Steak and Mushroom Flatbread with Spinach and Horseradish Cream

That title was a mouthful huh? I didn't want to leave out any part of the dish, but truly, I think this is one of those instances where the picture speaks a 1000 words. There are a lot of things going on in this dish, but they work beautifully together.  The warm and delicate dough, the smooth and creamy sauce that has just the right amount of kick, and the sweetness of the onions and mushrooms just melt in your mouth along with the steak- get ready to experience bliss in one bite.  If you're vegetarian or aren't into steak, you really could just omit it altogether- just bump up the the onions and mushrooms.

For the onions and mushrooms:
5 medium onions
3 cups button or cremini mushrooms
1/3 cup whiskey ( I used Dewar's 12)
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil or butter

Begin by slicing the onions into rounds. Not too thick or not too thin- about a 1/4" thick.  Add the butter or oil to a non-stick skillet and turn the heat up to medium high.  Place the onions in the pan and saute, stirring periodically to make sure the browning is somewhat even.  The onions will go from being crunchy, to soft and translucent, to brown, soft and sweet but it will take about 25 minutes for them to cook down to this level.  Once the onions are soft but not fully browned, add in the Worcestershire sauce, the whiskey and the salt and pepper and stir around.  This will aid the caramelization process. Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and set aside until you're ready to assemble the flatbread.

Repeat the same process for the mushrooms.

Side note: I made the onions and mushrooms separately, but they're made exactly the same way.  You could save time by doing them all in one shot, but I was scared that they'd stew (since mushrooms release so much water when cooked) instead of saute nicely.  If  you do make both at the same time, just make sure to keep you heat up high and stir around constantly to avoid stewing.  Add the butter or oil to a non-stick skillet and turn the heat up to high.

Ingredients for the steak:
2 lbs. beef tenderloin
1 tbsp.  oil or butter
2 tsp. herbs de Provence
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

First, start out by trimming the tenderloin of any visible fat.  I ended up cutting the tenderloin into steaks about 3/4" thick. Add the oil or butter to a non-stick skillet and turn the heat up to high.  Let the pan get really hot while you season up the tenderloin with the salt, pepper and herbs de Provence. It's important to get the pan really hot in order to achieve that nice sear on the outside.  Add the steak to the skillet and cook about 2 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a holding plate and cover with foil.

For the horseradish cream:
2 tbsp.  grated horseradish
1/2 cup mayo
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Blend the horseradish and the mayo until it's well combined.  Next add the lemon juice, garlic, sugar and salt and whisk well.

To assemble the flatbread:

Bake the dough until it's nice and tender, but has a bit of firmness to it.  I used this recipe for the dough which I had frozen from the last time I made the California Flatbread.  If you don't have dough already made you could buy the pizza dough that comes in the tube or go to your local pizzeria and buy the raw dough there.

Once the dough is cooked, spread a layer of the horseradish cream on the bottom.  Next place some fresh baby spinach leaves or arugula all over the top of the dough.  Then top the dough with the mush rooms and onions.  Slice the steak into strips and place over the top of the flatbread.  Season with a little freshly cracked pepper serve hot.

Enjoy!