My husband’s favorite dish is meatloaf.  He’ll always be a Montana boy, I suppose.  No matter what I make it is his favorite.  Blackened Prime Rib with creamy cooked horseradish sauce is his favorite restaurant dish.  He’s found it in only two places.  The first was at the Blue Bayou Restaurant inside Disneyland at the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  He will roll his eyes when he reminisces about that meal.  I will never forget him sitting there in the simulated open-air dining room enjoying bite after bite wearing a silly paper pirate hat.  I don’t know why he wore the pirate hat, it was probably to amuse our two-year old son, but that’s when he first fell in love with blackened prime rib.

The second place in which he was lucky enough to find it on the menu was at a little cafe in Banner Elk, NC called the Corner Palate.  The trend seems to be over, as he can no longer find it offered on any menu.  They will blacken a steak for him at certain steak houses, but no one seems to have anything other than the old prepared horseradish sauce mixed with sour cream or mayonnaise to offer.

I don’t make prime rib very often at home, it would be a wonderful luxury, but it is more cost-effective to buy a couple of rib eye steaks every once in a while.  Sometimes I blacken my husband’s and make his favorite sauce to go with it.  I use the same rub on tuna and other fish to blacken.  Rarely do I use granulated garlic, but I find it very useful in dry meat rubs.

Ingredients:

Blackening Rub:

2 tsp. Kosher or Sea Salt

2 tsp. granulated garlic

2 tsp. chilli powder

1 tsp. very coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. paprika or smoked paprika

Creamed Horseradish:

1/2 grated, fresh horseradish, peeled

2 T butter

2 T flour

1 c. cream

1/2 c. whole milk

Salt to taste

Nutmeg (optional)

Method:

Combine rub ingredients and coat both sides of two rib eye steaks.  Heat two cast iron skillets over high heat until smoking.  Lay steaks down on cast iron and cook a few minutes on each side, flipping until they reach your desired temperature.

Reduce heat for medium well to well steaks so they won’t dry out.

Serve with Creamed Horseradish.

Creamed Horseradish Method:

Melt butter over medium heat and sprinkle in flour to make a roux.

Cook stirring constantly for one minute and slowly add milk and cream to form a paste.  Continue adding while whisking well to prevent lumps from forming.  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly and reduce until thickened.

Season with salt to taste, add a pinch of nutmeg if desired, and toss in grated horseradish just before serving.