- [Andrew] This episode of Basics
is presented by The Singleton.
Great neat, over ice, or mixed into a cocktail,
The Singleton is a versatile award-winning single malt.
It's perfect if you're new to scotch,
light and slightly sweet from being aged
in bourbon oak barrels.
I collaborated with The Singleton to create a series
of food and cocktail pairings.
Across these episodes, I'll show you how to utilize
three different cuts of meat in different ways.
Today that cut is flank steak, which I'll be using
in three delicious variations for steak pinwheels.
Let's get down to basics.
(jazzy music)
(smooth music)
- So flank steak is perfect for pinwheels,
because of its size, shape, intramuscular fat content,
and the distinct grain of its muscle fibers.
First we want to trim off any excess fat or sinew,
and then we're gonna butterfly it.
Basically, cut it in half widthwise
and open it up like a book.
And do you want to do this with the grain of the meat.
That is, you want your knife to be aligned
with the direction the meat fibers are pointing.
Just make long, careful cuts starting at the thinner side
of the piece of beef, leaving about a half inch uncut
at the end so that you can open it up like a book.
Then if you want extra super tender pinwheels,
you can use one of these scary-looking devices.
This is a needle beef tenderizer,
normally used for making chicken-fried steak.
Very optional, but it will make your pinwheels
very tender indeed.
Then, most recipes call for you to trim off the ends
at this point, making a perfect rectangle of beef,
but I like to trim these off after rolling up the beef,
which I will demonstrate later.
Before stuffing, we're gonna generously season on both sides
with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Then we're gonna let it sit at room temperature
for at least 30 minutes, which is both gonna deeply season
the beef and help it retain moisture when grilled.
It is during this time that we can begin
to discuss stuffin's.
Let's start with a very elegant steak pinwheel
Shiitake mushrooms, spinach, and gruyere cheese.
Got about a pound of shiitaki mushrooms
that I'm going to thinly slice.
And likewise, my gruyere,
which I'm also going to thinly slice.
Sliced cheese is gonna hold its ground a little bit better
in the steak than shredded.
Then, in the vast majority of cases,
you're gonna want to pre cook your ingredients.
Mushrooms, onions, peppers, spinach, all these things
contain a whole lot of moisture that we want to cook out
before we stuffed them inside a steak.
There's also just no way that they're gonna
cook through on the grill.
So I'm sauteing these mushrooms for about five minutes,
until they've given up their moisture,
adding a whole lot of spinach,
way more than I think I need, because this stuff shrinks,
and cooking two to three minutes, just until wilted,
or about 1/1000th of its original size.
Then I'm gonna crush a few cloves of garlic in there
and saute those for another 30 seconds
to one minute until fragrant.
Then, since we don't want these things cooking the steak
from the inside out, we're gonna let them cool completely
by spreading them out on a rimmed baking sheet.
Once cooled, we can get to stuffin'.
We're gonna start by aligning our steaks
so that the grain is facing side to side.
Spread our mushroom and spinach mixture all over,
leaving a one-inch border on each side.
Shingle our cheese on top of that and begin rolling.
Now, it is imperative that you're rolling this tightly,
evenly, and so that the grain runs down the length
of the roll.
Then, seam side down, we're going to tie it
at one and a half-inch intervals.
You want to tie as tightly as possible,
so you get a nice clean spiral in every pinwheel.
Then, optional but especially helpful if you're grilling,
you can pierce with a metal or wooden skewer
right below each string.
Then, the most satisfying part of our day, it's time to cut.
And this is why I like to leave the trimmings
on the outside of the beef until this stage.
You're gonna have to cut some off any way to get
a nice clean facade, so you might as well do it now.
And as long as you've rolled and tied tightly,
you should have yourself a real nice looking steak pinwheel.
Keep chopping 'em up with a long sharp knife,
arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet,
and these guys are ready for the grill,
where we're gonna utilize the indirect heat method.
Basically, start by blasting one side of your grill
on maximum heat for 15 minutes, scrub it clean
with a grill brush or some steel wool, soak a paper towel
in vegetable oil, and use it to wipe down the grates.
Then we're gonna plop our steak pinwheels
in the very hottest parts of the grill
and sear on each side for about three to four minutes.
This should hopefully create a crispy barrier
through which your cheese and vegetables cannot escape.
There will inevitably be some filling loss, but don't worry,
about 80% of what's in there is staying in there.
Keep the lid closed throughout this process,
and once your steaks are seared,
we're gonna move them over to the cold side of the grill,
where our burners are off and the oven-like heat
can continue cooking the steaks through
without burning them.
Then it's time to bust out the thermometer,
'cause there's really no way to know when these guys
are done apart from taking their temperature.
About a billion different factors can change cook times.
The power of your grill, the thickness of your pinwheels,
the digestive health of your many, many pet ferrets.
I personally want medium rare, so I'm shooting for 125, 130.
Then all there's left to do is let these guys rest
for five to 10 minutes, take off the string, and dig in.
You can definitely serve this with a light salad
or some kind of vegetable side,
but it's really an all in one meal.
It is beefy, it is cheesy, and it's got loads
of flavorful veggies, and it's gotta be one of my very
favorite utilizations of my grill this or any summer.
And this one is so good that even though we had
impending dinner reservations,
Jess and I ate the whole thing.
But this is our fancy pants pinwheel.
What other familiar steaky flavors
can we put in pinwheel form?
How 'bout fajitas?
For this, we're gonna start with some fajita vegetables.
All manner of peppers and onions,
thinly sliced and ready to be sauteed.
And then for cheese, I thought we'd use
this lovely oaxaca cheese.
Basically sort of like a Mexican mozzarella.
So if you can't find oaxaca,
string cheese will actually work in a pinch.
To that end, I am shredding this cheese into strings,
which are long and will probably stay
in the pinwheels more easily.
The peppers and onions are being simply sauteed
in some vegetable oil, about 10 minutes over medium,
medium-high heat until soft and blistered
and starting to caramelize.
Then I'm lowering the heat, crushing in a few cloves
of garlic, adding about a teaspoon of Mexican oregano
and ground cumin.
I'm also gonna add a teaspoon of ground ancho chili powder
and some freshly ground pepper
and give these guys a toss over medium-low heat,
just so that their flavors can get to know each other.
Once the spices are toasted, we're gonna season to taste
with kosher salt, give 'em one last toss,
and like the previous fillings,
we need to let them cool completely.
So we're gonna spread 'em out on a rimmed baking sheet.
When it comes time to stuff, I'm gonna start
by hitting the flank steak with the zest of one lime.
Then it's pretty much the same procedure as before.
Pile on our sauteed veg, follow that with a generous piling
of our cheese, once again leaving a one-inch border
around the outside, most importantly at the top,
and then beginning to roll tightly.
And with this particular flank steak, I had a hole.
You're gonna see it by my left hand, your right, right now,
but this is not the end of the world
so long as we roll tightly and tuck the hole in
underneath the seam, like so.
Then it's the same old procedure of tying it up,
sticking it with skewers, and slicing into pinwheels.
Then you might notice that I'm tying this steak up
at much larger intervals, resulting in much thicker
pinwheels, and I want to assure you
that I totally did that on purpose.
It's not at all because this was actually
my first ever steak pinwheel
and I did not know what I was doing.
However, these super thick pinwheels actually present
a great opportunity, that being how to make
steak pinwheels indoors.
It's the same concept.
We want to start by blasting 'em with super high heat,
so over a medium-high flame, we're gonna heat some
vegetable oil until it is smoking, plop down the pinwheels,
and sear for three to four minutes.
And you might be saying, wow, dude, you just put cheese
in a frying pan, way to screw this up.
To which I would say, hold your treacherous tongue!
Thou wouldst be advised to speak less and listen closely!
Just like on the grill, but perhaps even more efficiently,
these have formed a leak-proof crust,
and once we give them one to two minutes
on their second side, we're gonna plop this whole thing
into a preheated 375-degree Fahrenheit oven
to finish cooking through.
Again, really the only way you're gonna be able
to determine when they're done is with a thermometer.
Let them rest for 10 minutes before removing the skewer,
the string, and serving.
And this one's also great.
It's got all the flavors of steak fajitas
with oaxaca cheese built right in.
And despite its ridiculous thickness,
it is cooked to a perfect medium rare.
But now for the pinwheel that I've been excited for
all week, the Philly cheesesteak pinwheel.
We're starting with the usual routine,
heating some vegetable oil over medium high heat
until shimmering, sauteing a whole lot of onions.
This is two medium onions, halved and thinly sliced.
We're gonna saute those for a few minutes
until they re just starting to soften
before adding some green peppers,
likewise cut into long strips.
Then we're gonna saute everybody together
for about five more minutes until really soft
and starting to caramelize.
Spread it out, let it cool, and it's time to stuff.
Peppers and onions down, trim off the top edge
so it's nice and even, and then for the cheese element,
I'm using very thinly sliced provolone.
You could also use American cheese here,
but I'm sorry, Philadelphians, whiz will not work.
Roll it up, tie it up, skewer it through every inch or two,
then give it a slice to reveal a spiral so nice.
And before I lose your good will
with increasingly long rhymes, we're headed out to the grill
for good steak and good times.
Anyway, usual procedure out here.
Plop 'em on the hot side, make sure they're good 'n seared
all over before putting them over to this cool side
to finish cooking, cook to your desired doneness,
let 'em rest for 10 minutes,
remove all the restraints, and serve.
And there you have it, Philly cheesesteak steak pinwheels.
Probably don't need to sell you on this one.
It's steak, peppers, onions, and cheese.
But for the ultimate pinwheel experience,
we must now talk about cocktail pairing.
So we're gonna make a light summery citrusy cocktail
I have christened the Zingleton.
First up, gonna make a honey ginger simple syrup,
combining one cup each water and honey in a medium saucepan,
tiny whisking to combine, and bringing to a simmer
and letting cook until it reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit,
skimming off the foam that accumulates
towards the end of cooking.
Then we're gonna kill the heat and add three quarters
of a cup of sliced fresh ginger, covering and letting steep
until cooled completely before straining
and putting into our favorite bottle for long-term storage.
Then for the actual cocktail,
we're gonna cut ourselves an orange garnish.
Nice. Then we're gonna grab two king cubes
of the fanciest ice we can find, wrap 'em up
in a clean towel, and give 'em a smash.
Just two or three smashes, or until thoroughly smashed.
Then we're gonna use this ice to fill a cocktail shaker,
shortly followed by one and one half ounces
of The Singleton 12 year old, three quarters of one ounce
of freshly squeezed lemon juice, one half of one ounce
of freshly squeezed and strained orange juice,
and one half of one ounce of our homemade
ginger honey syrup.
The top of your shaker and make it live up to its name
with a thorough shakin'.
This not only mixes everything together,
it aerates and dilutes the cocktail, and you know that
it's ready when the entire shaker is frosty.
Drop another king cube of fancy ice in a rocks glass,
strain your beautiful summery cocktail over top,
and garnish with an orange garnish.
I'm just gonna slice a little notch in my orange wedge,
perch it on the rim of the glass,
and there you have it, the Zingleton, with a Z.
Or if you're short on time, you can always do The Singleton
plus two, The Singleton plus any two other ingredients,
like club soda and lime or bitters and vermouth.
Thanks again to The Singleton, with an S,
single malt scotch whiskey
for partnering with me on this episode.
If you're intimidated by scotch, don't be.
The Singleton 12 year old is easy to enjoy
and mixes well in a variety of simple cocktails.
Just a few ingredients and a few friends
and you'll be celebrating grilling season the right way.
Stay tuned for more from The Singleton,
and to get a bottle for yourself,
head to the link in the video description.