Cube Steak and Porter

Wanted to share with you this cube steak recipe and tell you about this great bbq sauce.  I am going to share a secret with you about me and meat.  When I first lived on my own, I really had no idea how to cook different kinds of meat.  If I bought a cut of beef I would invariably screw it up and it would come tasting like nothing and being really chewy or downright unpalatable.  That is when I really started learning how to cook.  I turned to recipes.  I figured recipes would have the answer about how to cook things because they promised to deliver this wonderful end product in their recipe.  So that is really when I learned to cook.  Have I made steak since then? Never.  Yes, never because I knew I would kill it. Okay I made hanger steak once... that was not a good idea.

Fast forward to today.  I bought some cube steak.  I was afraid of cube steak.  My Mother cooked it a lot when we were young so I was familiar with it.  But no, I had never cooked it.  ABout a month ago I made some.  I watched  afew You Tube videos on how to make it.  One was this teriyaki style- cooked for 30 minutes.  And the other was onions, garlic and bay leaf cooked for 30 minutes.  Both very flavorful I must say.  But I wasnt, like, wowed by them.

Monday, I decided to do from memory what my Mom did.  Flour those cuts of beef and fry them on high heat, fast, like, really fast. How did it go.  Swoon.  Why have I waited so long!

Cube Steak

1.  If you don't buy it pounded, pound the heck out of some round steaks.

2.  In a shallow bowl, mix flour with salt and lots of pepper.

3.  Place steaks in bowl and generously cover with flour.  Alternately, if you are gluten free, corn starch or arrowroot powder works really well too!

4.  Heat a skillet on medium high heat until a drop of oil dances on it.  Add butter and swirl it around the pan.  Add in steaks and keep the heat like that.  Cook until the top has turned a different color- kinda gray brown and you can see the sides are cooked.  Turn and heat for about 2 minutes.  Done!

5.  Flavor with your favorite barbeque* sauce.  Enjoy.

Hint, don't crowd the pan because you want the heat to get around it adequately.


I tried a Porter.  I am so new to the wide world of beer I don't even know the difference between a porter, ale, lager, etc. If you want to learn more about what is out there, check out this link here.  http://www.craftbeer.com/beer-styles  I will tell you about this beer.  It went really well with the cube steak and heavily spiced cabbage, and corn salad that I ate for dinner.  I don't think I would like it, say, kicking back and hanging out with just a beer.  Or even with a handful of popcorn.  It has strong flavor and for me personally I like it with something. 

*The amazing barbeque sauce that I used here (and you can kind of see it in the background of the beer photo) is called Chef Lermans, Smoldering Chipotle Hot Sauce.  It can be found here in the Southern Tier/ The Finger Lakes region of NY or you can order it through the link. 

Thai Beef Salad

If you have some steak leftover this dish comes together really fast.  You can totally substitute chicken as well or skip the meat all together.  I have had this salad before and I have to tell you anytime I have leftover steak- which is not too often, I think of this salad straight away.  I have mainly used Hangar Steak before.  

Thai Cabbage and Steak Salad

2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil ( roasted)
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc mam)
1 pinch ground red pepper (cayenne), if  you like a little heat
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 
 
leftover steak, sliced as thin as you can
2 carrots, peeled and cut into strips
10 cups romaine, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup mint, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Thai basil or regular basil, thinly sliced
fresh ground black pepper
3 green onions, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (optional)

 
The most important thing here is to do a nice chop of everything that is in this salad. With a whisk combine the lime juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, Thai fish sauce and olive oil. Set aside.

Chop and then toss the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl.  Toss in the dressing and then serve with steak and peanuts sprinkled over top.