You guys were terrific at telling me what to make with my cube steak besides chicken fried steak, I’d figured this was the best place to ask. I already made stew and I have about a pound left. Kebabs come to mind, but I think they would be a pit tough. Plus I’d have to make them in a pan and not the grill and I’m not sure I’ve ever done that.
Any ideas?
Beef Tips over Egg Noodles
You can do it stove-top or slow cooker. Brown the beef, then add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup, some beef broth, some red wine, some spices, maybe an onion or three, fresh mushrooms and such. Serve over egg noodles. The recipe is very versatile and adaptable. Add gravy mix. Subtract the onions. Add dried onion soup mix. Leave out the wine. Whatever floats your boat.
Make a pot of lentil soup. Cut the stew meat into small pieces, stir fry it, then add it to the lentil soup.
(I just did this to use up my own stew meat and it worked well)
If you have a food processor, give them a good whirl through the blades until the pieces are roughly the size of large peas. Then do what you would do with a pound of ground chuck.
Cut into bite size pieces, sauté with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add a can of Rotel diced tomato & chilis and kalamata olives. Spices to suit your tastes. Serve over brown rice.
Can stew meat be used in kebabs, or would any kind of grilling make it tough?
Probably on the tough side. But I like that sort of thing, so I guess it’s subjective.
With the right kind of marinade and a slow enough fire, stew meat can be grilled no problem.
I don’t have a grill, so I always make my kebabs on a pan (just don’t use a ton of oil). Something I also do is use the same ingredients as for a kebab, minus the stick. If I was going to use stew meat I’d cut the cubes into half-cubes along the grain of the meat so it wouldn’t need too much time to cook thoroughly and wouldn’t end up too tough.
Fideos a la cazuela are thick short noodles (fideos), cooked with stew meat cut small. A cazuela is a wide, short pot.
chili.
which is itself a stew, but a different type.
My Uncle Bill taught me what he called African Stew. He was a tail gunner (American Air Corps) in bombers flying out of Africa during World War II and he claimed this was a dish many of the flight crews made.
Take a couple pounds of whatever beef was available (typically tough cuts of local cows), cut into stew sized pieces, and put into a pot. Add a can or two of Campbells Condensed Tomato Soup (apparently universally available!) and a can or two of water. Salt, pepper, maybe an onion if one was available, cover tightly, and set onto low heat. Fly the mission. When you returned – IF you returned – serve the stew over white rice.
My modern version adds some Worcestershire, and I dredge the meat in seasoned flour and sear it before loading the stew pot. But it is basically the same. Quite tasty, too! A slow cooker works fine, and so does a pressure cooker if you don’t have a 10 hour mission to fly, or just don’t want to wait all day.
Cut very smaIl, saute make gravy, serve over rice. ‘Faux beef tips over Rice’ mushrooms would be nice in there. (I like to name my concoctions!)
My mom used to make a very simple and delicious meal of beef & noodles. Boil the beef with cut up celery and onions, season to taste. Add diced potatoes; when almost done, add quick cook barley and noodles.
I need to make this soon…
Beef stroganoff is good. Throw the meat into the crock pot with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a cup of mushrooms. Maybe add some onion and some worcestershire. When it’s ready stir in some sour cream and serve it on some egg noodles.
Beef rendang. It’s absolutely worth tracking down the ingredients, which aren’t all that exotic nowadays – kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal – but it takes a loooong time. You could probably speed it up in a pressure cooker. Serve over rice with krupuk (crackers) and if you need some greens, kang kung (water spinach) or snakebeans in sambal on the side.
There are so many different kinds of stew, you will never run out of ones to try. How about a nice beef curry? Or a nice Persian beef khoresh? Maybe a Moroccan beef tagine? Perhaps an Azerbaijani beef stew with chestnuts and sour plums? The possibilities are endless!
I like to make New Orleans Creole Daube, which was inspired by late 19th century Italian immigrants. I usually use a small chuck roast or a big chuck steak, but that’s probably what your “stew” has been cut from.
Put a big onion, as much garlic as you like (at least 4 cloves), and a 28 oz. can of good tomatoes (San Marzano!) into the food processor or blender and process smooth. Pour into a saucepan large enough to hold the meat, and add the meat. Bring to a boil, then turn way down low and simmer for three or four hours. Salt and pepper to taste. That’s it…no herbs or spices. Serve the rich red sauce over al dente , schpagootch and pass the Parmesan grater. The fork-tender beef goes alongside on the plate.
My Central European immigrant grandpa made this and called it “tomato gravy.” He probably spooned it over homemade potato dumplings, which were probably the Czech equivalent of gnocchi.
Borscht. It’s the only thing I make that works best with beef. But Stroganoff would be good, too.