OK, here’s a recipe that didn’t turn out well; I’ll run through the ingredients and procedure and then postulate about what went wrong.
SOFTWARE:
– 1 package cube steak — about 4 palm-sized steaks
– 4 cups liquid (we used 2 cups of water and 2 cups of stock)
– 1 1/3 cups polenta (or “yellow corn grits”)
– olive oil
– salt
– pepper
– veggies, cooked however you like
HARDWARE:
– Good ol’ cast iron pan
Clean your pan!!! Or it'll smoke like this...
– Medium heavy-bottom saucepan
– Wire whisk
– Tongs
– Kitchen timer or stopwatch
– Adequate ventilation
– warmer oven and/or warm plate and tinfoil
– wire rack that fits over that plate
– 2 small prep bowls
PROCEDURE:
Thoroughly defrost the steaks.
In the small prep bowl, mix about 2 tsp. salt with 1/2 tsp. pepper. Pour about 2 tbsp. oil into the second prep bowl.
Prepping these things ahead of time is a huge help in the next step, where you actually put your hands on the raw meat — played right, you’ll only need to wash your hands one time during the process. Or, if you prefer to handle meat with gloves, then you’ll only need one pair. Mise en place!
OK, drain the steaks and pat dry with a paper towel. I’m assuming you’re aware of basic cross-contamination procedures, so I will not go into detail here except to say: I like to have a plastic bag on hand to drop the meat wrapper and used paper towel in after putting the meat on the (sanitized) prep surface.
Rub the oil liberally on each side of the meat. Sprinkle the salt and pepper on both sides, then let all of that sit for a few minutes while you clean up and get ready to sear it.
Now, put that cast iron pan on the biggest eye on your stow on HIGH. Make sure you scrubbed your pan well the last time you used it or, like mine, it will smoke liberally — and there’s already plenty of smoke to come!
After the meat has rested for about 5 minutes, and that pan has got good and hot carefully lay the steaks into the pan, being sure not to let them slide around. Set the kitchen timer for one minute and turn on your vent hood, because it’s gonna smoke!
Reddish brown, as meat should be — untainted by carbon monoxide.
Or, if your house is like ours, that is, “lacking severely in the vent hood department,” you may need a fan.
Or maybe two fans.
Yeah, actually, even two fans running at top speed wasn't enough to stop our smoke alarm from going off.
Back to the steaks; after cooking one minute, flip the steaks and cook one more minute, then remove to the wire rack on the plate and cover with foil.
Look at that awesome, brownish-black crust. Such a delicious texture and flavor...
Or, like me, you can use your toaster oven on low heat to keep it warm if, NOT LIKE ME, you don’t leave it in the oven for more than a few minutes!
The goal is that, after cooking, you allow the meat to finish cooking on the counter and develop a delicious and juicy texture.
POLENTA
This is a quick and easy grain to add to any meal. Bring 4 quarts liquid to a rolling boil. I’ve adopted Alton Brown’s suggestion, “when you add liquid, add flavor,” to my own cooking. Tonight, we had beef broth on hand, so I used 2 cups of water and 2 of broth.
Gradually whisk the polenta into the boiling liquid, stirring constantly. After all of the polenta is mixed in, continue to stir until it begins to thicken, then remove it from the head. Be careful — if you don’t stir it enough, it won’t heat evenly and will bubble and trust me, catching pot polenta on your wrist is a painful experience.
Put the polenta in a bowl, put vegetables on top, then slice the cooked steak into strips and serve on top.
The finished product. Click to go to the photoset on Flickr.
THE MISTAKES
First of all, I didn’t realize that cube steak has such a strong flavor on its own. The tried-and-true searing method above has produced many a juicy steak, but I usually use T-bones, sirloin, or round steak. I’m not sure what exactly gives that cut of meat its distinctive texture and flavor, but to my palate it’s not a good fit for searing — odd texture, not juicy enough.
Secondly, I left the food in the warming oven too long, because other parts of the meal needed preparation. The extra time in the oven dried the meat out more than I’d like. Lesson learned: sear the meat last, or have tin foil on hand so the meat can rest on the counter.
Overall, it was a good, but not outstanding meal. Partly, I was hurried to get to my martial arts class, and cooked it all in a hurry, trying to cook and eat in the 30 minutes before class. Lesson learned: don’t plan to cook a meal on Tuesday or Thursday.
I’m going to have to let someone else from my family comment on the quality of the food — I was out the door before they could give me their opinion.
I see a rematch between cube steak and I in the near future.
How to Eat a Side of Beef 