Saturday, August 24, 2019

Chimichurri Steak Flautas


I’ve made these a few times and discovered they freeze well. 
Microwave 5 min at 50% then finish in the toaster over so they crisp up.Serve with sour cream to dip into, and/or guacamole.

Make chimichurri in food processor. I used:
6 garlic cloves
1 bunch of parsley (top chopped off)
1 bunch of cilantro (top chopped off)
1 shallot rough chopped
1/2 cup vinegar (half cider and half red wine vinegar)
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Dash of red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning
You only need 1/4 cup for this. I like that it’s
versatile for other recipes. I may also freeze leftovers in a couple packets.

6 flour tortillas (small)
1 plum tomato, chopped. Put in a cup, s&p and add Tb water
Shredded cheese (Mexican blend or Mozzarella)
1 shallot, sliced
Flank steak or any good sliced steak you’d use for fajitas.

Put a splash of oil in skillet over high and cook the shallot and steak.
When the pink is gone, add tomato and cook until it thickens, a couple minutes.
Add chimichurri and heat up, remove from heat to a plate or bowl.
Rinse skillet and dry, add more oil.

Assemble flautas: cheese, steak, roll and place seam side down in the skillet.
On high (but watch so they get crispy but not burnt) cook 2 min and roll to fry all around.
Delicious!
Once cooled off a bit you should be able to eat them from hand. Keep napkins handy! 

Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprints

Taster approved- kept going back for more! 
Makes 2 dozen

I purchased and roasted/peeled raw hazelnuts but next time I’ll try buying them prepped. I used a food processor to grind them and about 10 packets of “sugar in the raw” = 3 Tb turbinado.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, separated 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted, skinned hazelnuts, roughly ground
3 Tb turbinado sugar

Chocolate Filling
1 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tb unsalted butter

Beat butter and salt until smooth. Add sugar and mix until incorporated. Add egg yolk and vanilla.
Add flour and mix until dough comes together. Dump onto plastic wrap and knead into a ball, wrap and refrigerate 1 hour (I did overnight). A log would be helpful.
Prepare hazelnuts and mix with turbinado sugar.
Oven 350.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Cut up dough into equal Tb sizes and form into balls with a thumb divot in each.
Whisk the egg white until frothy.
Dip cookie into egg white then into the nuts. Use a spoon to help sprinkle. It’s ok if the mix coats everything.
Bake 10 minutes (first pan in, 2nd pan takes about 10 min to prepare).
Take first pan out, 2nd goes in.
Fuss with divots to remake them if they filled in. Put back in oven, may need up to 10 more min but keep an eye out, you want them golden brown and set.
Allow to cool on sheets and prepare the chocolate filling.
In a bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate then stir in butter until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool. I was impatient; my chocolate could have cooled longer before piping it.
Use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and when the cookies are cooled, pipe chocolate filling into the cookie cavities.
Enjoy immediately, or allow chocolate to set up.