Cast Iron Ribeye with Mashed Cauliflower & Asparagus

Sometimes I find myself taking inventory of my kitchen tools and pondering which is the most vital and which is the biggest waste of space. Which one is most underutilized? For me, the answer to this last question is my crockpot and my cast iron skillet.

People always talk about the masculinity of the grill and I love to fire up the barbie as much as the next guy but you can’t tell me there isn’t something special about the sizzle of a hot cast iron skillet. I’m not talking about the craze of the fajita splatter or the Ruth’s Chris’ greasy gimmick. I’m talking about the tool, the heat, the caramelization and its ability to do work on the range, in the oven and over a fire.

When imagining this recipe I started by wiping the dust out of the skillet and leaving the cover on the grill.

Serves 2 (with leftovers …maybe)

Ingredients:

The Meat
1 20oz bone-in ribeye
2 sprigs of Rosemary
Small bunch of thyme
4 cloves of garlic
Salt & Pepper

Base & Garnish
3 slices of low sodium bacon
1 small shallot
2 sprigs Rosemary

Mashed Cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower
1 medium sweet vidalia onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp lowfat cream cheese
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
Seasoning Salt

Asparagus
10 stalks, trimmed

This recipe uses only two burners on your range. You need a cast iron frying pan and a deep pot with a steamer basket. Start by putting a cup of water in your steamer. Remove the leaves and core from the cauliflower and separate the florets. Rinse thoroughly and place in steamer basket. Quarter onion and add to steamer basket. Steam on high for 15 minutes covered. Heavily salt and pepper ribeye and set aside at room temp.

Cut bacon into 1/4″ strips and fry till crispy using cast iron pan. Remove bacon and set aside. Slice shallot thinly and fry in the bacon fat. Remove crispy shallots and set aside on paper towel.

Pour off remaining bacon fat and set aside. Turn heat to high and wait for cast iron pan to lightly smoke. Set Ribeye in pan and top with rosemary & thyme placing the garlic clove in the pan. Cook on each side for ~3 minutes. Set the ribeye aside to rest. While cast iron is still hot, remove from burner, add asparagus, sprinkle with seasoning salt and cover. The residual heat from the pan will cook the asparagus while you work on the cauliflower mash.

Remove steamer basket, pour out water from pan and return to low heat. Add cauliflower and onion to the warm pan. Add cream cheese, yogurt and 1 Tbsp rendered bacon fat, salt and pepper. Purée till smooth with hand mixer.

Cut the ribeye from the bone and slice in thick strips avoiding any concentrated fatty ribbons.

Start the base of the plate with 1 cup of cauliflower mash and smear across the plate. Top with asparagus. Layer the ribeye and finish with a sprig of Rosemary, two roasted garlic cloves and sprinkle the plate with crispy bacon and shallots.