Braciole – Take Two

My better half, Steve, was still cranky days after the weekend with the Prairie Dogs, grumbling that his braciole didn’t turn out as he had hope. He was itching to try it again. Rather than wait until we could get the charcoal going, we decided to redo it in the kitchen oven. I wasn’t complaining since that meant I didn’t have to make dinner!

We gathered the ingredients and decided to modify Alton Brown’s recipe just a bit by adding 505 Green Chilies in the stuffing and as a garnish on top of the sauce.

Steve quickly mixed together the stuffing: 2 1/2 ounces bread crumbs, 1 1/4 ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, 2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon chives, 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary, 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

Next he seasoned the flank steak with salt and pepper on both sides and then sandwiched the steak between two pieces of plastic wrap so that he could pound it out.  The recipe says to pound it to about 1/4 inch thick…

and then spread the stuffing evenly across the top of the steak.

He rolled up the steak tightly….

and then tied with butcher’s twine using the surgeon’s knot.

He placed the rolled steak into a 12 inch skillet, which was a bit too small.  Despite that limitation, Steve was able to get a nice sear on the steak.  He thinks this is one reason why his braciole fell apart at the DOG this past weekend.

He poured a few teaspoons of canola oil into the bottom of a 14 inch camp dutch oven and then placed the seared steak roll into the pot with the seam-side down.  He poured 2 cups of tomato sauce over the steak and then added some 505 green chilies and then baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Then, he checked the internal temperature and decided it need several more minutes.  The dish was cooked perfectly, the stuffing stayed inside the meat, and the green chilie added a lovely, roasted pepper flavor to the dish.

This time around, Steve used a larger flank steak that gave him room for the stuffing and to tuck the ends together, forming a nice seal.  He also made sure the pot was sizzling hot when he seared the meat.  Finally, we liked the green chilies but decided he needed more in the stuffing to make the smokey roasted heat of the chilie come through a little more and enhance the overall dish.

Steve’s beaming smile when he sliced into the braciole was a sure sign that this time he got it right!  Next time he makes this for a Dutch Oven Gathering, he will be confident that it will turn out as nicely as the photos in Alton Brown’s cookbook!