Saturday, February 18, 2017

Roasted Beef Tortilla Roll

Tortillas are usually wrapped around the outside of its contents such as in a taco or burrito but I enjoy rolling the contents into a spiral within the tortilla roll. The presentation of food is almost as important as the food itself.  There is only one chance for a first impression.


Before I add any ingredients to the tortilla roll, I always grill the tortilla to warm it up and give it a little flavor from the grill.   Then I coat the tortilla with a thin layer of horseradish sour cream.  To make it I combine fresh horseradish puree, sour cream, lemon juice, salt and white pepper.  On top of the horseradish sour cream, I layer baby spinach over the horseradish sour cream. Fresh spinach works best but if it is not available frozen spinach can be used to add extra moisture and flavor to the dish.  Frozen spinach is known for still being the same if not more nutritious than fresh spinach because its picked at the peak of its freshness and flash frozen to preserve most of the nutrients in it.  On top of the spinach I add julienne caramelized onions which have been cooked in an olive oil blend until dark brown so as to bring out their sweet flavor.

The roasted beef is slow roasted at 300 degrees.  I use a dry rub to seal in the flavor of the meat.  The dry rub consists of powdered rosemary, onion powder, garlic, salt, thyme, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and gumbo file.  The steak is roasted and then sliced into thin stripes.  Then the strips are cooked in beef stock made from the bones and scraps of the steak.  To make the stock I brown the bones and scraps then add onions, celery, tomato, carrot, garlic and water.  I continue to cook the stock for many hours while it reduces.

The last ingredient in the tortilla roll is tomato confit.  To make the tomato confit, I slice tomatoes into thin slices then lay them on a baking tray.  I cover the tomato slices in olive oil, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.  Then I bake the tomatoes at 200 degrees in the oven to cook them and bring out all their flavor.

Once all the ingredients are layers on top of the grilled tortilla I roll it into a spiral and cut the roll into pieces.  I present the pieces around the perimeter of the plate and prepare a side salad in the middle of the plate.  I add cucumber slices, tomato slices then pickled onion and bell peppers on top soaked in a rice wine vinegar solution with sugar, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves.