These blue cheese steak crostini are the perfect little appetizer bite. Garlicky toasted bread topped with salty blue cheese, rare steak and a balsamic reduction are a great Valentine’s Day nibble.
Last month, Brandy and I spent a day making a mess in the kitchen, drinking far too many Manhattan’s (which led to an inappropriate amount of discussion about Jon Hamm’s genitals) and stuffing our faces with blue cheese steak crostini all while forcing her husband to sit there and watch the shit-show unfold for 11 hours as we tried to capture it on video.
Yep, video.
With this post, Kick Sass Kitchen is born and we’re promising to bring at least 1 hot mess of cooking, banter and most likely a lot of booze to your computer screen a month.
Brandy being the booze queen she is made a classic Manhattan cocktail and since it took approximately 5 times longer to make the crostini than it did the Manhattan, I’ll let you decide how many drinks you think I had before getting behind the camera.
Side note: can we get a ‘hell yeah’ for alcohol real quick? I mean, where would things like karaoke, dancing and recipe videos be without it?
So with that in mind, here we are in our first 6 minutes and 30 seconds of internet video fame (ok, not really and yes, we’ll make it shorter next time).
As for these blue cheese steak crostini, they’re really everything you could want in an appetizer bite.
Buttery, garlicky, salty, sweet, tangy AND a piece of juicy rare steak to go with it all.
If you don’t have a grill pan to make the steak indoors and your grill is covered with snow this time of year like mine, you can air fry the steak instead.
If you’d prefer a full on steak dinner, then give this air fryer filet mignon steak or this balsamic dijon beef tenderloin a try instead. Both a rare steak lovers dream dinner.
These crostini are a great Valentine’s Day appetizer (or any holiday appetizer for that matter) or, just eat like 10 of them and call it a meal, that’s totally acceptable too.
Especially, after a few Manhattans.
Sadly, I wasn’t kidding about the Jon Hamm thing either.
So if you want a laugh, check out the outtakes (voice cameos from Ulysses, Art and my mom). Real life, people. Real life.
Pair these blue cheese steak crostini with a Valentine’s Day dessert like a Fudgy paleo skillet brownie, Tart cherry fudge thumbprints, Chocolate almond truffles or be super impressive and fancy with this strawberry almond galette.
Who needs a meal when you can just have appetizers, dessert (and booze! of course)?
Blue Cheese Steak Crostini
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French baguette
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound sirloin tips, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
- fresh herbs for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice baguette into 1/2 inch slices on the diagonal.
- Melt the butter in a small dish and brush each piece of bread.
- Smash 1-2 cloves of garlic and rub on the bread.
- Place bread on a baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Pour balsamic vinegar into a small sauce pot, bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer until vinegar has halved and thickened. It will coat the back of a spoon when done. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Place blue cheese, milk, 1 smashed clove of garlic, salt and pepper in a small sauce pot and bring to a high simmer, stirring frequently until blue cheese is melted and smooth. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Heat a greased grill pan over medium-high heat.
- Season steak tips with salt and pepper and grill 1-2 minutes per side for rare to medium-rare.
- To assemble the crostini, spread the blue cheese sauce on the toasted bread, top with a piece of steak, drizzle with the balsamic reduction and top with fresh herbs.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.