprika, and cayenne, and cook ½ hour.

Stir in the cream and cook 10 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer into a clean saucepot, pressing the crabs to extract their flavors with a wooden spoon.   Bring sauce back to boil in a saucepan, reducing to sauce consistency.

To serve: Combine the two sauces together and puree with a hand held emulsion blender for 2 minutes to add some air into the sauce, which will make the crab emulsion sauce.  Sauté the crab meat in the clarified butter with 2 oz of chives, parsley and garlic. Add the sautéed crabmeat into the sauce. On the center of a large dinner plate, place the drum fillet, then the sautéed shrimp.  Add the remaining garlic and parsley to the crab emulsion, spoon on top of the seafood, and garnish with micro greens and flower.

1 lb. bacon, medium diced
1 lb. Andouille, medium diced
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 tbsp. flour
8 cups vegetable stock
3 large yellow onions, peeled and chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. cayenne
3 lbs. greens, such as mustard, beet, turnip or collard greens, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, carrot tops and parsley, alone or in combination, cleaned and chopped
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. filé powder

Heat a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and Andouille and fry over medium heat until most of the fat has rendered out and the sausage is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and bacon to a plate. Add flour and vegetable oil and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until deep golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring often, until soft, 8-10 minutes.
Stir vegetable stock into pot, and then add Tabasco and cayenne. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Add greens, bay leaves, bacon and sausage and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until greens are very soft, about 1 hour. Stir in filé and adjust seasonings. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve gumbo over brown Jazzmen rice.