Honest Family Living: Steak and Goat Cheese Appetizer

Hello all,

As promised, I am going to begin a Recipe Wednesday thingy with this blog...cool?? Now, it won't always be a food...I may include some drink (adult ones of course) recipes. They also won't always be easy...so some skill might be needed:)

OK... this one is definitely a very easy recipe and sure to make your appetizer one the guests will remember...trust me:)

Ingredients
1 steak of your choice (a small london broil would work...trust me, you won't need a full one)
Salt/pepper or seasoning of your choice for steak

2 packages of mini phyllo shells (located in the freezer section of the grocery store near frozen pie crusts)

1 four ounce package of goat cheese
1 eight ounce package of cream cheese
Italian seasoning
Minced garlic

Balsamic Vinegar
Sugar

-Season your steak and let rest to room temperature before grilling. I grill to a medium rare and let rest a bit
.
-Mix the goat cheese, cream cheese (both should be at room temperature), Italian seasonings and garlic together until creamy. Place mixture inside plastic bag and zip it up.

-Pour your Balsamic vinegar into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.. It doesn't matter how much you put in pan (I always make extra so I have it on hand for leftovers or more steak..) Add a couple pinches of sugar, stir. Boil until reduced in half. For this appetizer, you can make 1/4 cup vinegar and about a tablespoon of sugar and reduce it to about an 1/8 cup..it will also thicken a bit. This is a Balsamic Reduction...just in case you didn't know:) Remove from heat and let cool..

It will be finished when the vinegar starts to coat the pan

-Slice your steak thinly and cut into1 inch pieces

Now you're ready to assemble. If I am bringing this appetizer to somewhere else, I bring all the separate ingredients and put it together upon arrival. With that being said:
-place your phyllo cups on your serving tray
-Snip a hole in the corner of the bag you placed your goat cheese/cream cheese mixture in and begin squeezing it into the cups...just enough to fill the bottom.
-Place 1 piece of steak on top of each cup
-Drizzle the Balsamic reduction all over dish

Some notes:
-I've tried a few different bases for this appetizer but the phyllo cups are the easiest...to use and to eat. But, you can also try those bagel chips, italian bread sliced thin slightly toasted, etc.
-Leftover steak and cream mixture?? maybe, maybe not...but in the event that it happens you can make yourself a little flatbread- spread the cream mixture on a soft tortilla, toss on the steak pieces and broil for a few minutes..drizzle with balsamic reduction
-If you want the balsamic reduction thicker, try adding a pat of butter once it has reduced.
-You can store the extra balsamic reduction at room temperature for several months (though, it most likely won't last that long). Put it in a squeezy bottle or one of those glass bottles meant for oil.
-Don't walk away from your appetizer unless you've already taken one b/c there won't be any left when you come back!!

Hope you all enjoy this one...it's one of my favorites!! AND...it's the first little appetizer that I created all by myself and am pretty proud of it:)