Things Are Changing…Steak Roll Ups and Blue Cheese Please

It’s decision time. With that said we had to submit notice yesterday and will be staying where we currently live in FL. Papa Smurf switched over his Driver's License to FL a week or so ago and is now an official resident. We also found a really good tailor shop for him in Citrus Park...oh and a stellar brick oven pizza place in Citrus Park too (Grimaldi's). I give it 5* some of the best pizza I've had since we've been here. You can even watch the cook make your pie. Julie and Jerry got a kick out of watching the cook toss the dough.

Things are changing and looking good for this year. But it will be a process as we build and set down roots here.The food truck contract is turning out to be a real bear! Restaurant accounting is a trip with its own caveats, idiosyncrasies, and dramas to hash out. It’s different from other businesses and has other financial matters that have to be recorded and tended to that are non-existent in other industries. Add that these establishments are mobile and it gets that much swirlier. It hasn’t come without some learning curve issues, frustrations, and screaming some very colorful language within the confinement of my little 3 walled office space with a window. You never really know how involved things are until you get in the trenches, start the work, and are already in the thick of it all. But I have always wanted to land a set of restaurant books ever since I started out independently. Once upon a time when I felt getting my CPA license was still well within reach/ grasp I actually wanted a restaurant practice. The last update I received we’re at about 7 trucks on the roster, 2 newbies. I have 2 in process and those 2 are from a total of 4 that are ready for process/ maintenance. My mind has not really caught up with all of this in a sense of being able to muster up any over excitement just yet. 

Some of you may have noticed that my Instagram has slowed down significantly with food posts/pictures shared. I need a new cell as mine is dying a slow death following a drop. It has a mind of its own now, sometimes closing and clicking apps almost incessantly. Once it’s replaced the pictures will resume. 

In the midst of all the “swirly-ness”, having to skim things off and focus what’s already on our plate in front of us. A lot of meat and potatoes! Speaking of which, here is a little something I whipped up this past week!

I made steak roll ups. I like blue cheese but despise the pre-made salad dressing blue cheese. Call me a “food snob” *shrugs. I highly prefer the fresh blue cheese crumbles and to make my own dressing or dipping sauce for wings with the crumbles, sour cream or Greek Yogurt and mayo. I was having a serious craving for blue cheese (no clue why), the night before I made this dish we made burgers. I wanted a bacon and blue burger but “no haps on that”. So the craving was not satisfied. Papa Smurf and I were in a serious chicken coma, I mean chickened out, so no wings…out of the question.  I decided to make Steak and Asparagus Roll Ups with Blue Cheese (Crumbles) after seeing chicken wrapped with cheddar and asparagus by Archer Farms in the grocery. 

Recipe: 

8 Small Round Chuck Steaks (Any small and thin round will do)

1 Stick of Butter (Healthy Op EVOO

1-2 Tspns of Red Cooking Wine (or Red Wine Vinegar)

Small Container Blue Cheese Crumbles

Asparagus (Woody portion trimmed off) 2-3 per roll/ steak

Steak Seasoning (Salt and Pepper Based) ---I like to use McCormick’s Montreal Steak

You can use a combination of Kosher Salt, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, ad EVOO

***Easy on the salt as Blue Cheese has a saltiness itself.

Ziplock Bag / Meat Tenderizer Mallet (I improvised with my wooden rolling pin).

Method:

This one is pretty straight forward. You want to put your steaks in a Ziplock and pound them thinner so that they are easier to roll. Be careful not to get holes in the meat or split the steaks. Next season with Salt and Pepper or Steak Seasoning on both sides. Allow steaks to get to room temperature and so that the seasoning can set in. After, place a tablespoon of blue cheese in the middle of the steak and top with a small square sliver of butter, arrange trimmed asparagus lengthwise. Then roll your steaks. If the steaks are a good amount of thinness they should hold in place without a toothpick. Place under a broiler at 500 degrees until the steak reaches your desired temperature. I like mine medium rare to medium well 155 - 165 degrees internal temp.

Voila!