Well, they were on sale, and they’re super-lean for our diets, so I had a moment of madness. How the hell do I cook these so they’re not tough?
Added difficulty - I need a weeknight recipe (and my fiance is always starving when I get home) and he won’t eat it if it has any pink in it. No, there is no fixing him. Also, I’m not firing up the grill after work.
We’ve been doing sirloin steaks in the oven every so often lately - throw some seasoned salt on them and some Worcestershire sauce while the oven preheats and the steaks warm up to room temp and then throw them covered at 400 for 15 minutes or so (and then I poke his and throw it in the microwave until it’s sufficiently dead). That’s all right if I cut it thinly against the grain.
So, what does one do with a cheap cut of meat that one doesn’t want to cook all day? Is it hopeless?
Wow, cheap lean meat + no pink, you’re making it hard!
I’d tend to do something like a stir fry with it. Or jaccard the hell out of it before putting it under the broiler.
Sicks Ate claims he’s not the gourmet, but I like both of his ideas. The trick with this cut is that it’s going to be tough even when cooked medium-rare, and cooking it to well-done is going to be even worse, so I’m thinking either slice it thin or pound it flat.
My wife and I came across the same cut, at a great price, and here is what I did:
Marinate the steak (about a pound) with salt, a little cumin, and the juice of a lime (or two) for about an hour.
As the meat marinades, make pico de gallo (Chop up two tomatoes, a small onion, a jdiced alapeno (or serrano), and cilantro, add the juice of a lime and salt to taste- let sit, stirring occasionally). Make Guacamole (two ripe avocados, juice of a lime, salt, cilantro- mash- mix in a diced jalapeno or serrano pepper with a diced small onion. press plastic wrap onto surface, eliminating all air)
Grill steaks on a blazing hot charcoal grill till med rare (or broil inside) you can cook it thoroughly, but be aware that this will toughen the meat appreciably- just slice it thinner, and even more against the grain. Toast some corn tortillas, cut rested meat on the bias, to cut the grain- make tacos, adding pico, guac, and queso fresco.
Simple, cheap and INSANELY good. And there were plenty of leftovers for day 2…
Hope this helps!
(otherwise, yes, round steak should be braised for a couple of hours- I use it for swiss steak)
We ask the butcher to tenderize it. Then it goes in the slow cooker with sliced onion and canned tomatoes. Sometimes I brown it first but that’s not absolutely necessary. Serve with mashed potatoes. It’s our cheap and easy version of Swiss steak.
Pound or fork the hell out of it and make chicken-fried steak. Eye of round is a pain-in-the-ass cut. My favorite prep is this one, but that’s not going to qualify, as you don’t want pink in your roast. Actually, it also makes for quite good corned beef/pastrami, but that’s a bit more complicated and takes a good bit longer than you want.
I bash it around a bit, then pan fry it rapidly in a very hot cast iron pan so that it is very rare. Maybe 1-2 minutes on a side. Unless you can eat this steak rare it is VERY tough when cooked via dry heat.
It’s a good steak for braising though, if you have a bit more time. Brown it very fast in a dry frying pan. then cover halfway in liquid of your choice (broth and onions and herbs, maybe some wine, is simplest), simmer covered for at least an hour.
Braise it briefly in hot fat so all sides are caramelized. Plop it into a pan with crushed tomatoes and herbs, onions and whatever, and simmer for about three hours. You’ll have a nice spaghetti sauce and the meat will have fallen apart.
The reason I call it a pain-in-the-ass cut is because it’s not a great braising cut (being on the lean side, it tends to get a bit mealy and stringy with the long cooking time), and it’s a tricky cut to get just right roasted. The method I’ve linked to above (which apparently is the America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated method) is the best I’ve been able to find, and it’s still a good bit tougher than top or bottom round. It’s a cut I tend to avoid, and it’s not particularly beefy in flavor, either.
It’s good for slicing into julienne strips to make things like stroganoff or tartar. If the butcher will put it through the machine, it’s good for cube steaks. Also, you can poke it to death with a fork and marinade the hell out of it. But whatever you do, you have to let it cook for a while at a low temperature to tenderize, or barely cook it to keep it from getting tough.
I don’t know as I’ve ever used this cut for anything, but braising is usually my go-to for tough cuts. If that’s the end result, I retract my recommendation. Feed it to the dog.
You’re going to have to tenderize it somehow, either by mechanical action (pounding or forking it to death) or chemical (marinate it in an acid). I’d probably make chicken fried steak out of it, after I’d pounded it into submission. I made CFS a couple of nights ago, and after I was done pounding, the pieces of meat were about a quarter of an inch thick. This will take care of the tenderness AND you’ll be able to cook it thoroughly. If I didn’t want CFS, then I might go with a stirfry or fajitas. I have been known to use a packet of fajita seasoning on steak strips, and it actually came out pretty good, though I did have to use a bit of oil in the pan. Also, I cut onions and bell peppers into strips and grilled them with the fajita meat.
Oh, so you don’t want to use a stick of butter for two people?
Seriously, try some fajitas or stirfry, with a minimum of oil, or even use some chicken broth instead of oil. Or heck, chop them up and put them in a vegetable beef soup.
