Ever find yourself just in the mood to munch on a couple or even several different things..?  Maybe you’re just not in the mood for an entire entree?  Perhaps you’re in the mood to taste many different flavors…?

ME TOO!     I LOVE this style of dining 😉

…and here are a couple of MY favorite things…

Australian Flatbread – (actually, it’s Italian style…but I’m SO bad with a rolling pin, it looks more like Australia 😛  )

…and as usual:  No Ifs (we use whole wheat dough), No Ands (no heavy sauce) & of course, No Butter!

 

Here’s what you’ll need…

• Whole wheat pizza dough (Trader Joe’s has a great one)
• Fontina Cheese
• Fresh Rosemary
• Diced Pancetta
• Champagne Grapes (any grapes may be substituted here…just cut them in half)
• Rolling Pin
• Tin Foil
• Oven set to 375ºF
• Flour
• Clean Countertop
• Pizza Cutter
• Wine Glass 😉
• Lambrusco (slightly bubbly light Italian red wine) or Beaujolais (light French red) – {just recommendations…drink what you like!  Beer is a perfect pairing here too!}

Spread a light layer of flour out on the countertop.  Tear off a small fist full of dough and knead it lightly, incorporating small amounts of flour into it until it is no longer sticky.  Roll out your dough as paper thin as you can on the countertop.

Tear off a piece of tinfoil, just slightly larger than your rolled out dough (what country does yours’ resemble?)  haha!  I’ve made African and even Canadian flatbread several times as well…not pretty, but delicious ;P

Lay your dough out evenly on the tinfoil – avoid creases etc…    Grate a light layer of fontina cheese over the dough, evenly.  Then dispurse diced pancetta (I also get this from Trader Joe’s) evenly over the fontina layer.  Now chop fresh rosemary and sprinkle it evenly over the uncooked pizza.  Slip this into the pre-heated oven (I use a cutting board to slide it off from).  Watch the flatbread as it browns…cooking should take around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how dark you like it.

Once it’s to your liking, pull the flatbread out of the oven (the tinfoil is not hot so you can pull the corner and slide the flatbread back onto your cutting board).  Slice the flatbread into 8 and sprinkle your champagne grapes over the pizza (NOTE!:  Do not cook the grapes!  —  they provide a ‘burst’ in every bite and the sweet combines with the savory pancetta and salty cheese…truly delicious!)

Enjoy with your vino!  Cheers 😉

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Steak Tartare – packed with protein and incredible flavor

You don’t even need an oven for this one!

• 4 oz. of Flat Iron Steak
• Capers
• Cornichons
• Shallot
• Dijon
• Arugula
• Lemon
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 1 Egg Yolk
• Toast
• Sharp Knife
• Mixing Bowl

Begin by dicing your fresh (this is a raw dish) Flat Iron Steak into tiny cubes and place it in the bowl.  Then finely dice a tspn of shallot, a tspn of capers and 1 cornichon and add to the bowl.  Add a tspn of olive oil and a tspn of dijon to the bowl and mix the ingredients well.

Hand-mold, or compress the ingredients together in your hand and place the steak tartare on the plate.  I like to push the center down (like an indent) in order to place the egg yolk neatly on top of the mixture.

Toast your toast points.  Then, in the same bowl from before (which should have a light layer of oil, dijon etc…left over from mixing the tartare, add fresh arugula, a bit more olive oil and juice from 1/4 lemon.  Crack black pepper onto this and mix the greens.  Plate them next to the tartare.  Pinch a touch of sea salt over the tartare and rest your egg yolk on top (see pic).  Garnish with toast points and pour another glass o’vino!  ;D

Bon Appetit