Lately I’ve been obsessed with Farm to table chef Dan Barber’s Cauliflower steak recipe, Food 52 is the site I found it on, so basically I adapted his recipe but put the “Oscar style” spin on it. I was thinking to myself….what is my favorite steak house order? The answer is Oscar (steak, usually sirloin or tenderloin, topped with crab, asparagus, and hollandaise). I figured if I was going to replace beef with cauliflower I better make it just as decedent as a steak house meal is. His recipe calls for one head of cauliflower/seared till golden/salt & pepper/finished in a 350 oven for 10 or 15 minutes. I cut the sides off the cauliflower and used the middle to make two 1 1/2 inch slices to be consistent with a prime cut of steak. I also used a orange cauliflower, my store carries this, but you can always use regular, white cauliflower. So with the side florets you boil those in 2 cups water, 1 cup milk (you can use whatever you like, easily made vegan) for 10 minutes until very tender, in Dan’s recipe he puts the florets with one cup of cooking water and blends to make a puree, I did this as well but I added in butter, 2T (sub smart balance to make vegan hollandaise), and lemon, 1/2 juiced to make it faux hollandaise, because my cauliflower was orange it made the perfect color to be hollandaise, if using white cauliflower add 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric to get that yellow “egg yolk” shade. Blanch asparagus/prepare crab, remove shells etc. For assembly I put my “hollandaise” at the bottom, topped with the “Steak” added asparagus topped with crab (omit for vegan or use a vegan product), a lil more sauce a bit of cayenne (typical in hollandaise), and topped with some micro greens. It was AMAZING!!! Originally I was planning on a traditional egg based hollandaise but as I was cooking I realized I could use cauliflower in place of eggs and make a totally vegan hollandaise sauce! Dan Barber’s philosophy was a wonderful muse for my own creation, using veg cooked in methods usually used for meat is an awesome way to bring out the satisfying side of our veggie friends, and I think making it “Oscar style” really elevated it to a whole new level! Seriously try this, even the biggest carnivore will be begging for more and this is a healthy alternative!
Eat, Drink, and be local! A unconventional food blog!