Alicia Stuffed Flank Steak and Truffled Brussels Sprouts

My wife Alicia is a great helper in the kitchen as well as an extremely willing test subject for all the cooking I do, but furthermore, she is also an amazing cook in her own right. This is one of her specialties, and it is super delicious, so it is getting added to the blog.

Yeah, your's will look that good too...

Parts and Supplies:

1 Flank Steak (about 1-2 lbs.)
2 cups baby spinach leaves
3 strips thick cut bacon
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

First thing you need to do is pound the flank steak to an even thickness about 1/2 inch thick. It is also the hardest part. Use a meat mallet and pound that sucker for about 5-10 minutes. While I am doing that part, Alicia cooks the bacon until it's good and crispy.

Ready to roll. Before and after.

Now you've got the steak pounded thin, you need to salt and pepper both sides. Then start layering it up with the stuffings. Start with a good layer of spinach leaves, leaving the last 2 inches of steak uncovered for easier rolling. Break up the bacon and spread evenly over steak. Lastly, layer the grated parmesan.

Rolling technique: have you made a joint before? It's very similar. For those not privy to that technique, make you're first wrap very tight, and continue rolling with firm pressure to keep the fixings inside and the roll tight. When you get to the end, tuck the edges in a bit and secure with toothpicks that have been soaked in water for a few minutes.

Heat a cast iron pan for 10 minutes on high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and the steak roll. Let the roll cook about 3 minutes each side, about 12-15 minutes total.

At this point the you are looking at rare-medium rare steak in the middle, if that is how you like your steak, remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing. If you like medium to medium well, place cast iron pan in a 350 degree preheated oven for another 5-7 minutes to let the inside cook a bit more. Either way, let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing to keep the juices in and so it doesn't all fall apart when you slice it.

Serve with Truffled Brussels Sprouts for extra points.
1-2 lbs brussel sprouts (about 6 per serving)
Grated parmesan or romano cheese
Olive oil (or reserved bacon grease from cooking the bacon above)
White truffle oil
salt and pepper

Grab a large frying oan or skillet, add about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Add whole brussels sprouts and boil for about 4-5 minutes, so you can just pierce the center with a fork, you don't want to overcook them and make them mushy, but you also don't want them raw. Drain the sprouts and run cold water over them to stop the cooking.

Put the skillet back over high heat and add olive oil or bacon grease if using. While that is heating up, cut the big brussels sprouts in half, but leave the smaller bite size ones whole. Once the oil is super hot, but not smoking, add the sprouts and toss to coat with oil. Now leave the pan alone and let the sprouts caramelize on one side for about 3-5 minutes. Turn them once they get browned but not burned. Leave for another 3 minutes or so.

Remove the brussels sprouts from the pan and put them in a big bowl. Add about 1 teaspoon of truffle oil and a small handful of the grated parmesan cheese. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Enjoy! Let me know if any of you readers try the recipe!

My Thai Curry

So the blog has been going for about two weeks now and this is the one recipe people keep asking me to post. So here it is: My Thai Curry recipe.

I make this dish all the time, especially when we have guests over because it is delicious, easy, is gluten free and is as good vegetarian as not. The other great thing about making curry is you can use whatever veggies are in season, or whatever you have left in your fridge.

You will need:
Curry Paste: red, green, massaman or panang.
2 cans Coconut Milk
1-2 cups Chicken broth
2-3 Tbs. Fish Sauce
2 Tbs. Brown sugar or honey
2 Tbs. Ginger, chopped fine
1 onion, sliced
Veggies: use 3-4 types of your favorites. Cut all veggies to single bite size.
        -I usually use one type of hard vegetable (potato, sweet potato, yam, or butternut squash)
        -And 2-4 of the following: mushrooms, red/green bell pepper, carrot, green beans, broccoli,
         green cabbage, baby bok choy etc, etc
Meat or protein: chicken, shrimp or tofu or a combination. If using tofu, cook it first in hot oil to get it crispy before adding it to the curry.
Baby Spinach
Cilantro: chopped for garnish
Mango: sliced for garnish
Lime wedges

To start: heat up a wok over high heat for about 5 minutes. Once it is really hot, add about a tablespoon of olive or cooking oil and add about 2-3 golf ball size balls of curry paste. The more curry paste you use the spicier and more intense the flavor of the curry. Cook the curry paste for about 30 seconds, just to get it hot and release some of the flavors from it.

Green curry paste in a super hot wok. 

After 30 seconds, add the sliced onions. Stir onions into curry paste to coat all the onions.

After about 3-5 minutes the onions will sweat and cook down, and it will combine easier and start to look like this:

Once the onion and curry mixture is combined and onions have softened, add the coconut milk. 

Quick note about coconut milk: if you want creamy delicious curry use the real stuff. If you like watery, not-as-good curry, use the light coconut milk and feel good about your healthy life choices...

That's some good looking green curry broth.

Add the fish sauce, brown sugar or honey, ginger and about 1-2 cups of chicken broth. Note: the more chicken broth you add, the more sauce you will have, but it also makes the curry thinner. So start with about 1 cup and see if you need to add more later on down the road.

Taste the curry to see how spicy it is. If it is too spicy, add more brown sugar to level it out.

Now is the time to add your "hard" vegetables (potato or squash) and pre-cooked tofu. These will need much longer to cook than everything else so let them cook in the curry while the curry simmers and the flavors develop. After about 10-15 minutes, stick a fork into a potato or squash piece to see if they are cooked.

If they are soft and ready to eat, it's time to add everything else. 

This is where the timing really counts. You need to make sure you cook everything through, but not turn it all to mush.

So, if you are using chicken, add that first to the curry to allow to cook all the way through, about 3-5 minutes.

Then add all the veggies and shrimp if you are using it:

The wok will be very full with all the veggies, but they cook down quick, about 2-4 minutes. All you really want to do is heat the veggies through and make sure the shrimp turn color and look just cooked.

Again, make sure you don't overcook the veggies or shrimp and end up with curry mush. 

Now you should be ready to serve. Fill your bowl with rice, cover with baby spinach, add a scoop or two or three of delicious curry goodness. Garnish with cilantro and mango. Add a lime wedge and enjoy.

Yum.

World's Best Pulled Pork

Yup. Claiming it.

Pulled pork is great. This recipe is great. If you have any reason to make pulled pork, use this recipe. It is actually super easy and will make you feel like a rockstar because it can all be prepared a day before your party so you can hang out and celebrate with all your friends... and it really is the world's best pulled pork.

It consists of 3 parts: pulled pork, cole slaw and an amazing homemade barbecue sauce.

Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

5-10 lb Pork Roast, shoulder or butt, both are good.

1/4 cup paprika (if cooking in oven, you can use smoked paprika)

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tbs kosher or sea salt

1 Tbs fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2-3 sprigs thyme

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3-4 cloves crushed garlic

3 Tbs olive oil

Like I said, this recipe is easy, but it takes time. In this case, 2-3 days...

Day 1:

Rinse and dry the pork roast and set on a rack on a baking sheet. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. It should be like a paste. Take handfuls of the paste and rub it all over, and into all the little cracks and crevices of the pork. There should not be a single part of the pork that isn't well coated with the rub.

Now cover the pork and put it in the refrigerator for the night. Let sit 8-12 hours.

Pork roast covered in rub.

Day 2:

If you are going all out on this recipe, fire up your smoker. If not, the oven is just as good, it just doesn't have the same smokey delicious flavor.

Smoker: Use 1 pan alder chips for first hour, add one more pan alder chips after that, then let continue cooking in smoker for about 4-6 more hours OR you can move it into a preheated 325 degree oven for another 2-3 hours.

Here is the smoker. The Big Chief is the best smoker out there...

Oven: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set pork in oven and cook 4-5 hours. 

The pork will be dark when it comes out. How do you know when its done? It will be super tender and the meat should easily pull away when you go to sample a piece...

That looks about right...

If you are serving the pork today let it rest at least a 1/2 hour before you try to pull it apart. 

If you are waiting until day 3 to serve it, you can let it cool completely, then refrigerate until game day.

The easiest way to pull the pork is just to get in there with clean bare hands and pull it apart. Don't be shy, you can wash your hands when it's all over(Mattias). Usually the smaller the better, but I think it's good the leave some big chunks here and there.

WHILE the pork is cooking, make the barbecue sauce.

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup yellow mustard

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1-2 Tbs A-1 Steak sauce (for Roy)

3-4 cloves of crushed garlic

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and stir over medium heat until combined and smooth. You can also add the pan drippings from the pork pan if you want a little extra something in there.

Once you have the pork pulled and the sauce finished, add about 2/3 of the barbecue sauce to the meat and keep warm either in a slow cooker or dutch oven. It can cook in the slow cooker here for a few hours, it just keeps getting better as the sauce and meat cook together...

So that's the pulled pork and barbecue sauce, but what really ties the thing together is the coleslaw. It is really light and refreshing and the perfect compliment to the pork.

The Citrus Slaw

1 small head red cabbage, shredded or chopped very fine

1 small head green cabbage, shredded or chopped very fine

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup FRESH squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbs honey

1-2 Tbs. grated ginger

2 Tbs lime juice

1-2 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (sambal oelek, find it near sriracha in the store)

1 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems

Combine all ingredients and let sit about 1-2 hours before serving. You can also prepare this all the day before and combine the dressing and cabbage 1-2 before serving.

So that's it. Serve it all together on a nice bun with some good side dishes and good friends and your all set.

Enjoy!