Cody’s Birthday Meal 2018

Good Afternoon! Tia here~

Cody and I have started a tradition of cooking for one another on our birthdays, and I for one think it is very fun and much better than going out 🙂 The basic premise is that the birthday boy/girl gets to choose WHATEVER they want to eat on their birthday and the other person gets to make it from scratch for them.

This year Cody chose Balsamic Steak Rolls as his birthday desire, and I for one think they came out pretty well!

I made these by first taking a flank steak and pounding it out a little bit with a rolling pin. A meat hammer would probably be more effective, but what I have is a French rolling pin and that works pretty well too :). Then I portioned the steak out into smaller pieces- probably around 3″X6″ but this is (again) not an exact science. Try to cut against the gain if at all possible.

Then put the steak pieces into this marinade for about 30min-1hour:

• 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
• 2 TBS honey
• 2 TBS whole-grain mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (we used from our own indoor garden!)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to your liking

Meanwhile, prepare your veggies for the filling. We used carrots, zucchini, scallions, and red pepper. You can use just about anything here so use what you have on hand! A piece of asparagus would be great here too.

Cut them into the small julienne you see above, and when the meat is done marinating take each piece out, lay the veggies down, and roll up! I used butchers twine to keep them together but I think that toothpicks would be easier.

Here they are ready to be seared!

We seared these off in our cast iron pan until they were almost cooked through then added the leftover marinade to the bottom of the pan to reduce as a sauce.

I served these with a simple cilantro lime brown rice and a bottle of dry red wine.

The final product received a thumbs up from the birthday boy 🙂

Stay tuned for my birthday meal next month, until then I am still thinking about what Cody made me for my birthday last year 🙂

~Tia