Holy Cow!
Early in our marriage Boo’s dad would have a calf butchered every few months.
The meat was divided between each of the family. Such a treat! Delicious! Easy in the budget! Convenient! What comes to mind now is how we used brisket and round steaks. I chicken fried the round steaks and made soup with brisket, because these cuts were considered subpar.
Because I did not like round steaks unless my mom cooked them (2 to 3 hours). Boo always loved the chicken fried steaks, but chicken-fried was one of those cooking styles that my mom did not subscribe to. I had eaten chicken fried steak on weekends with my grandparents. I looked in my big red checkered cookbook. I thought about what I would like it to taste like. I pounded my round steaks like recommended in the cookbook. I put a little mustard with salt and pepper before dredging them in flour, no egg wash. They were actually delicious. Boo was impressed, and Jeri was too young to have an opinion. These steaks were in our supper rotation for a very long time.
CHICKEN FRIED STEAK
A Landry family favorite
Perfect for tough cuts of beef
INGREDIENTS
-1 tsp garlic powder
-4 1/2 tsp salt
-2 tsp black pepper
-4 (6 oz) top round or sirloin steak
-2 cups plus 3 tbsp flour
-2 large eggs
-2 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp whole milk
-3 cups frying oil of choice
MISE EN PLACE
-Preheat oven to 200 degrees. (Put each batch of fried steak in the oven to keep warm until serving time). I recommend a flat baking pan covered with paper towels. Don’t stack cooked steaks. Their crispiness will suffer.
-Place a paper towel-lined plate on the counter ready for fried steaks.
-Pound the steaks thin, optional
-Stir together garlic powder, 3 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 pepper in a small bowl.
-Sprinkle seasons over both sides of all steaks.
-Stir together 1 1/2 cups flour and remaining seasoning in a shallow bowl.
-Whisk together eggs and 2 tbsp whole milk in another bowl until well combined.
-Heat oil in large (at least 12”) cast-iron skillet or your favorite frying pan.
-Working with 1 at a time, dredge steaks in flour mixture to coat both sides.
-Shake off excess.
-Dip into egg mixture.
-Let excess drip off.
-Dredge in flour mixture again to coat both steaks completely.
-Carefully place 2 steaks in hot oil until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
-Place cooked steaks on paper-lined pan.
-Sprinkle with salt if desired.
-Place in warm oven.
-Grease should be back to frying temperature.
-Repeat procedure with remaining 2 steaks.
-Drain skillet, reserving 1/4 cup drippings and as much of the solids as possible.
-Return drippings and solids to skillet.
-Heat over medium-low heat.
-Whisk remaining flour into warm drippings mixture in frying pan.
-Stir constantly, until mixture is bubbling and smells toasty, about 1 minute.
-Gradually whisk in remaining 2 1/2 cups milk.
-Bring gravy to a simmer over medium.
-Reduce heat to medium-low.
-Cook, stirring often, until gravy is thickened, 6 to 7 minutes.
-Taste, and add remaining salt and pepper as desired.
-Transfer steaks to a serving platter.
-Serve immediately with warm gravy.
After all the above recipe was typed and proofread, I found my notes. Here they are below.
CHICKEN FRIED STEAK
-Tenderize: pound the steak thin.
-Dredge: Coat the steak in seasoned flour, dip in an egg/buttermilk wash, then coat in flour again (a double-dip is common).
-Fry: Cook in hot oil until golden brown on both sides.
-Make Gravy: Use the pan drippings to make roux with flour, then whisk in milk until thickened.
-Serve: Smother the fried steak with gravy and serve hot, often with mashed potatoes.
I never made the gravy, and I would never pour gravy over the crispy fried steaks.
STEAK CHILI
Billie’s No-Ground-Meat Chili
INGREDIENTS
-2 tbsp olive oil
-2 lb of chuck roast cut into 1 inch cubes by store meat department
-2 onions, chopped
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp chili powder
-1 tsp chili pepper
-1 tbsp cumin
-Cayenne to taste
-2 (29 oz) cans diced tomatoes
-1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
INSTRUCTIONS
-In a large pot over medium high heat, combine the oil and steak and sauté about 5 minutes, or until steak is browned.
-Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, and chili pepper.
-Sauté another 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
-Add tomatoes and kidney beans.
-Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 1 hour.
-Remover lid, and simmer at least
30 minutes more.
You can control the thickness of your chili with the amount of cooking time and amount of water used if it becomes too thick. Your desired thickness is personal. You are the boss in your kitchen.
Boo and I like spoon food to be thick. Gumbo, soup, and chili at our house is probably a bit thicker than most. With each spoonful, we like to get a bit of all ingredients in the pot.
I looked over my old recipes to find one that matched what I do when cooking chili, never with a recipe. It was interested to look up the differences between chili powder, chili pepper, and cumin.
CHILI POWDER: a blend of seasonings: cayenne, cumin, garlic, onion
CHILI PEPPER: cayenne
CUMIN: earthy flavor that creates chili taste
Obviously you could make do with either the chili powder or cumin. I don’t use cayenne, but always add cumin to create that taste in chili flavored food, such as in sloppy Joe’s.
I’ve mentioned before that my dad didn’t care for ground meat, and there wasn’t much chili at the Rodrigue house. I made steak chili to introduce him to chili, although I think he ate a lot of chili growing up with my grandmother cooking. Also a student would go home hungry often if not eating ground meat food often prepared in the school cafeteria.
SIRLOIN TIPS
Quick cooking, cubed
Real tenderness quicker
INGREDIENTS
-3 tbsp olive oil
-3 cloves garlic*, minced
-1 1/2 lb beef sirloin steak, cut in cubes
-1 (16 oz) can mushrooms, with liquid
-1 (8 oz) tomato sauce
-Seasoning to taste
MISE EN PLACE
-Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high
heat.
-Add beef.
-Sear until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes.
-Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
-Add tomato sauce.
-Stir until sauce is absorbed and slightly thickened, around 5 minutes.
-Add mushrooms.
-Simmer until heated throughout.
*Garlic is low calorie nutritious culinary addition to most savory food known for its pungency and unique flavor.
Available in so many forms that it is always readily available in your kitchen. A supermarket provides fresh garlic pods, garlic powder, minced garlic, garlic butter, and garlic paste. It’s called for in so many recipes, it should be a staple. Garlic is renowned for the pungent sulfur compounds, which provide significant anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cardiovascular health benefits. Who would think that garlic would be nutritious? The smell can be delicious or unpleasant.
Garlic is in so many recipes, it was good to know it is also nutritious not just delicious.
MUSHROOMS
Steaks need this.
INGREDIENTS
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 tbsp unsalted butter
-2 small cans mushrooms that I use,
or 1 cup portobello mushrooms
-1 large onion, sliced optional
MISE EN PLACE
-Heat olive oil and butter in skillet over medium heat.
-Add mushrooms, onions and seasoning.
-Stir until brown until well coated, about 5 minutes.
Boo always prepares this dish when he grills steaks.
My Aunt Dossie always had mushrooms (no onions) as a side dish when she prepared a beef roast for midday Sunday dinner, absolutely delicious. Boo always adds onions.
Canned mushrooms are always in our pantry, good in omelettes, fried rice, and on pizza. When we had all that frozen beef on hand, I would sometimes add a can of mushrooms to brown gravy. I often added extras to the brown gravy. A can of mushroom soup, a cut up bell pepper, a sliced potato, and even a can of green beans directly in the pot added variety to plain gravy. We like mushrooms in red gravy also.
MOVE OVER COWS!
Good and good for you
Not every steak is beef
SALMON STEAKS
No beef here
Perfect “steak” dinner
INGREDIENT
-1 tbsp garlic powder
-1 tbsp dried basil
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp butter
-4 lemon wedges
-MISE EN PLACE
-Stir garlic powder, basil, and salt together.
-Rub mixture evenly over salmon.
-Melt butter in large skillet.
-Add salmon.
-Cook until browned and flakey, about 5 minutes.
Salmon steaks are easy to prepare at home and always a good alternative if you are cutting carbs or red meat. Garlic is high in protein with properties that support cardiovascular and cognitive health.
Jusqu’a la semaine prochaine.