Friday Night Dinner

So tonight's menu consisted of garlic encrusted steak, asparagus, and mashed cauliflower. It was a busy menu and I am glad that it is over.
Steak:
4 Steaks (I used)
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
Onion Powder
Butter
Vegetable Oil (I prefer Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but my Husband used the last of it)

1.) Begin by chopping up your cilantro and garlic, mix together.
2.) Tenderize your steak by using a meat mallet and go to town.3.) Sprinkle your steaks with onion powder. Use as little or as much as you prefer4.)Rub the steaks with cilantro/garlic mix.5.) Allow the steak and cilantro/garlic mix to marry for one hour in the fridge.
6.) After one hour of marination, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
7.) In a skilled on the stove place a good drizzle of vegetable oil and 3 tablespoons of butter.8.) Allow each side of the steak to brown evenly, and then transfer in an oven safe pan to the oven. I left mine in for about 20 minutes.9.) After the 20 minutes take out and transfer to a plate to rest, cover the steak with aluminum foil.

Asparagus:1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed
6 slices of bacon
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 stick of butter

1.) Begin by trimming your asparagus by snapping the bottom off of each piece.
2.) Chop your garlic up, you do not want this to be a fine chop3.) Cut bacon into small slivers, and add to a preheated pan on the stove.4.) Once the bacon has begun to brown on the edges add in your chopped garlic.5.) To the same pan add a few tabs of butter, 2-3 should be adequate.
6.) Add asparagus to the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Tossing the asparagus every few minutes.7.) Transfer the asparagus/bacon/garlic mixture to oven safe dish, leaving behind as much of the bacon grease as possible. Top with a few more tabs of butter and add to the preheated oven that your steaks are currently going to town in. Allow to cook until asparagus is tender but still has a bite to it.

Mashed Cauliflower:1 md. head of cauliflower
1/3 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 C. Shredded Cheese (Mild Cheddar)
Dash of pepper
Salt
1 tbsp. of garlic powder

1.) Begin by cutting cauliflower into small florets and wash thoroughly.
2.) Bring to boil a 5 qt. pan of water, about 1 inch deep and add about a 2 tsp. of salt.3.) Add cauliflower to boiling water and cook until soft.
4.) With a potato masher, mash cauliflower, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
5.) Transfer mixture to an oven safe dish and sprinkle with more cheese.
6.) Place in oven until the cheese sprinkled on top is melted.

This meal was good, wasn't knock my socks off good, but I think it was because I really wasn't in the mood for it. If you are not a cilantro fan then you will not enjoy this steak, I would suggest using another herb, or deleting that ingredient all together. The asparagus was good as usual. I have had asparagus in many different restaurants and I just do not enjoy it. For some reason I love how this one always turns out and Daniel loves it when I serve this dish. As for the cauliflower, it was good especially with all of the melted cheese. I am going to work on approving this one because I felt that it was missing something. Over all a good meal.