Steak and White Cheddar Flatbread Pizza

I had another parenting panic moment recently, similar to my reaction upon discovering that my oldest had his first loose tooth. Only this time, I didn’t immediately rush off to the doctor, which is a good thing, since he surely would have laughed at me.

You see, on multiple occasions during the past few weeks, we have noticed that the top of the baby’s right foot appears darkened; sort of a like a pale bruise. Each time, the darkening has gone away by the next day and since he seemed otherwise alright, we assumed we were just seeing things with our over-cautious parent eyes. Until it happened again, which increased our worry. Then, just the other day, it happened again. And I thought…That’s it! I’m bringing this kid into to the doctor, for something is surely wrong. I was in full Mommy panic mode by that point, assuming that my sweet baby must have some sort of horrible circulation disorder or something unimaginably worse.

But, before calling the doctor, I had the clever idea to try washing his foot. Sure enough, that pale bruised appearance quickly wiped away revealing a perfect little foot to match his left. Relief washed over me. And with the clarity of relief, I quickly figured out what had been causing the top of that one foot to repeatedly turn brown. You see, our sweet little baby has the most unique crawl I’ve ever seen. He started doing it a couple months ago. It is so fast and effective that we fear he’ll never choose to walk, though he already has all of the skills and coordination to do so. We fondly call it his ‘Planet of the Apes’ crawl, for it strongly resembles the half walk/half crawl of an evolved ape. He plants both hands and one foot (his left foot) flat onto the ground. The other leg (his right) maintains a bent crawling position. He leads with the left foot, in a pseudo walk, as he drags the bent right leg along. It’s an extremely fast and effective mode of locomotion. He does not have a circulation disorder. He does not have a bruised foot. The top of his right foot is merely the embarrassing evidence of my dirty floors. I’ve never been so relieved over dirty floors.

In between moments of needless parenting panic, I spend my mental energy obsessing over favored flavor combinations. They get caught in my head and I find myself itching to marry those flavor combinations again and again, in every form I can think of. Prosciutto, figs, and gorgonzola or chicken with hot sauce and bleu cheese or goat cheese with sun-dried tomatoes and olives.

Lately, I’m stuck on the combination of steak with aged white cheddar and horseradish. Recently, I made the most amazing, warm and cheesy steak and white cheddar dip. The dip was crave-worthy delicious. We used warm slices of French baguette to shovel the tasty dip into our hungry mouths. But it was an ugly dip; not at all photogenic. Definitely too ugly to form a post around.

And then, I found myself with some leftover flank steak. It didn’t take me long to decide what I would do. I’d adapt that luscious dip, into a flavorful spread, which I’d lather over flatbreads, then top with the leftover steak and some sweet caramelized onions; a final sprinkle of mozzarella and white cheddar cheese, with a scatter of green onions for a little vibrant color, and we’d have steak and white cheddar flatbread pizzas. Crave-worthy AND photogenic!

Steak and White Cheddar Flatbread Pizza

Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup aged white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• Dash of hot sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup leftover steak, cut into small pieces
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 flatbreads, naan, or pita rounds
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 green onions, sliced

Directions

To prepare the cheddar-horseradish spread: Combine cream cheese, white cheddar, sour cream, horseradish, and hot sauce until well blended. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired. Refrigerate until using.

To prepare the caramelized onions: Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender, sweet, and lightly golden (about 10-15 minutes should do the trick).

To assemble the pizzas: Spread a thin layer of the white cheddar spread over each flatbread. Top with a portion of the caramelized onions and steak. Sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella and white cheddar cheese. Garnish with some of the sliced green onions. Bake in a 400 degrees oven for about 15 minutes, until the crusts are slightly crisp and the toppings are hot and melty. (Placing the pizzas directly on the oven rack will help the crust to get crispier faster.)

Makes 4 flatbread pizzas

Sweet Little Monkey Baby