In the Kitchen
Show the carnivore in your life a little love with this creative steak dinner

Meat eating is sometimes a big deal in our household. I’ve said emphatically in the past my husband is a carnivore who will never decline a piece of meat. If I want to see him smiling ear to ear at the dinner table, a steak, a whole chicken or even a juicy pot roast will do the trick. There doesn’t need to be any fancy sides or sliced bread. Vegetables? He couldn’t care less; as long as the meat is there waiting for him he is a happy man.

My husband is also one to try new things – as long as it’s meat related, of

course. He has been bugging me to make those fancy steak pinwheels you see sometimes during the summer season in the meat section of the grocery store, claiming they’d be perfect for backyard grill nights when we have friends or family over. I hesitate, sometimes, to purchase those pre-made pinwheels in the store. I stare at them thinking ‘why can’t I just make these myself with my own fancy stuffing?’

So I decided to do an experiment.

I made them inside, minus the grill and with a delicious combination of mushroom, onion, spinach and provolone. It looks simple but I’ll tell you right now the secret is to have the steak pounded out thin enough to hold all of the goodies inside. This is something you can do with the flat side of a meat mallet or a small heavy flat frying pan. Or if you’re lucky and have a great butcher, he might even do it for you. This is really the hard part – if you even want to call it that. If you can master the thinness, then the rest is a piece of cake.

They were so delicious and the pinwheels go great with any side dish you’re serving up. We will definitely be cooking these up during the summer months to share with friends and family.

Stuffed Steak Pinwheels

Yields: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Flank steak
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 9 slices provolone cheese
• 2 cups baby spinach, lightly packed
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the flank steak out on a large work surface in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat hammer or a small flat frying pan, pound the steak until it is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Remove the plastic wrap and set the steak aside.
2. In a large frying pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and mushrooms. Cook until all of the moisture is gone and the onions begin to caramelize and the mushrooms begin to brown; approximately 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Using the kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, season both sides of the steak. Lay the steak in front of you with the grain of the meat going horizontally. Spoon the mushroom and onion mixture on top, spreading it evenly across the steak. Sprinkle the spinach on top, followed by the slices of provolone. Press down lightly to compress the spinach. Starting at the bottom of the flank steak, roll it up tightly, making sure the grain or the meat is running horizontally.
4. Use six wooden toothpicks or short skewers to secure the steak roll. Slice the steak roll into 6 even pinwheels.

   

5. Heat the vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet or oven proof pan over high heat. Sear the steak pinwheels on one side for 2 minutes, flip and sear the second side. Sear in batches to prevent from overcrowding the pan. Place all of the pinwheels in the skillet and place in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, until medium rare. If necessary, cook longer for desired doneness. Serve immediately.Kayleigh Van Vliet Baig was born and raised in Riverhead, where she lives with her husband Tahir and their two dogs.Kayleigh is in her third season as Sous Chef ata private kitchen in Southampton. Not only is she second in command but her main focus is on creating, preparing and executing cold dishes such as salads, hors d’œuvres, appetizers, canapés, pâtés and terrines. Kayleigh has been in the culinary industry for the last 15 years, working her way up in kitchens on the East End. She also is a personal chef.Look for In the Kitchen with Kayleigh every Saturday on SoutholdLOCAL.com.Got questions? Recipes? Ideas? [contact-form-7 id=”26578″ title=”Write to Kayleigh”]