Seared Steak with Black Garlic Aioli and Cauliflower Rice

I’ve tried “ricing” cauliflower in my food processor and it works fine, but it’s time consuming and makes a bit of a mess, so I was SOOO excited to come across this new item at Trader Joe’s this past weekend.

….and then I came across an article about black garlic in Bon Appetit magazine and remembered that Taylor told me she had cooked with it about a year ago.

Black garlic doesn’t have a garlic taste at all and is described as molasses-like with a balsamic, caramelized undertones.  More info here.

So, since Sunday night usually means steak, I thought I’d sear roast a ribeye, make a black garlic aioli and add a cauliflower rice side dish.  It was yummy!

Generously salt the steak on both sides (bringing it to room temperature) pat dry and sear roast.  While it’s in the oven make your black garlic aioli….

5 cloves black garlic, chopped finely (you can use more, it’s pretty mild!)
1 egg yolk
squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
up to 3/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
salt

• throw the egg yolk, garlic, mustard and lemon juice into a food processor (or you can use a whisk)
• Pouring in a thin stream of oil whisk the olive oil in to make a thick emulsion. You may or may not need all the oil depending on the egg yolk you used.
• Taste and season, you can add a little more lemon…and salt to taste.

(Full disclosure…mine was a little too much like a vinaigrette, so I don’t think my egg yolk was large enough & I might have used too much oil?…but the taste was still there!)

When your steak comes out of the oven it needs to sit for about 10 minutes.  I took mine out of the cast iron pan and placed it on a plate, covered.  ….and here’s the super easy, super yummy part…I just put the pan back on the stove with all those mouth-watering steak juices and just poured the cauliflower in.  The cauliflower soaked up all the juices, became a golden color and turned out so delish!

Unfortunately you can’t really see the aioli, but it’s the sauce on the steak..and a bit on the plate.  I like the look (& picture) of a steak that’s been given some good grill marks on the BBQ, but you really can’t beat the taste of sear roasting.  I made the cauliflower rice another night this past week and did it just like rice pilaf, browning it in a little butter & onions and adding parmesan at the end..I also love to add pine nuts if I have them on hand.

There you have it!  Bon Appetit!

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!