Garlic Pinwheels and Roasted Red Potatoes

I was really nervous about making this meal because it seems like no matter what - when making red meat it's always tough. I thought that it might be because I was buying cheap cuts of meat (but I have since accepted the fact that I was doing it wrong). I've learned that it's really important not to rush cooking meat. Before I had the temperature too high trying to finish cooking quickly. For this meal however, I never turned the temperature above medium and it turned out great!


I also pride myself on my loaded mashed potatoes. But I wanted to try something new with this meal. For the roasted potatoes, I really just grabbed what I had around the kitchen. Next time, I'm going to prepare a little bit more.

Overview:

If there are two things I love it's garlic and red meat. I couldn't refuse a recipe that combined the two. The garlic cream cheese (which I'll admit, I bought), wrapped in the meat tastes delicious. The roasted red potatoes with some vegetables is the perfect side (along with a fresh salad).

Recipe:

1 tub garlic cream cheese (I think any type should be fine)

1 lb. of ground beef (should serve 4)

8 medium to small sized red potatoes

1 onion

Several cherry tomatoes

1 handful of asparagus

1 palmful Garlic Seasoning

1 palmful Lemon Pepper Seasoning

1 palmful Sesame Seeds

1 palmful Italian Seasoning

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions:

For this recipe I started by taking 8 small red potatoes and rinsing them thoroughly. At the same time, I began to pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees. After that, I cut each one into quarters. Once all of them were diced, I laid them down on an un-greased baking sheet. I then took all of the vegetables and and cut them (I diced the onion, halved the tomatoes, and left the asparagus whole). I then melted a stick of butter and drizzled it over all of the potatoes. I then added some olive oil on top as well. Next, I took all of my seasonings and covered the potatoes and veggies. 

The oven was set for 15 minutes (I then turned over the potatoes) and then set the oven for another 15. Before I placed them in the oven, I started preparing the meat.

In the meantime I took the ground beef and rolled it out into 4 long strips about 10 inches long. I shook some of the garlic seasoning on as well (remember, it's my fave). I then took the garlic cream cheese and spread it on the strips. Once I was done, I began to roll the meat until it was shaped like a pinwheel. I then placed all of the pinwheels in a skillet with 1/4 cup olive oil on medium-low heat. It's important to leave the meat alone and not continually flip or push down on it (something that I am learning to follow). The timing works out almost perfectly - once it's time to turn the potatoes it's time to flip the meat. Both finished at almost the exact same time. I never thought this meal was heavy on the garlic, but remember it's my favorite. You could easily skip seasoning the meat, or leaving the seasoning off of the veggies.

I really enjoyed this meal - even though I felt a little guilty about cheating :)