Cajun surf and turf

Honestly I have never really understood the whole surf and turf idea....until now. To me it seems strange to make a thing of putting two kinds of meat together. Some people swear by it so I figured I would give it a try. I opted for Cajun scallops and steak with mashed cauliflower. Each item was delicious individually but as a whole, it left me wanting more so I played around with the flavors until I had a little Cajun party on my plate. First attempt at this dinner came from a cookbook and so I wont share the recipe. This version was a little bland so I spiced it up with Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning. As a second attempt, I mixed things up further and added a little more heat. 

Ingredients:

• 2 skirt steaks
• 4-8 scallops
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 tsp Sriracha or Chili paste
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Prep:

2 steaks by allowing to warm up from the refrigerator on the counter -about 5-10 minutes. Pat dry with paper towel and crack black pepper corns. Preheat oven to 425 F

The scallops get the same treatment with a little cracked pepper as well. Also, set a pot of water to boil with a steamer basket.

Cook: 

Steaks: Use a tbl of your oil of choice to get two pans ready. Turn to medium heat and in one place the steaks. Don't move them for 2 minutes.  After that, flip once and wait another two. From there, take the pan and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes. I used skirt steak so they were thin enough to be done in this time. For thicker steaks, adjust accordingly. 

Scallops: In the second pan, heat a little olive oil to medium and sear the scallops. Wait 5 minutes then flip. Unlike the steaks, these will stay in the pan. If using butter, place a tbl of butter in the pan and repeatedly bathe the scallops in the butter. For me, I skip this step and move onto the white wine. Pour about 1/4 cup of white wine or vermouth into the pan and let it sizzle around the scallops. To this add 1 thumb of chili paste/sriracha or other hot chili sauce. This gives a nice even coating of heat to go with the butter texture of the scallops.

Cauliflower: In the pot of boiling water add the cauliflower into the steamer basket. Steam for about 8-10 minutes. To this add 2 cloves of minced garlic and a dash of the chili paste/hot sauce/jalapenos. Whatever heat you prefer. Once steamed pulse in a blender with 1/4 cup of almond milk. If you use coconut milk, this makes a much creamier texture and deeper flavor. Watch out not to over mix the cauliflower because it can go from mashed potato like to paste in a minute.