Cubed Steak - Chicken Fried Steak

I had to google Cubed Steak to figure out what it is.  Well, it's a lean, strip of meat along the rib that requires much tenderization.  So, at Paulina, they do the tenderizing themselves and ready the Cubed Steak for cooking.  Also as part of reviewing the results in google, I noticed that one of the most common preparations for it is Chicken Fried Steak.  Now, at first glance, I was thinking to myself that this was NOT going to be a healthy meal.  And truth be told, it probably wasn't.  But it wasn't deep fried, no lard, no vegetable shortening, no heavy cream.  So, although not the healthiest of choices, it also wasn't going to harden the arteries overnight.  Now, this blog space is NOT about health.  It's about meat and the deliciousness that results.  And when I saw Chicken Fried Steak (something I have not had in years, if not decades), the decision was a simple one.  And thanks to Ree Drummond of Food Network and her recipe, it was pretty easy to make.

A trip to Paulina Market yesterday sent me home with two cubed steaks for dinner.  As a quick aside, I also bought a smoked Hungarian Sausage.  Not related to this blog and this year's Year of Meat quest, I have been making my way through their smoked meats.  Pepperoni, Linguisa and yesterday, the Hungarian Sausage.  So good.  A great appetizer while preparing the Chicken Fried Steak.  But I digress.  Once home, I let the Cubed Steaks sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.  I prepared a series of plates for dredging.  One with milk and eggs.  One with flour, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper.  One for the finished product.  I started by putting some salt and pepper on both sides of the steaks.  I coated them with the flour mixture on both sides, shook the excess off, dipped them in the milk and egg mixture on both sides, shook the excess off, and one more trip into the flour on both sides, and set them aside ready for cooking.  In a deep skillet, I got canola oil good and hot.  In looking at the recipe right now, I realized that in my haste, I forgot to add butter to the skillet.  This could be part of my problem, but I will get to that in a second.  I cooked the steaks for about 3 minutes per side and took them out and set them on a paper towel lined plate while we got the rest of our sides ready and the gravy.  My wife made her now perfected mashed potatoes, and I made a brussel sprouts dish with shaved almonds, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (which I kind of burned, but they were still ok).  For the gravy, I used the leftover oil in the skillet with flour, and stirred to a roux, and added milk and kept stirring until the right consistency.  Added black pepper and seasoned salt for taste, and boom.

From a taste standpoint, these steaks were out of this world.  But I missed the boat on the "crunch/crisp" of the batter.  I think this happened for three reasons.  First, I think I let the steaks sit too long with their coating on.  In other words, I think the flour got too damp.  Secondly, I realized just now that I was missing the butter.  And thirdly, I don't think I had the skillet hot enough.  It was supposed to be over medium high heat, and when I put the steaks on, I had it on medium by mistake.  Now, with three mistakes, you'd think I would be disappointed with the outcome.  Not at all.  They were delicious.  Clean Plate Club!  But I do want another shot at these.  And I will clean up these mistakes and these will be crispy crunchy perfect.

39 down, 22 to go!

Lamb Shanks - Red Pepper Yellow Pepper

Having braised many times this year, I have grown quite fond of the low and slow method of cooking tender meats.  Whether via slow cooker or through the use of the dutch oven, the results tend to be similar: fork tender, fall-off-bone deliciousness.  Throw in the fact that I'm using meats and cuts I've never had before, let alone cooked, and it's been a culinary and gastro education I would never give back.

A few days, I used the style of cooking that works perfectly around a busy schedule.  Cut, prepare and start before work, slow cooker does it's thing during work, and resume and complete after work.  The result?  Braised lamb shanks with red and yellow peppers and feta cheese served with orzo and chopped tomatoes.  Perhaps this was "comfort food" served in late June.  But the high that day was only around 70, so it wasn't a total mismatch.

I started by simply seasoning the shanks with salt and pepper, and searing them until golden brown on all sides, which was about 8 minutes.  I took them out and set them aside, while I added celery, carrots, onions, bay leaves, oregano and cumin.  After getting the vegetables softened up a bit, in when some white wine and beef broth.  I then poured that mixture into the slow cooker and set the lamb shanks on top and set it to cook on Low for 8 - 10 hours.  A few times during the process (not often, since a major benefit behind the slow cooker is to keep the moisture/steam inside), I based the shanks with the increasing liquid.  The smells that emerged throughout the house were classic slow cooker.  After 8 hours or so (when the meat is clearly fork tender and barely staying on the bone), I removed the shanks and strained all the remaining liquid through a strainer into a sauce pan, let it settle, and then spooned off the fat from the top.  I boiled that liquid down by one half, resulting in a thick gravy.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, I sauteed red peppers, yellow peppers, and garlic.  And in a separate station, boiled some orzo and tossed the finished product with some garlic-infused olive oil and chopped tomatoes.  I removed the good lamb meat from the fat and bone, and served it "shredded style" onto the plate, topped with the peppers, some feta cheese and fresh parsley.  Garnished the orzo with parsley as well, and here is the end result.  Loved the feta-lamb-pepper combination!  Yum.

38 down, 23 to go!

Eye of Round - Pit Beef Sandwiches

If you think of the most common meal item consumed in America (and I have no proof whatsoever when it comes to this assumption), I have to imagine it has to be the sandwich.  It has to be the most common lunch item to be sure.  For three years in high school, I worked at my section of Boston's best sandwich shop, Steve Slyne's deli.  Steve himself was a landmark, a mecca of my hometown.  But so was his deli.  And I was one of the lucky few teenagers who fortunate enough to land a job there.  What did I do?  Pretty much everything.  In the early days, stocking soda refrigerators, cigarette displays and chips displays, sweeping floors and handling returned bottles/cans (Massachusetts had just instituted the "bottle bill" where the consumer can return a can or bottle for $0.05).  As I worked my way up the food chain (which happens quickly), I landed behind the counter, slicing meat, making sandwiches and constructing party platters.  I loved that job.  Anyhow, it was as a young consumer, and eventual employee of Steve Slyne's deli where my love of meat and of the hearty sandwich began.  Good times!  I went through phases of my favorites.  They had phenomenal meat, so you couldn't go wrong.  But back then, I frequented the Roast Beef and the Corned Beef, but it's where I developed my love of Pastrami.  Theirs was coated in a flavorful rub.  We sliced it, cooked it, and melted some muenster cheese on it and put it on a Bulkie Roll (known everywhere outside of Boston as a Kaiser Roll) with spicy mustard.  Hands down, still the best Pastrami sandwich I've ever had.  Great sandwiches, great memories and great friends.

One thing I noted yesterday while I was preparing Pit Beef Sandwiches, was that other than the Lamb Burgers I made a few weeks back, I had not made a sandwich during this Year of Meat.  So, let's give it up for Paulina's Eye of Round and the Big Green Egg forum online.  I married a bunch of suggestions from a bunch of well established Egg Heads, and created a sandwich that hearkened me back to the days of thick rubs and hot sandwiches at Steve Slyne's.

I started with a 2 lb Eye of Round (I must confess I asked for the 4 lb one to be cut in half), which was plenty for my wife and me, and left enough for a leftover meal or two for yours truly.  I coated it (which is putting it kindly) with a concoction of rubs I've accumulated throughout the year, including a rub which I mixed myself for brisket purposes.  I laid it on thick.  And then I added some more.  I let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours with the rub, and took it out about an hour before cooking.  I had the Big Green Egg set up for cooking over indirect heat at 375 degrees, with three good sized chunks of damp Hickory in there for smoke.  I put the Eye of Round on the grate, closed the lid, and let it do its magic.  Because I had a very small cut, I knew I needed to check the temperature after an hour (normally, it would be closer to 90 - 120 minutes).  Sure enough, after one hour, the temp was at 115, which was exactly where I wanted it.  I tented it (not wrapped, but tented tightly), for two hours.  The first 30-60 minutes is to let it keep cooking.  The last hour or so was simply to keep it warm until we were ready to eat.  I cut it extremely thin, almost shredding it, and served it on a Bulkie Roll (gotta go back to my roots) with some BBQ sauce AND Horseradish sauce.  I put the two on the plate and dipped the sandwich into them, depending upon which bite I wanted next.  These Pit Beef Sandwiches were top notch!  If Steve Slyne's deli was still around, and if I still worked there, they'd be on the menu to be sure.

37 down, 24 to go!

Boneless Veal - Parmigiana My Way

This year is a Year of Meat.  Yep, got that.  But additionally, this has also been a Year of Recipes.  Not having looked back at what I did for every one of the 36 cuts prepared to date, I'd venture to guess that a good 80% of them were prepared via a recipe I had not previously made.  And that's a good thing, because it means I'm not only preparing new cuts of meat, but I'm experimenting with new ingredients, leveraging different preparations and perhaps most importantly, I'm using appliances and cookware that doesn't get its fair share of use.  All good.  BUT...there is also a rewarding aspect of not using recipes.  Now, I'm not talking about the tried and true preparations I've used pre-Year of Meat.  I'm talking about having learned enough about cooking, ingredients and cuts, that I can venture out on my own and prepare a meal sans handbook.  For me, this week, that was Wednesday night and Veal Parmigiana!

First, let me say that my recipe-less evening is a bit of a stretch.  I start with a batch of my homemade pasta sauce, courtesy of many a phone call with my non-measuring Italian grandmother, who coached me through several iterations of spaghetti and meatballs from a thousand miles away.  But let me tell you (and I even told my grandmother this the last time we spoke), I nailed her sauce.  It is sooo good.  So, starting with that, Veal Parmigiana is bound to be good.  But, let me tell you.  The quality of this Veal Parmigiana did not end with the sauce.  It merely started there, and only got better.  For you, I give you this advice, use your favorite red sauce.  Whatever that is.  Your own recipe?  A favorite relative's?  Even a favorite jar?  It's all fine.  Start with that, and warm it up and have it ready.  Additionally, get your water boiling for some pasta.  With Veal Parmigiana, pasta is simply the side (or the bed).  Not a focal point, but a necessity.  Just make sure you time the pasta to correspond with veal's readiness.

So..to the Veal.  I got boneless cutlets from Paulina Market.  I prepared three plates (I used big dinner plates with a high lip).  The first was just equal parts flour and traditional bread crumbs with salt and pepper.  The second was two eggs whipped into a scramble (uncooked of course).  And the third was equal parts panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, with a healthy dose of dried basil, salt and pepper.  I took each cutlet, and led them down that procession, maximizing the amount that would stick in each phase, but shaking off any excess before the next phase.  What I was left with were some heavily coated cutlets with panko and Parmesan ready to pan fry.  I took a large cast iron skillet, and got a half inch of olive oil heated up over medium/high heat.  I then laid the cutlets in and let them cook for about 2.5 minutes per side.  If the oil is hot enough, this will create a nice thick golden brown crust on each side.  I then took the cutlets and laid them on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with a layer of Parmesan cheese.  I then ladled some of the warm pasta sauce over them, and topped them with a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese.  I put them into the oven on broil at the top rack to get the cheese to melt and turn golden.  If you time it right, the sauce and cheese get hot and melty, but the crust doesn't soften from the sauce.  Nailed it!

Served these with some angel hair pasta and some of the homemade sauce.  Delightful.  And the bottle of Chianti didn't hurt either.

36 down, 25 to go!

Beef Tenderloin - Back to Basics

Cooking every cut of steak possible this year has made me rethink my past go-to selection.  Throughout this Year of Meat, I have had the good fortune of cooking Rib Eyes, Prime Rib Eyes, New York Strips and Porterhouse Steaks, among others.  Each one has had me all giddy about my ability to cook restaurant quality steaks (and better, if I may add) along with great sides, rubs, etc.  So, when the time came to cook what used to be my go-to cut, the Beef Tenderloin/Filet Mignon, I have to admit that I was sort of "ho hum" about it.  Now, let me explain that my go-to cut was the "special occasion" in the household before 2014 started.  When we wanted to eat-in and open our best bottle of wine, the Beef Tenderloin from Paulina was the meal.  And you know what, there was good reason for that approach.

So in I went to Paulina on late Saturday morning, and waited along with 30 or so of my "closest friends" for my number to be called.  The order was simple.  Two Filets, one about 8 oz and one about 12 oz.  Done and done.  I took them out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking time, and used a steak rub given to us as a gift, a little gourmet style jar with a great scent.  On it went, on both sides, awaiting the Big Green Egg to come to temp.  Got the egg up to 500 degrees, and used a basting brush to brush some canola oil on the cast iron grill to prevent sticking.  Since Tenderloin is so lean, you don't benefit from any melting fat to keep the steak from sticking.  So the oil helps out in that regard.  About 4 minutes on the first side, about 6 minutes on the other side got us nice thick Medium Rare filets.  We served them with a watercress, radish and blue cheese salad we made earlier this year with another steak dinner, noted here.  Yum!

35 down 26 to go!

Lamb Loin Chops - Minty Cool Refreshment

Long before I started the Year of Meat quest, my wife and I would watch many an episode of many a show on Food Network Channel.  Perhaps our most watched is Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, hosted by Guy Fieri, who would drive his vintage car across the country to find some of the best local grub you could find.  We have been inspired to make dishes we'd never tried, and visit some local Chicago places highlighted on his show.  WhatI hadn't done yet this year was make one of Guy's recipes from FoodNetwork.com.  Well, with the Lamb Chops, we may have just begun an irreversible trend.

As for the Chops themselves, a visit to Paulina provided me three chops weighing in at 2 lbs total.  Now, these are bone-in.  But for context, there are some recipes that call for 8 chops to weigh roughly 2 lbs.  I cooked 3 chops at 2 lbs.  That is how thick these chops are.  Amazing!  As for the recipe found here, I must say that there was a level of ease and simplicity that punched some incredible flavors and "keeper" status when it comes to the likelihood of making these again.  First the rub.  I took olive oil and rubbed down the chops.  I combined some thyme, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper into a rub, and covered the chops in it.  While that sat (and while the Big Green Egg was getting good an hot), I used a food processor to create a Mint Pesto for the Lamb (post-grilling).  In went garlic cloves, pine nuts, fresh basil, fresh mint, fresh parsley, grated parmesan, salt, pepper and olive oil, and pulsed it to the right consistency.  As for the recipe, it's as simple as that.  A relatively simple rub for pre-grilling.  And a relatively simple pesto for post-grilling.  Throw that on a plate with some crispy potatoes and a side salad, and you have a minty fresh meal that can't be beat.

Now, since this is a blog about meat (and not just about rubs and pestos), let me share a few words about these chops.  In some recipes, it's suggested to cook these for 3 - 5 minutes per side for medium rare.  Because of the thickness of these chops, we had to go closer to 8 minutes per side.  Now, that seems like an eternity for lamb loin chops, and it is.  But there are two very awesome things to keep in mind.  First, these are Paulina extra thick chops (I swear, these are twice as thick as normal), so they'll take longer to get to medium rare in the center.  Second, because of the extra duration (and the amazing rub), these chops got a char on the outside that was absolutely crazy delicious.  Truly crazy.

34 down, 27 to go!

Beef Stew - Comfort Food Comfort

Whoever coined the phrase "comfort food" is a genius.  Without description, you know exactly what it means.  But what do you call the overwhelming contentment which results from comfort food?  Let's refer to it as "comfort food comfort", the contentment attained from having eaten comfort food.  And in the case of me last night after dinner, a double-dose of comfort because I knew I'd be having leftovers for lunch.  A double dip of comfort food comfort that just keeps on giving.  And since I just finished lunch...

When I think of Beef Stew, I think of my youth.  Again, back to the school cafeteria, I don't think I ever liked the Beef Stew that was served.  To be sure, I am highly confident that it came out of a can and had roughly 200% of the daily recommended allocation of sodium.  It also reminds me of the movie, Meatballs, where the winner of the "Mystery Meat" contest won with the answer of "some kind of beef".  But this ain't your youth's Beef Stew we're talking about today.  We are talking Paulina Beef Stew meat (aka small chunks of Beef Chuck) with some high quality ingredients, including a bottle of beer in the stew (I used Ellie's Brown Ale).  Is your mouth watering yet?

OK.  So, first I seasoned 3 lbs of beef stew meat with salt and pepper on both sides.  Let me pause for a minute.  This recipe which I found in a book (and don't have online links for you) is so old school.  The majority of the measurements are in pounds.  Gotta love that.  Anyhow, seasoned 3 lbs of beef stew meat, and using olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat, I seared both sides of the meat (had to do it in two batches) for about 6 minutes total per batch.  I removed the meat and set it aside.  Then, 10 minutes over medium heat (covered, but stirring every couple of minutes) for 2 lbs of sliced onions.  Then, add 5 finely diced carrots, 2 TBS of chopped garlic and 1/4 pound of diced thick prosciutto and stir/cover for 5 minutes.  In went 1.5 lbs of mushrooms (I used white and shitake) for a few minutes.  Then, we added the meat back in, the bottle of Ellie's Brown Ale, 3 cups of Beef Stock, a teaspoon of thyme, a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce and 3 Bay Leaves.  Stir it all up, bring it to a boil, and then cover and turn to simmer for a little over 2 hours (until the meat is "fork tender").  Then, remove the meat with a slotted spoon, add in 2 carrots-worth of 2 inch chunks, and crank the heat to high.  Get it to a roiling boil to reduce the stew liquid by about half, getting good and syrupy.  During this time, the carrots should cook through (and they did).  Once the stew is ready, add the meat back in and turn the heat to low.  Let the meat warm through again, and serve.  No sides.  No bread.  No nothing extra.  Just stew, Cotes de Rhone and COMFORT!

33 down, 28 to go!

Sliced Liver - On My Own

In perhaps the most beloved song from the most beloved musical, Eponine sings "On My Own" from Les Miserables, and reaches a perfect ten on the sympathy scale.   It is a song about unrequited love, a young girl in love with a young man who simply does not see her the same way.  Well, through 31 cuts of meat in my quest to cook all 61, my wife has been by my side.  She even took a serving of braised oxtails.  Now, she didn't try it, but she tried to try it, if you know what I mean.  With the Sliced Liver, I was smart enough to ask, "you don't want any part of this now, do you?".  My suspicion was validated, and thereby I was left "on my own".  I know this probably doesn't reach 10 on the sympathy scale.  But it should be close.

I kept it simple.  I cut up a quarter of a sweet onion into slices and sauteed them.  Simultaneously, I pan fried two slices of bacon.  I kept shifting the sides of the pan to allow the onions to cook in the bacon fat, and moved the bacon to the other side.  Repeated that a few times.  Meanwhile, I had a 4 oz piece of liver that I simply dredged in all-purpose flour mixed with salt and pepper, and once the bacon and onions were a few minutes away from being done, I fried the liver up.  About 2-3 minutes per side.  Now, when I tell you that the liver was the 4th best thing on the plate, you have to realize that it fell behind bacon (who can beat that?), sauteed onions (also understandable) and ketchup (suggestion from Andy at Paulina who swore by his "recipe" for liver).  But how distant a 4th was it?

It was pretty distant.  Let's face it.  You don't see liver on the Food Network channel often.  You don't see it at Chicago Street Festivals next to the funnel cakes and gyros.  And you don't see it anywhere near the Big Green Egg.  But, I have to say that it wasn't terrible.  Let's put it this way, I finished it.  Now, you have to know that I am a "finish your plate" kind of guy.  But I am not afraid to leave behind something I can't eat (see Oxtails).  And I finished it.  Did I love it?  No.  Did I hate it?  No.  Will I crave it?  Never.  Will I cook it again?  Doubtful.  Did I get one step closer to cooking everything in Paulina's display case?

32 down, 29 to go!