Pinwheels- Mom in the kitchen

Another Cook's Illustrated recipe! For some reason the East Coast receives magazine subscriptions faster then Colorado. My parents had already made this recipe before I had even gotten the magazine in my mail box! In this situation, it was a good thing because it is a more complicated recipe and took a bit of time to put together. My parents were out for their first visit in the summer since we moved here nine years ago! They had been here in the early fall and always in the winter but never to experience the amazing summers we have here in the mountains. We had a fabulous time and packed in a lot of activities.

As I've said before, I love cooking with my parents. They are each talented cooks and I love sharing recipes with them when they come out but this time they took the reigns and made this delicious and fun dish. Here are a few pictures of my Mom prepping the pinwheels. After taking a look at Christopher Kimball's Blog (the founder of Cook's Illustrated) he shows a nice picture of the pinwheels. Take a look at his blog. You can keep track of his adventures. We made them in the morning so that they had time for the flavors to meld. As you can see we used two flank steaks. One was more then enough for 4 people. They key to this dish is having a tight roll, an extra pair of hands to tie the twine and a sharp knife. Depending on the size of the flank steak, you will have 8-10 pinwheels per log. Insead of using one skewer per wheel we put 3 wheels per skewer.

Pinwheels
2 Flank Steaks about 2 pounds each (butterflied)
10 slices of provolone

8 slices of fresh mozzarella

1/2 C Flat leaf parsley

3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 C sun dried whole tomatoes

1 medium shallot, minced

1 t fresh minced sage leaves

3-4 T evoo
kosher salt and ground black pepper

butcher's twine

skewers

Combine garlic, shallot, parsley, sage, olive oil and a pinch each salt and pepper. Butterfly and pound steak into a rough rectangle. Spread parsley mixture evenly over steak. Layer tomatoes over parsley.

Finish with a layer of provolone and mozzarella. Make sure you leave a 2-inch boarder along the edge.Starting from the bottom edge and rolling away from you, roll beef into a tight log and place on cutting board seam-side down. Starting 1/2 inch from the end, evenly space 8-10 pieces of butcher's twine at 1-inch intervals underneath steak. Tie the middle string first and then the two outer, finish the remaining. Skewer beef directly though the seam and through the string. Using a sharp knife, slice roll between pieces of twine into pinwheels. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill for 15 minutes on high. Turn one side of grill to low. Carefully brush grill with oil to prevent sticking. Grill pinwheels for 3-6 minutes until well browned. Flip and continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes. Move to cooler side of grill and continue cooking until desired doneness. Transfer pinwheels to plate and tent with foil to rest for 5 minutes. Remove skewers and twine and serve.