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In a moment of weakness, I bought some today. I had pretty much given up on that for a dinner choice, but I'm so tired of cooking the same old dinners.

In the past, my cube steaks have never been anything more than just edible. I've always pan-fried them quickly. How do you prepare yours?

I saw a recipe online that says to brown it with a spiced flour mixture and simmer it in oil for 3 mins on each side; then cover the pan, on low setting, and cook for 2 hrs along with a ts of beef bouillon. Reviewers said they added more spices to the flour and onion rings and mushrooms.

I serve mine with grilled onions and mushrooms. Usually on hardrolls. I fry them in a hot skillit. Fast and hot.

Its been a very long time since I've fixed them. I would season them well, dredge in flour and then pan fry in oil. I'd then make gravy from the drippings (sometimes with onions) and serve with mashed potatoes.

I'd think the long cooking time would be to assure tenderness. Sometimes cube steaks can be a bit chewy, if you know what I mean.

Myself, I don't even TRY to cook them - they are tough and chewy regardless of the cooking method - BUT, if push came to shove and I had to cook them, I'd do something very different than any of the suggestions above:

First choice would be many hours in a crock-pot/ second choice would be a stove-top kettle - both with lots of beef broth, vegetables like onions, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage and carrots with some seasonings like poultry, parsley, bay leaves and, just a touch of sage.

I would NEVER try cooking them as suggested - 3 minutes on high each side? Guaranteed to make a bad cut even worse!

I tried Paula Deen's recipe for this once...her's looked wonderful on one of her shows. While it looked good, all crispy and crunchy, it was still very tough. I used a meat mallet before frying. So, when I do make this, it's dipped in a seasoned flour, browned in skillet, add peppers and onions...THEN, placed either in the oven for several hours on a very low temp. or put in the crockpot.

I made cube steak many years ago when we had very little money. I dredged steak in flour with spices and I browned it in an electric fry pan with a tad of oil and butter lower temp and add can of tomato sauce and cover. Cook for about an hour and add potatoes that have been peeled and cooked a little and sliced into wedges add to that some sliced red peppers and cubed pineapple and cover again for another hour add sugar to sauce if it is too acid. Add any veggie you want to this and heat thru.

My mother always made country style steak with it. Something similar to what CA Lori mentions. However she would add sliced onion to the pan to brown a little and then add water, cover and simmer on low heat. Makes a wonderful brown gravy, no boullion cubes or canned beef broth; just natural flavors. Served over rice - still one of my favorites.

I like to brown it using a spicy seasoning mix in the flour, garlic and onions in the pan drippings and then add chopped tomatoes, water and let it simmer then serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

Aah yes, the dilemma of cooking cube steaks so that they are "edible." First, make sure you're getting your beef from a quality market. That said, I sear them in a hot stove-top grill pan quickly on both sides - remove them & set aside - and add a mix of heated dried beef onion soup mix and water to the hot grill pan and swish around, return the cube steaks to the pan & place in a 350 oven for 5 or 10 minutes. If the meat is high quality, they are chewable - if not, nothing can cure the problem. I have taken left-over cooked cube steaks, sliced them thin and added to gravy - sort of like beef Stroganoff - and that helps make them more edible.

I dredge mine in seasoned flour..salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, then sear in hot butter in a cast iron skillet. I flip when the juices begin to bubble to the top, sear that side and place on toast.

I deglaze the pan with a small amount of beef boullion and add a tablespoon of sour cream to the drippings and pour over the toast.

Where do you all find tough cube steaks? mine are wonderfully tender.


They aren't inexpensive either so it's kind of a special treat when we have them.
Once a year or so I cook them like swiss steak, dredged then browned then simmered in tomatoes, but to me that isn't cube steak.

I made them all day in my c/pot, and they were very good, fork-tender! The gravy was delicious. I found a simple recipe online that just called for browning the steaks, then the onions, and adding the brown gravy/water mixture to the c/pot.

I served them with mashed potatoes and green beans. The canned beans were terrible--no taste at all. Guess I've been spoiled with the fresh haricots verts string beans that I've been buying at Trader Joe's.

And this is the first time I've bought my cubed steaks at Raley's (a higher-end grocery chain). I suspect they would have been tender if I had just pan-fried them like I always used to do.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CA Lori,

CAL Lori, To doctor up canned green beans first I drain them well and soak in cold water. While they soak I saute some garlic in olive oil sweat some thin sliced sweet onion. I drain the green beans and toss in with the onion and garlic. If I'm serving a plain meat I will add teriyaki sauce and seasonings to the onion and garlic before adding back the green beans and cook it down to just coat the beans with the sauce.

You can also do this with fresh green beans - cook the beans until just tender and toss in the sauce.

I also do a "Greek" style beans. Brown some chopped bacon add the garlic and chopped onion. When it sweats down add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste about 1/2 cup of water or enough to thin the paste. Toss in the drained green beans and toss to coat with the tomato mixture. The original recipe calls for a pinch of cinnamon tto be added to the sauce.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

Thanks, Charming, I'll try that next time I open a can . . . but, next time I'll pay more attention to the can to make sure it doesn't say "salt-free." I picked that up by mistake! Yuck, it was awful.

quote:

Originally posted by CA Lori:
Thanks, Charming, I'll try that next time I open a can . . . but, next time I'll pay more attention to the can to make sure it doesn't say "salt-free." I picked that up by mistake! Yuck, it was awful.

I always buy the salt free so I can season them to taste.

I bought salt-free green beans by mistake once. I could not get them seasoned correctly. The salt did not penetrate the bean and you couldn't get enough salt on the outside to make them salty.

And I don't eat that much added salt. Salads for instance, there's generally enough variety in the vegetables in a good salad that I don't add salt. But salt-less green beans. YUCK!

One thing I do with canned green beans is to pour them packing water and beans into a saucepan. Add a spoonful of beef soup base (Penzey's) and some dehydrated onions. Then I boil them until pretty much all the liquid is gone. The beef flavor is through and through.

Sherry, I'm assuming you do that doctoring up with a salted can of green beans, is that right?

I have Trader Joe's Savory Beef Broth packets (9.6g) of reduced sodium liquid concentrate. Do you think that might be similar to your Penzey's soup base? I also have dehydrated onions on hand--I love it when ingredients called for in a recipe are what I normally have on hand! I'm going to give that a try with my next can of green beans. I use the canned version on those nights when I'm lazy or in a hurry!

(Heck, it might even be just as good to use a spoonful instant beef bouillon.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CA Lori,

It is really interesting to see what other people have as their go to items.

I never have beef boullion or similar products on hand. I have bought soup base but I will use it once and it will stay in the refrigerator for a couple of years before I tire of moving it when I clean the fridge. I usually have some cans of reduced sodium chichen broth in the pantry. I've never bought liquid smoke (mentioned in another thread.)

I've read recipes that call for canned beef broth on a roast. I usually don't get beyond that when reading the recipe. Then I know people who will dump a can of cream soup on whatever they are cooking in a crock pot, again, I usually lay that recipe aside. Not saying I don't use cream soups in some recipes, but when I cook certain meats I consider them the star of the dish and don't want a lot of additives for lack of a better explanation.

Perhaps this should be a new topic, or a revision of an old one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

I have taken cube steaks, put a little stuffing (like you use in turkey) in the middle, and roll up the steaks, keeping them closed with toothpicks. I have put them in the oven...probably an hour...but you could use your c-pot. Just before serving, poor beef gravy over them and serve. Mine always turned out tasty and not chewy.

Right now, I'm still recovering from a good case of the giggles that Charming caused with her all-too-common refrigerator description . . . at least in my house!

But May, your comment about the stuffed cube steaks reminds me of a dinner my mom used to make quite often. If memory serves me correctly, I think it might have been called Veal Birds! I never see veal in the stores that I frequent, but then again, it's been years since I've ever really looked for it. I used to make a wonderful dish with veal, capers, and white wine. It was a quick, easy, and delicious dinner. Veal is hard to find in restaurants either. I believe it's politically incorrect to cook with veal anymore.

I liberally season with S&P, brown well in a little nice live oil, then cook low/slow... smothered with onions, peppers, and some kinda tomato product (diced, crushed, sauce). Cook on LOW for easily and hour and it's pretty much fork-tender. Like to serve over rice/noodles/pasta.

Actually, just cook this last weekend. When almost done, I pulled meat out and stirred in fist full of Israeli couscous. Orzo works well, too... no need to cook it first.