Country fried steak is one of my favorite meals, only if it is cooked right though. But, the problem is there is a ton of fat in country fried steak because of the “fried” part. That doesn’t really fit in with my eating healthy kick right now, so here is a good substitution I’ve used.
After tenderizing the steak and then cooking it at a low temperature the meat comes out so tender and juicy. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser around your home in no time. Don’t be afraid to use whatever spices you prefer. I change this recipe about every time I make it, but usually these are the spices I always include.
Country Steak
By Lane
2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed excess fat
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup bacon drippings
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cutting with the grain of the meat, cut into about ½ inch slices. Tenderize meat, then salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Again, tenderize the meat until the slices are about ¼ inch thick. Dredge once more in the flour.
Heat a large Dutch oven or an oven-proof pot and cover the bottom of pot with bacon fat. Add steak and cook until browned. Remove and add broth and other seasonings to pot and bring mixture to a boil. Place steak back in pot and cover pot. Place in oven and cook for about one hour and 45 minutes.
(The meat will be very tender when it is ready.)
January 9, 2007
Country Style Steak
January 8, 2007
Healthy Sandwich Time
Here is a healthy meal for us that made a New Year's Resolution to eat healthier in 2007. This recipe comes from the newest edition of Cooking with Paula Deen.
I love panini sandwiches. They are quick to make and taste oh so good.
Makes 4 servings
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon Greek seasoning blend
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tomato, seeded and thinly sliced
4 slices mozzarella cheese
4 sandwich size loaves of ciabatta bread
Cut chicken breasts into thin slices. Sprinkle evenly with Greek seasoning.
In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bell pepper, onion, and tomato, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender.Preheat panini grill to high.
Slice ciabatta in half horizontally. Divide chicken mixture evenly over bottom halves of bread. Top each with a slice of cheese. Cover with tops of ciabatta.
Spray the grill with cooking spray. Place sandwiches on grill, and close grill lid, pressing down if needed. Grill panini until bread is crusty and browned, and cheese is melted (about 5 minutes). Serve immediately
January 5, 2007
The Podchef Site - Check it Out
In today’s age of food and genetics many are puzzled about what is safe and what’s not to put on their food. GMO’s, herbicides, fertilizers, EColi, BSE….all of these issues are on the minds of many.
From placing fertilizers on the gardens we grow at home to the farmers that use chemicals on their crops to remain competitive in the ag industry…What does all of this mean for the food that we consume?
The Podchef site discusses many of these issues. As the site reads: Welcome to the Podchef's Gastrocast! The podcast about cooking, food, and the politics of what we eat. I’ve listen to a few of the podcasts and I’m very impressed.
Whether you come from a farm or not, I think that everyone can gain a little knowledge from this site. Whether you agree or not it’s worth a read and an open mind.
Fruitcakes, they aren't bad
This fellow food blogger tried a variety of fruitcakes from all over the place and posts on her blog photos and opinions about the cake.
Many loathe fruitcakes for some strange reason. Probably because their only taste of fruitcake was a bad one. But, good news, there are really good fruitcakes out there also. So, if you are one that has a bad taste in your mouth because of bad fruitcake, try out this recipe from the host of Good Eats, Alton Brown.
Free Range Fruitcake
By Alton Brown, Good Eats
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum
1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground
6 allspice berries, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing
Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.
Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.) Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.
Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan. When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed.
January 4, 2007
Pot Pies for Fair Weather Days
It’s a cold and rainy day here in Mid-MO today. It’s days like this that I want to curl up with a blanket and a bowl of some type of pot pie.
Wikipedia describes a Pot pie is a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top (or just top) covered in flakey crusts and baked in its own pie tin.
This is in contrast to the Australian meat pie and many British regional variants on pie recipes which may have a top of flakey pastry, but the body is made from a heavier more mechanically stable, but still edible, shortcrust, hot water crust or similar pastry.
This is a recently modern advancement of the pasty which often required one to discard the crust as it was much harder than the rest of the pastry.
My definition is a little different. Pot pies are a true comfort food that brings a smile to any face. Some are very elaborate and some quick and easy.
Today’s pot pie recipe is one that I use when I’m in a rush to get dinner on the table. I came across it in one of my Paula Deen cookbook’s awhile ago and I’ve made this pot pie quite a bit since then.
It is a little different than most pot pies because the crust is just biscuit mix, no short crust to mix up, which really helps get this dish on your table in a snap. Curl up with a plate of this dish the next time the weather is gloomy…I guarantee it will make the day a little brighter.
by Paula Deen
Makes 6 to 8 servings
2 (10.75-ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (1-pound) package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1-1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.In a large bowl, combine soup, and next 6 ingredients. Stir in vegetables and chicken. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine baking mix and cheese. Add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls evenly over chicken mixture. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until biscuits are browned and pot pie is hot and bubbly.
January 3, 2007
Do you call yourself a Southern?
How many of you have had the opportunity in indulging in one of the true southern staple foods: GRITS?
If I say grits and a person knows that they are and how to fix them, then I call them a true southern.
By Paula Deen
6 cups chicken broth
16 ounces Cheddar, cubed
January 2, 2007
Footprints in Our Lives
Have you ever thought about how you have made the friends and relationships in your life? I have.
As I was making a pot of crab soup last night I started thinking about the people I have met throughout my life and how they have made footprints in my life. For instance, the soup recipe I was making was given to me by some folks in Maryland.
Cecil and Michelle I met about two years ago. My parent’s had decided that they were going to sell our family farm and purchase another one closer to Springfield, Mo. As soon as they put the farm up for sale, people were visiting from all over the county to look over the farm. There were people from California, Florida, Colorado, New York…I was amazed by the response.
But while all this was happening my parents were having their doubts about their choice to sell. I was unhappy about the decision from the get go. The family farm meant the world to me. Every childhood memory I had steamed from those hills, trees, creeks, barns, cattle, the swimming hole, dirt roads, fences and the “love tree.”
The “love tree” you ask? This is a very special place on my parent’s farm. My niece named this tree. The love tree is on the largest hilltop on my parent’s farm. It overlooks the entire farm, stock and barns. On this very special hilltop my husband proposed to me in 2002. We engraved our initials in this tree, and that is why my niece calls it the “love tree.”
Every memory of mine is wrapped into our family farm. So, when a couple from Maryland came for a visit (Cecil and Michelle) and decided to make an offer on my parents farm that matched my father’s asking price…..I became very worried!
This was the first buyer that asked the full asking price. Would my parent’s sell? Would I loose my Ozark hills? Would I never see our love tree again? Would I never be able to take my kids to the farm?
I met Cecil and Michelle and they were a wonderful couple. They had decied to move form Maryland to the Ozarks to escape the big city life and move their family to the country. They always wanted to have a farm and timber and they loved my parent’s farm.
For about four months the couple made frequent visits to our farm, as they were trying to sell their business in Maryland. During that time my parents and the couple became very good friends.
Then one day my father called me and asked me, “Lane how would you feel is we didn’t sell the farm?” Although my father new the answer to this question I gave him an answer. “That would be the best news in the world.”
So it was. My parents after many months of “to sell or not to sell” had decided to remain on our Ozark farm. But the friends they had made: Cecil and Michelle did purchase a farm about 20 minutes from my parents and the couple remains close family friends of ours.
It’s experiences like this that bring all different type of people into our lives. Mt friends stem from Charolais cattle breeders, former FFA’ers, college friends, overseas experiences, co-workers, local Mid-Mo friends, a summer softball team my husband and I play on, many ag-related groups I serve on….all these experiences shape the relationships we acquire and the people we are. I am thankful to have met so many wonderful people throughout my life like Cecil and Michelle.
Here is the crab soup recipe that Michelle passed on to my mother and me. It is way too easy to be as good as it is!
By Michelle
(This makes a Very large batch. I usually cut it in half, unless I’m serving it for a party.)
6 cans of cream of celery soup
2 quarts half and half
1 stick of butter
1 lb. of crabmeat (if using canned crab meat 4-5 (6 oz) cans) A bag of steamed broccoli florets
1 ½ tsps. of Old Bay seasonings (found in the spice area in your local grocery store)
2 T. garlic powder
3T. dry mustard powder
Put everything except the crabmeat and broccoli into a large pot. Bring ingredients to a slow simmer for 25 minutes. Be sure to stir quite often. Meanwhile, steam your broccoli florets and when steamed chop coarsely.
After the soup mixture has simmered for 25 minutes, place crabmeat and broccoli in pot and simmer till the mixture is thick enough for your own taste. Garnish with any white cheese and oyster crackers.
* After I add the crabmeat and broccoli I usually only simmer the soup for another 10 minutes and then remove it from the heat.
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