Quick Dry Age for Steak

Simply mix together equal amount of of kosher salt and cornstarch in a bowl.  Start with 2 Tablespoons of each for about 1 lb of thawed beef and adjust  according to volume of product.  Then heavily coat both sides of steak with mixture.  Place on a wire rack over a deep dish so that air can flow under beef and the dish catches the released liquid.  Let sit in a refrigerator for at least three hours prior to cooking and up to one week.  The meat flavors will condense and intensify.  Do not scrape the cornstarch/salt crust before grilling; it forms an outer barrier that allows the steaks to handle the high heat for searing while the center remains tender.

 

Roasting Meat

Season meat as desired.  Place meat in a shallow roasting pan, with or without rack.  Do not add water or any liquid.  Roast in a 325° oven.  Roast until desired doneness.

For a 3-4 lb roast:

  • 135°F should be medium rare
  • 160°F should be medium.

Remove beef from oven when meat thermometer reads 10° less than desired temp. If serving warm, cover roast with foil.  The meat needs to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving and will continue to cook while resting.   Meanwhile, pour the drippings into a sauté pan and whisk in flour to make gravy; add water or broth if more liquid is needed.  Red wine and cooked mushrooms add great flavor also.

Optional seasonings for beef:

  • Salt & pepper
  • Prepared Yellow mustard- slather it on
  • Oregano-
  • Sliced Garlic cloves- stick them in between the string and the roast
  • Kosher salt- a lot of people like to heavily coat their roasts in kosher salt to seal in the juices; scrape off salt before carving

 

Scottish Beef Stew

  • 2 tablespoons pure olive oil
  • all purpose flour for dredging
  • 2 ½ lbs well marbled beef chuck cut 1 ½ cut pieces
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 medium onions, cut ½ inch dice
  • 2 carrots cut into ½ inch dice
  • 2 celery ribs cut into ½ inch
  • 4 ounces rutabaga, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice (1 cup)
  • 2 tablespoons red currant jelly
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 2 thyme springs
  • 1 garlic smashed
  • 1 bay leaf
  1. In enameled cast iron casserole, heat 1 T oil until shimmering.  Spread the flour in a shallow bowl.  Season the beef with S & P, and then dredge with flour.  Add half of the meat to he casserole and cook on moderately high heat until browned at the bottom (3 min) Reduce heat and cook the other side until brown (2 min).  With a slotted spoon transfer the meat.  Repeat with remaining oil and beef.
  2.  Melt butter in the casserole, add the onions, carrots, celery and rutabaga & cook over a moderately low heat, stirring occasionally.  (7 min).  Add the jelly and wine and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to scrape any browned bits on the bottom. Add the stock and bring tot a boil.  Add the browned meat and any juices, thyme, garlic and bay leaf and bring tot a simmer.  Cover and cook over low heat for 1 ½ hours.
  3.  With a slotted spoon transfer the meat into a bowl.  Boil the sauce over high heat until reduced to 2 cups.  About 10 min.  Return the meat to the casserole and season wit salt and pepper.  Discard the thyme and bay leaf.  Serve the beef with potato cakes

 

 

STEAKHOUSE STEAK:

(from Columbus Dispatch)

  • 4 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 TBSP chopped fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, parsley, or combo)
  • ½ Teas kosher salt plus additional for seasoning
  • 4 steaks (8-12 oz each), ¾ inch thick
  • Ground pepper
  • Vegetable oil
  1. Mix butter, herbs and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl until well blended.  Cover and refrigerate.  Can be prepared up to five days ahead.
  2. Remove steaks from fridge.  Season steaks with salt and pepper.  Let stand at room temp for 20-30 minutes.
  3. Prepare grill high heat.  Rub grill with oil.
  4. Cook steaks on grill, with top closed as much as possible to desired doneness, turning once about 6 minutes total for medium rare.  If flare-ups occur, move steaks to cooler part of the grill.
  5. Remove steaks from grill.  Let stand 3-5 minutes.  Top each steak with pat of seasoned butter

 

Ground Beef  SLOPPY JOES –from SCRATCH

(from Phila Inquirer)

  • 2 tablespoons veg. Oil
  • 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cups minced onions
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 3 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 2 28 ounces crushed red tomatoes
  1.  Heat the oil on a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook until lightly caramelized (about 5 min).  Add the ground beef and salt.  Mix well and cook for 5-7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked.  Mix in the cumin and cook an additional one-minute.
  2. Add the red wine and reduce by three-quarters.  Pour in the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the Worcestershire sauce and molasses and vinegar and cook for 2 minutes to blend the flavors.
  3. Serve with hamburger or Kaiser buns

Serves 12-16

 

RUBS

Pat onto your favorite meet and cook in the flavor.

Apply rub evenly over all surfaces of meat.  Cover and refrigerate.

  • Steak, chicken 30 min
  • bone-in roasts/whole chicken 90 min
  • Pork Shoulder/Turkey 90 minutes

Rub Variations:

  • MOLE – Chili powder, chocolate shavings, grated orange peel
  • HONEY MUSTARD – Ground yellow mustard, white sugar and dried lavender
  • Au POIVRE – White, black and pink peppercorns, rosemary
  • CARIBBEAN – Allspice, mustard seeds, ginger
  • SMOKE and FIRE – Smoked paprika, chipotle chili flakes, sniped dried tomatoes, lime juice
  • GARLIC – Fresh and powdered garlic, sea salt and basil
  • ASIAN – Black and white sesame seeds, crystallized ginger, red pepper flakes
  • COWBOY – Hickory smoked salt, ground coffee, light brown sugar
  • INDIAN – Curry powder, crushed red pepper flakes, chopped pistachios

 

BRISKET- Gourmet Magazine

  • 1 Beef Brisket
  • 1 whole bay leaf
  • veg oil
  • 1 12 oz beer
  • beef bouillon cube
  • ½ cup cider vinegar
  • 2 onions sliced
  • salt and pepper
  1. Pat brisket dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a 6-8 quart wide and heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.  Brown meat on all sides, about 10 minutes total.  Transfer meat to a platter
  2. Cook onions with bay leaf in fat remaining in pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10-12 minutes.  Remove from heat and transfer half of onions to a bowl.  Arrange brisket over onions in pot (fat side up), and then top with remaining onions.  Add beer, bouillon and vinegar.  Liquid should come about halfway up sides of meat and bring to a boil
  3. Cover pot and braise in middle of oven for 3 to 3 ½ hours.  Cool in sauced uncovered, 30 minutes.
  4. Transfer brisket to a clean cutting board.  Skim off any from sauce, then season as desired.  Slice meat across grain and serve with sauce.

 

Note:  Brisket improves in flavor if braised 2 days ahead.  Pierce brisket fat side with fork tines.  Cook fat side up to enable the fat to melt and break down the “tough” meat.  Cool in sauce uncovered, then chill.  Remove any solidified fat before reheating.  Slice cold meat across the grain in thin slices and reheat with sauce in shallow covered baking pan.

 

BEEF BRISKET BAR-B-Q

  • 1 4 lb brisket
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup catsup
  • ¼ vinegar
  • ½ cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 ½ tablespoon liquid smoke
  • 1 crumbled bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  1. Rub meat with salt.
  2. Place in increased baking dish.
  3. Stir together remaining ingredients, pour over meat.
  4. Cover tightly, bake in 325 oven for 3 hours or until tender.

 

CUBE STEAK  IDEAS

Works well in chili, fajitas, cheese steaks, and stroganoff

Minute Steaks

  • 1/2- 3/4   cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup oil for sautéing
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  1. Coat steaks in flour.
  2. Heat oil in medium high skillet.
  3. Cook steaks until brown and crispy, about 4 minutes a side.
  4. Season steaks with salt and pepper.

 

Variation

  1. First cook 1 medium onion sliced thin.
  2. Remove onion, then cook steaks.
  3. Remove steaks, put onion back in skillet.
  4. Stir in ½ cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Serve sauce over steaks.

 

Round Steak with Rich Gravy

  • 3 lb round steak
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 1 envelope dry onion soup  mix
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup.
  1.  Sprinkle one side of meat with ½ flour and pound in.
  2. Flip meat over and repeat .
  3. Cut meat into 6-8 serving pieces.
  4. Heat oil in skillet, brown meat over medium heat.  About 15 min.
  5. Sprinkle onion soup mix over meat, mix waterand soup and pour over meat.
  6. Cover tightly, simmer 1 ½ -2 hours until tender.
  7. Serve on platter with wam gravy poured over beef.

 

SWISS STEAK

¼ cup all purpose flour

  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 pound round steak
  • 2 tablespoons butter/oil
  • 1 8 ounce can tomatoes
  • /2 cup minced onion
  • ¼ cup minced green bell pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  1. Stir together flour, salt and pepper.
  2. Sprinkle one side of meat with half the flour mixture, and pound in.
  3. Turn meat and pound in remaining flour mixture.
  4. Cut meat into 6-8 servings.
  5. Heat oil in large skillet, brown meat over medium heat., about 15 minutes.
  6. Cover tightly simmer for about 1 hour.  Add small amount of water if necessary.
  7. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meat.
  8. Cover tightly and cook for 30 minutes or until tender.