Steak Bites with Garlic Aïoli
Our longtime director at the Eyeopener, a man I’ve worked with for 6 or 7 of the 32 years he’s been at CBC, is retiring this week. Every Tuesday when I go to the studio, his first question when I walk through the door is – “got steak?” Generally I don’t (although he didn’t complain when I had prime rib instead), but this past Tuesday, being my last day with him in the director’s chair, I made steak.
I brought him a nice, triple A, well-marbled ribeye to cook on the grill, but I also made steak bites – easier for everyone to eat in the studio first thing in the morning, and inspired by the steak bites I had at the Steakout truck a few weeks ago (you’ll find them parked beside MEC most of the time), which they served with a garlicky soy aïoli.
I’ve had a recipe for Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk’s “Easiest, Tastiest Steak” on my to-make list for many years now, and it seemed to me that a salty, gingery, garlicky marinade would do well on little bites of meat you dip and pop into your mouth. It’s an intense marinade – not one you’d want to bathe your steak in for too long – but it was perfect. After a dip, you cube your meat, crank up the heat under a skillet and sear the pieces in butter, which creates a wonderfully meaty browned-butter dribble to pour over your steak bites after you cook them, which only takes a few minutes.
Cooking steak bites is less stressful than a whole steak – once they’re nicely charred on all sides, they’re perfectly done in the middle. And with all that extra surface area, every bite has crispy bits.
Plus: it’s a perfect opportunity to hone your mayo-making skills and whip (literally) up some garlic aïoli for dipping. (But no one will mind if you cheat and add crushed garlic to a jar of mayo.)
Steak Bites with Garlic Aïoli
AuthorJulieCut the steak into bite-sized (about 1-inch) pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a glass baking dish, add the meat, turn to coat, and marinate for 10 minutes to half an hour, stirring once or twice. Do not marinate it overnight, as this is a fairly salty marinade.
Set a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add a blob of butter. When the foaming subsides, add the steak in batches, without crowding the pan, and leave for a minute or two to get a nice sear on the first side. Turn and cook for a few minutes, until golden all over. Transfer to a shallow bowl. When all the steak is cooked, drizzle the buttery juices from the bottom of the pan over them. Serve with garlic aioli.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the steak into bite-sized (about 1-inch) pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a glass baking dish, add the meat, turn to coat, and marinate for 10 minutes to half an hour, stirring once or twice. Do not marinate it overnight, as this is a fairly salty marinade.
Set a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add a blob of butter. When the foaming subsides, add the steak in batches, without crowding the pan, and leave for a minute or two to get a nice sear on the first side. Turn and cook for a few minutes, until golden all over. Transfer to a shallow bowl. When all the steak is cooked, drizzle the buttery juices from the bottom of the pan over them. Serve with garlic aioli.
Great dish…. nice pics
That’s looks like meat-lovers heaven! Yum!
Got steak? That’s way better than good morning. GREG
WOW! This looks amazing. Thank you again, Julie!
Julie, this reminded me of some pub food we had in Whitefish MT called Black and Blue. It was blackened pieces of steak with a blue cheese dipping sauce. Amazing. Any ideas how to do this?
I’m not much of a steak person (we eat veg most of the time, mostly because I’m too lazy/forgetful to take meat out in time and cook it,) but these look amazing. I might just have to surprise hubby with these (though probably not for breakfast :))
I’m sooooo making this tonight. Yum.
That was sweet and very thoughtful of you to bring him this on your last day together!
Yum. And I listened with relish to that presentation last Tuesday.
Just a note in passing. Aïoli is, by necessity, made with garlic (it comes from the French word “ail”, which means garlic). If it is not made with garlic, it is not aïoli, but some other kind of dip / mayo. Therefore, calling it “garlic aïoli” is redundant. A little like calling “chai” “chai tea”…
Keep the cheerfulness and the yumminess coming on these Tuesday mornings.
Making these for sure for holiday “small crowd get togethers” – look Delish!
This sounds like a great appie for Christmas Eve. Thanks for sharing!
Julie, I made this last night for dinner – it was so wonderful! The steak was tender and just perfect. I tend to usually overcook steak on the stovetop, so making cubes solved the problem for me…. yumm… Thanks for the inspiration and great recipes.
My boys are going to devour these! Bite sized morsels and a dipping sauce – what could be better? I just put in my grocery order for Rib eye…
Made this with aged rib eye steak from a Hutterite Colony. Absolutely wonderful, and the dipping aioli is so easy. Who knew?? Obviously everyone but me. This is a keeper of a recipe!
We have now made steak bites (twice), once in the pan, once on the grill kabob style with peppers, onion and mushrooms and we’ve also made pork bites….this is a marinade I will never tire of….from one meat godess to another, Thank You
I have my steak marinating, my Aioli made with flavours marrying while we speak, can’t wait to eat this tonight 🙂
I never comment on blogs, but I did make these last night and they were beyond perfect. I think the only difference I made is that I subbed lime for the lemon, as I figured it was for acid in the marinade and that is what I had. I also used 2, 1″ thick sirloin steaks that I cubed myself. I added 2 T butter to my pan and waited until slightly golden but not burned butter before adding my steak. I deglazed with a nice cab and wiped clean and started on a second batch. Each bite was a jucy, tender, flavor explosion and they only took a few minutes in the pan!
Thank you!!! As an rookie in the kitchen you made me feel like a superstar for this Super Bowl party…sincerely, thank you!!!
Hi Julie, I tried the stake-bites with aioli it turned out great! My wife and i loved it.
Thanks, T.
What happened to the aioli part of this recipe? It used to be there, now it’s gone.
weird! There have been a lot of issues with the changeover of the new site.. I’ll try to find it…
I would also like the recipe for the garlic aioli when you find it. Thanks for sharing such tasty recipes on your blog! Enjoy your summer Julie! Judy
I made this tonight but I used a part of an English roast that I had purchased yesterday on sale It sounded wonderful and it is. We are watching football and so this with a salad makes a great dinner. Definitely a keeper. There are tots of aioli recipes on line so I looked thru them and picked one. The leftover marinade I stuck in the crockpot with the rest of the roast and have it cooking for tomorrow or Monday
So good to search out any individual with some original thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is something that’s needed on the internet, somebody with a bit of originality. useful job for bringing one thing new to the web!
Did anyone ever find the aioli recipe? I have tried others from the web but the original that was with this recipe was the best. Wish I wouldve printed it out a long time ago.
Sorry, I must have missed it! I usually just finely grate a clove of garlic into mayo, with a pinch of salt!
I requested but never received the aioli recipe. It makes me sad!!!
Sorry, I must have missed your message! I usually just finely grate a clove of garlic into mayo, with a pinch of salt! easy!