Easy Cube Steak and Mushrooms

Take some lean chewy beefsteak, pound it until it cries for mercy, simmer it slowly in a little wine and water until it gives up and falls to pieces and you will end up with one of the most wonderful simple main courses you will ever find. Mom had a wooden mallet with a waffled surface that she used to tenderize the cheap cuts of meat we grew up on. I can still see her slamming the mallet down on a defenseless piece of round steak.

We have a metal meat tenderizer today. It’s smaller than Mom’s but it does the job. However, as I have become older, wiser and lazier, I now buy cube steak, which is round steak that has been tenderized by a machine at the butcher shop. Starting with cube steak, you can put a meal on the table in well under an hour, even allowing a few minutes to peel the potatoes and catch your breath with a sip of the wine you use to help tenderize the beef.

INGREDIENTS:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. cube steak
2 to 3 T vegetable oil
1 small carrot
1 small parsnip
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 3/4 cups water, divided
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 four oz. can mushrooms
2 T corn starch
1/4 cup cold water

PROCEDURE:

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together. Clean, peel and grate the onion, carrot and parsnip.

Put two tablespoons of oil into a covered skillet over moderate heat. Cut the cube steak into serving-size pieces and dredge them in the seasoned flour. Brown the meat and remove it from the skillet. Put the vegetables into the skillet and sauté them over moderate heat for five minutes. Add more oil if necessary.

While the vegetables are cooking, you will notice that the flour from the meat is continuing to darken. This will give a rich brown color to the sauce. Dissolve two beef bouillon cubes in 1 1/2 cups hot water.

Pour the water and wine into the skillet and use a wooden spoon to scrape the flour from the bottom of the pan. Return the meat to the skillet, cover and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Drain the mushrooms and add them to the skillet. Stir two tablespoons of corn starch into a quarter cup of cold water and stir it into the skillet. Simmer for five minutes to cook the starch and thicken the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with bread, boiled potatoes and a green salad. If you enjoy wine at dinner, pour a glass of the wine you used for the meat.

NOTES: Cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel or merlot are all good wine choices for this dish.

A pound of cube steak will give you three generous servings. A pound and half will serve four or five diners. You might want to use a medium carrot and parsnip and increase the amount of water, wine and flour slightly to give you more gravy if you use the larger amount of steak.

Many people have told me that they have never eaten parsnips, but it is almost certain that they have eaten sauces or stews that include this cousin of the carrot. Parsnips sweeten in the ground after a hard frost and are sometimes harvested when the top inch of soil is already frozen. They are so sweet that they were used as a source of sugar before cane and beet sugar became available. The Romans valued parsnips so much that the emperor Tiberius accepted parsnips as partial payment of tribute from Germany.

When you buy them in the market, they are usually dipped in wax to keep them from drying out. Peeling removes the wax and the outer skin of the parsnip. The parsnip, carrot and onion need to be finely grated and sautéd to flavor the sauce without calling attention to themselves.

Scrambled Eggs Supreme

Here is a hearty breakfast or brunch dish that is often found on restaurant menus in northern Wisconsin. It’s called a skillet breakfast when the scrambled eggs are accompanied with fried or hash brown potatoes. When a side order of bacon, ham or sausage is added, the price goes up and the name changes to a “Farmers” or “Lumberjack” skillet.

Whatever the name, scrambled eggs supreme is a hearty breakfast dish that also makes a tasty light Sunday supper.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T yellow onion chopped medium
2 T sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)
2 T green bell pepper chopped medium
2 or 3 T fresh tomato chopped medium
4 T chopped or shredded medium cheddar cheese
2 T butter
4 large eggs
1 tsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. tarragon
1/4 cup half and half or milk
Dash (2 or 3 drops) Tabasco or other hot sauce

PROCEDURE:

Clean and chop the first five ingredients. Keep the cheese and tomatoes separate from each other and from the other vegetables.

Beat the eggs until lemon colored. Beat in the flour, salt, black pepper, tarragon and hot sauce. Beat the eggs and flour until well mixed and lemon yellow. Beat in the milk or half and half, tarragon, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I grind in about 1/8 tsp.).

Melt the butter over moderate heat in a seven or eight inch skillet. Add the onions and mushrooms and sauté lightly for one minute. Add the green pepper and sauté for another minute.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. Turn heat down to low and stir until the eggs are about half cooked. Sprinkle the tomatoes over the eggs, top with the cheese, cover and cook until the eggs are firm but not dry, two or three minutes.

Serve with toast and, if you wish, sausage, ham or bacon on the side.

NOTES: This recipe serves two. You can double the recipe, use a larger skillet, increase the cooking time and have enough for four.

Don’t forget to pass the ketchup!

Over the years I have had had to “make do” by substituting different cheeses and peppers or adding leftover meat. The eggs have still been supreme.

This basic recipe offers opportunities for the courageous cook. Check your refrigerator. Have a leftover bratwurst from the grill? A hot dog? A baked or boiled potato? Chop some and add it at what seems a suitable time. You may find a combination that you really like. And if you don’t, at least the leftover is out of the fridge.