Dinnertime...

For dinner tonight, I made a flank steak rollatini with caramelized, wine-braised pears. To make the rollatini, I pounded out the flank steak into one large, flat piece. While I was hammering away, I placed sage leaves and seasonings so that the meat would be very flavorful – literally pounded in each bite. I then made a pate of sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, chicken livers, and crispy bacon. This mixture was spread liberally over the pounded flank steak. I rolled it up and then wrapped it in bacon. Flank steak can be dry and chewy if overcooked, so the bacon helped keep things nice and juicy. I laid the bundle over the pears and the wine sauce. The pears added sweetness, as well as elevated the wrap so that it would cook evenly and allow excess bacon fat to drip off. This was baked in a covered dish until the very end, when I removed the cover and turned the broiler on to get the external bacon crispy with a nice dark coloring. I let the rollatini sit before slicing it, so that the juices could redistribute themselves.