You've probably seen these 1950's vintage-inspired kitchen linens in some of my posts. I love them, and all of Moda products really.
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| Blade Tenderizer |
Cube steaks are pretty much nothing more than tenderized round steak that you pay a little extra money for in order to have somebody else to do the work. Now granted, the butchers have a nice machine that does a fantastic job of super-tenderizing the meat, but you can also do a fair job of duplicating this at home and save a little money.
While you may occasionally find cube steaks reduced, it is rare, but you can very often find round steak reduced or on sale ... giving you a great excuse for stocking up on it in your freezer.
If you think this sounds yummy, I'd sure ♥ it if you'd click to pin it, tweet it, stumble it, or share it on Facebook to help spread the word - thanks!
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How to Make Your Own Cube Steaks
and a Couple of Bonus Recipes Using Them
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Lay a kitchen towel on your counter top. Over that stretch out a long piece of strong plastic wrap. Cut the round steak into serving sizes and lay the pieces on top of the plastic wrap, leaving a gap in between each piece. Stretch out another piece of plastic wrap to completely cover the meat. Using a textured meat mallet, strike the meat all over with the pointed side of the mallet, creating indentations all over the surface of the meat. You only want to break the fibers, so take care not to strike the meat so hard that it punctures holes all the way through the plastic wrap and the meat. Be deliberate, but gentle. Fold the plastic halfway lengthwise and turn it, unfolding. Continue tenderizing the other side. Remove plastic wrap and proceed with your recipe.
You may also use a product such as Dales seasoning or Country Bob's to infuse a bit of flavor into the meat before seasoning and proceeding with your recipe.
Source: http://www.deepsouthdish.com
Deep South Dish Recipes Using Round or Cubed Steaks:
The blade machine (I call it a jaccard) has been on my want list for some time. I just haven't gotten arounf to getting one yet. It woul be just the thing for Chicken fried steak.
ReplyDeleteWay back when I was 16 and closing up in the meat market at a grocery store, the butchers let me help (quite illegally due to my age) prep for the next day by making cube steaks on that nifty machine you spoke of. It's an excellent piece of machine but if you ever get your tie, a hand or anything caught in it.....YIKES! They have a safety guard on them but it's magnet triggered and you can easily bypass it with a simple magnet.
ReplyDeleteI have to go....I've said too much. O.S.H.A. agents will be after me now;)
(Ironically and totally true, I ended up with a degree in Occupational Safety & Health)
Cube steaks are hard to cook so that they have flavor and texture left in them. I have difficulty rejecting the notion that I'm handling and then eating meat that somebody hasn't already chewed.
ReplyDeleteOh LOL Lani, yeah, it can be a texture issue with some people I supposed cuz they are pretty beat up meat! I like to use a little Dale's or Worcestershire sauce, something like that to marinade them in for flavor - just 15/20 minutes will do it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this little tutorial! I bought a round steak to make cube steaks to make chicken fried steak (that's a mouthful!).
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
-LexieDi