I admit it. I am a total cooking magazine junkie—I get almost all of them–and I try to make one recipe from each magazine that I receive every month.  It keeps me stimulated, my clients happy, and I really love to try new recipes out.  This month, I was thrilled to see a recipe for grilled,stuffed flank steak in the July 2009 issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

I’ve always loved the idea of grilled stuffed flank steak.   However, I’ve always been disappointed the end result.  Too often they are like a pizza with meat for a crust.  Ah! The perfect meal for anyone on the Atkins diet!  There is either too much cheese, the steak is chewy and tough or just plainly difficult to cook evenly.   This recipe required butterflying, then pounding the flank steak to tenderize it before spreading it with herbs and seasonings and then layering prosciutto and provolone cheese.   I tried the recipe as written and loved the flavors.  The key is not to put too much stuffing in.  However I found the flank steak to be tough, even after pounding it and it was challenging to roll.  I didn’t want to give up so I switched the flank steak for small  (4oz) beef tenderloin pieces, pounded thin.  The result—Delicious, tender, cheesy, melt in your mouth goodness. 

Grilled, Stuffed Tenderloin, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, July 2009

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. minced shallot

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage, or substitute 1 tsp dried

4 (4oz) pieces of beef filet (You can ask your butcher to cut a larger piece of filet in a half, or you can do it yourself.)

4 oz thinly sliced provolone cheese  *other cheeses that would be a good choice include cheddar, havarti, Monterey jack or mozzarella.

4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto *thinly sliced ham would work too.

Salt and pepper

4 skewers *I recommend purchasing metal skewers if you don’t have them already.  Not only will you be able to use them indefinitely, they won’t catch fire and burn like the wooden skewers.

Instructions

1.      Combine the garlic, shallot and sage in a small bowl and set aside.

2.      Pound the filet to 1/8” thick rounds. It’s best to pound any meat between two pieces of parchment paper or waxed paper to prevent tearing.  I use the butcher paper that the meat comes wrapped in, and that works perfectly and prevents excess waste.

3.      Have all of your ingredients lined up and ready to go.

4.      Salt and pepper the beef.  Remember that the prosciutto will add salt, so go easy!

5.      Sprinkle the beef equally with the sage, garlic and shallot mixture.  Rub it in so that it sticks a little.

6.      Layer the beef rounds equally with the prosciutto and cheese. Don’t cover the beef entirely with the filling.  Leave about a ¼” border

7.      Starting with the long side nearest to you, roll the beef up.  Tuck the sides in and cut the roll into 1 ½” rounds.

8.      Thread the beef rounds onto your skewer, stacking 4 or 5 rolls together on a single skewer. Make sure to leave a little ‘breathing room’ between each round so that they cook evenly.  Repeat with the remaining beef.

9.      Grill about 3-4 minutes per side, until they are well browned.  I prefer grilling outside, over charcoal or gas, but I have also successfully used a grill pan indoors.

Bon Appetit!  I steamed some artichokes and made a rice pilaf to round out the meal.  This is a great dish to make for company, not only because it tastes great, but you can make the rolls ahead of time and grill  to order when the guests arrive.  This would be terrific with any number of full bodied red wines,  including cabernet sauvignon, merlot or red zinfandel.