Ok folks, im new to cooking and was wondering if anyone has any good recipes for cubed beef??!
Answers: to put it all in perspective, im in need of lots of pointers!! do i just put the beef in a pot full of water and just let it cook or what????? please help me! ive got a refrigerator full of beef, chicken, etc. HELP!!!
Yes, you could just put a load of beef in a pot of water and turn it on, but you will end up with a pot of water full of grey scum and a lot of grey, stringy, tasteless but edible meat.
If you want to make beef taste of anything, you have to sear it. This means cooking it for a few minutes in a very hot cooking medium (i.e. hot fat) so that it goes brown on the outside. The brown crust consists of caramelised natural meat juices, and is the reason why steaks taste good.
If you want to make a stew, you don't just cook meat in water. You have to add other stuff to make the water turn into delicious stew liquor. The usual things to add are onion, carrot and celery, but I prefer to use leek instead of celery.
You will need a peeled onion, at least one peeled carrot and a cleaned and trimmed leek, meaning that you cut the bottom end off and also the green woody bits. You will also need to wash the leek carefully, because it tends to accumulate dirt inside itself.
Take your cubed beef and put it on a plate. Take a heavy pot and put a layer of olive oil on the bottom. Heat this until it shimmers.
Fry off the meat in batches, not too much at a time. If you attempt to cook it all at once, it will give off too much juice and will boil instead of go brown. Fat heats to a higher temperature than water, and you need the fat in the oil to turn the surface of the beef a rich brown colour. That's flavour.
You may need to add more oil as you go. Not too much. When all the meat is nicely golden brown on all sides, take the last batch out and add your onion, carrot and leek. Stir them around a bit and let their natural juice loosen up some of the brown crusty stuff that should have accumulated on the bottom of the pan (all that brown crusty stuff is pure flavour, btw.) This is a good moment to add a glass of decent dry white wine, i.e. Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.
The wine should bubble fiercely - if it doesn't, the heat isn't up high enough.
When the wine has boiled for a few minutes, chuck all the meat back in the pan and add just enough water to cover the meat and vegetables. Now is the time to add herbs and flavourings such as thyme, rosemary, fresh orange peel, red wine, stock powder, Guinness etc.
Let the liquid come to a boil, then turn it right down and simmer it on the gentlest heat you can get for about two hours. If you try to simmer it for a shorter time, the meat will get tougher and tougher and tougher and will not be tasty. The best thing to do is to simmer it for two hours, then turn the heat off, cover it and leave it overnight, then reheat it the following night. Some sort of magic happens to a beef casserole when you leave it overnight.
I assume you want tasty, succulent, tender beef and a rich and flavourful liquid which can be soaked up by baked potatoes or rice or whatever. This is one way to achieve that.
Beef stew, Beef tips and rice, beef smoothie. The possibilities for beef are endless.
STEAK & KIDNEY PIE
4 lbs. top round steak
1 lb. beef or lamb kidneys
2 tbsp. butter
1 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Oil
Butter
4 c. brown stock or undiluted canned consomme
2 c. beef or rose of Cabernet Sauvignon
2 c. mushrooms, cut in pieces
Puff pastry.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove fat from round steak and cut meat into 1 inch cubes. Set aside.
Remove fat from kidneys. Blanch kidneys, remove remaining fat and membrane, then slice finely. Saute in 2 tablespoons of butter 4 to 5 minutes.
Shake beef cubes in mixture of flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Using 12 inch skillet brown meat in about 4 batches in a mixture of hot oil and butter, adding oil and butter as needed.
Place beef cubes and kidneys in 3 quart casserole or pie dish. Then deglaze skillet with 2 cups stock. Add to casserole with remaining stock and beer or wine to cover meat. Bake, covered, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is tender.
Increase temperature to 400 degrees. Add mushrooms to meat, mixing in thoroughly. Cover with puff pastry. Brush with a mixture of egg yolk and milk to glaze. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Chop some onion,Fry with the beef on a low heat then add some boiling water and add potatos and carrots and other veg to your taste then add a stock cube and leave to cook until the meat is tender and the veg is cooked.about 40 minutes there you have a beef casserole.
Peel and dice some potatoes and let them soak covered in water.
Sautee an onion and then sautee the beef. Add the potatoes to the beef and sautee for a few minutes. Then add enough of the starchy water that the potatoes were in to cover the meat. Put a lid on and simmer for at least thirty minutes on medium to medium low. If it bubbles up turn the heat down.
This is called Papas con Calditos. An old standby that anyone can make with just about nothing. Add whatever other ingredients you want to this basic recipe.
Poor mans beef stroganoff:
About 1 lb. Cubed beef, browned on the stove.
Add one can cream of mushroom soup mixed with 1 cup sour cream. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Serve over rice.
You can add some dehydrated or fresh onions, pepper (I wouldn't add salt- there is plenty in the soup) if you'd like.
Season your cubes well with your choice of seasonings, dreg in a little flour and brown in a heavy pot or dutch oven if you have one, add sliced onions and sliced mushrooms minced garlic if you have it, careful not to burn the garlic. Add just enough water to cover bring to a boil, than cut heat down to simmer , cover and let cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You can add
diced potato's and carrots the last 20 min. or you can make a soup toss in diced potato's chopped okra and can diced tomato's and mixed veggies Serve with corn bread or rolls. Or
Beef Stroganoff. Saute beef cubes in butter and garlic(you can omit garlic if you care to)cover with wine with couple beef bouillons cover and cook until tender. Stir in a couple of dollops of our sour cream and serve immediately over a bed of noodles.
Don't boil the cube steaks in a pot of water! My favorite way to have then is Chicken fried steak:
4 to 6 Cube steaks
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
3 cups milk, more if desired
Season the steak with salt and pepper. Combine the flour, paprika, thyme, garlic powder and additional salt and pepper on a flat plate or waxed paper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat. Dip the steaks first in the flour, then in the egg wash, and in the flour again. Fry until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and keep warm (in a 200° F oven if necessary). Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat in the pan. Add 3 tablespoons of the seasoned flour and stir constantly over medium heat to make a browned roux. Gradually whisk in the milk until gravy is thick and creamy, adding more if a thinner gravy is desired. Taste for seasoning. Use the gravy to top the meat and any side dish of mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.
Variations: For a crispier crust, use crushed cracker crumbs for the final coating. You may make any type of gravy you like. Use beef stock in place of the milk for a brown gravy. Use dry red wine for a different taste altogether.
Hi- you'd do well by getting a slow cooker. They are sooooo easy to use. Put your meat in, throw in veges, seasoning - let it slow cook all day - and you've got fabulous, tender tasting meats.
You can put a whole chicken in there too - no oil just the chicken. Add seasoning. Fantastic.
Hope this is helpful.