I somehow midway through my first post missed that this is steaks and not a roast we’re talking about, which would kill any of the roasting options I suggested. My mother does braise this cut a lot. What it yields is not inedible, but it’s what I think of when I think of typical overcooked Eastern European meat that needs to be swimming in gravy to make it palatable. Have you ever had braised or slow cooked pork loin? That’s kind of what happens to eye of round when you slow cook or braise it. Some people don’t seem to mind the texture, but for me it becomes dry and mealy, unlike beef chuck or pork shoulder cuts which are more suitable for braising (and more concentrated in their meaty flavor.)
The only really, really good eye of round I’ve ever had was as a cold cut, the smoked eye of round from Dohar’s in Cleveland.
But if the chicken fried steak option is too unhealthy, I’d say the stir-fry suggestions are good. I would partially freeze the meat (to make it easier to cut), and then cut it into thin matchstick sized pieces. I would also velvet the meat before stir-frying it. The technique is explained here (although with chicken breast in that example.)
I grew up eating eye of round as steak. We didn’t have much money and I assumed steak was supposed to require lengthy chewing.
My mom also used it for other purposes. One of my favorite was cutting it into thin strips, and stir-frying it with onions and mushrooms and some Season All. Served with rice and a side of broccoli. Pretty good, actually.
Are you talking about a small little steak, say about 3-4" across and 1/2" thick or less or something bigger/thicker?
If it’s the ones I’ve described, I cook them in a George Foreman grill for about 4 minutes, the GFG cooks them quickly and evenly on both sides. However we like ours slightly red/bright pink. If you cook them until there’s no pink left it can be really hard to judge exactly when to take them out. Even 30 seconds overcooking will make them tough.
What I would do is marinate them at least overnight first, that will make them much easier to cook thoroughly without getting tough. Local groceries around here sell a Jack Daniels marinade bag that really makes any cut of meat super tender if left in overnight. There’s also a lot of other bottled marinade sauces, so you can experiment and find one you like. If you don’t have a Foreman they can also be cooked nicely in a frying pan.
MY financee has another suggestion. She says her mom used to cover the steaks with flour and a little salt and pepper, put them in a frying on high and sear them in oil until brown, then reduce heat to low and put some water in the pan, but not enough to cover the steaks. Cook on low for an hour or so. She says they came out thoroughly cooked but still very tender. Plus you can make gravy with the water/juice that’s left in the pan.
I only have a little charcoal grill, more trouble than it’s worth for one little meal.
I actually have ground it up (put it in the food processor to make tiny bits) to mix with BBQ sauce to put on buns. What I ended up with was tiny gray chewy grainy bits floating in the sauce. Very unpleasant. :mad: I can’t see making any kind of steak sandwich out of it, either, as I have purchased very very thin slices, and cooking it turned them into thin gray chewy grainy slices. So make swiss steak or something, but you just really can’t cook n’ serve as is.
I’m able to get these steaks from my farm share – they’re called “Santa Maria steaks” (sometimes called Newport steaks in NYC). It’s a thin (approx 1") triangular piece of the Tri-tip with a piece of fat covering the whole top. Peel off the fat and what’s left is lean yet very tender and tasty. Its on the lower end price wise, which is why I chose it the first time – now I’m addicted to it.
A butcher would have it, or if you have any people selling beef at your farmer’s market you could ask them. I’ve never seen it at a grocery store.
I’ve gotten them a number of times. I marinate them in a marinade with vinegar (and something else so they don’t tasted like vinegar) overnight and they grill or pan fry reasonably well after that.
My experience of putting these into the slow cooker was that they turned into hockey pucks. Fat and connective tissue tenderize int he slow cooker. If you ahve what I used to buy, they are pure muscle tissue.
The best ones: I pricked rather viciously with a fork (cheap therapy!) and stuck in a ziplock bag with some even cheaper italian salad dressing before work. When I got home I rinsed them and fried. Super yummy!
