Text 18548, 159 rader
Skriven 2011-12-02 05:29:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: round and round 296
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 JW> I recently picked up some eye of round steaks, even though they are
 JW> almost impossible to cook,

Perfectly simple to cook - almost impossible to eat!

 JW> as it was cheaper than hamburg.

You have a meat grinder, or at least a Cuise?

 Half of
 JW> them got crockpotted and stewed to death with lots of beef broth,
 JW> onions and seasonings. It was sort of OK.

Probably better if sliced really thin. Thinner the better
for this cut, usually.

 The other half got
 JW> marinaded in a very acid and spicy soy marinade for several days,
 JW> then slowly poached in butter, then finished briefly under the
 JW> broiler; they were still rarish. And surprisingly tender. OK+

Surprisingly meaning with a texture more attractive than that
of shoes, I presume. The amount of labor involved in rendering
this unattractive cut edible, if paid for at market rate, would
bring your dinner into the price range of filet.

 ML> bottom round roast / raw
 JW> Beef sashimi? Sliced very thinly with salt, pepper and horseradish
 JW> perhaps.

Could do. If it's really good, not even pepper and horseradish.
I wouldn't do this with eye round steaks (might do so with a
big piece of the stuff, after trimming off surface), as they
usually come with this unattractive patina.

 JW> My mom's always used canned stewed tomatoes with a little diced
 JW> onion and celery. I do it that way sometimes but with more
 JW> seasonings than her although I prefer brown sauce and lots of
 JW> onions. I wonder if that's actually a different dish.

Neither is Swiss, of course. The name supposedly comes from
a machine that tenderizes fabric, or something like that, that
was invented by the Swiss, or something like that. I am pretty
sure that when I was growing up there was a divide between the
brown and the red swiss steakers; I was mostly in the brown
camp, though my mother made a pretty good red swiss steak
(though sometimes doing the inappropriate alteration of adding
green pepper to the gravy). Nowadays the title given to brown
gravy meat is salisbury steak (also not from Salisbury, but
rather named for a nutrition doc by that name who, if memory
serves, used to feed people raw ground meat), without regard
to the treatment of the underlying beef, which used of course
to be salisburyized by grinding it up, the swissing treatment
being a slightly less draconian process.

Sour Beef and Dumplings (Sauerbraten)
cat: German, mid-Atlantic, Penn, main
servings: 6

h - for the gravy
24 ginger snaps
1 1/4 c water
h - for the dumplings
2 sl bread
3 md potatoes
water
salt
3 lg eggs
3 c flour
h - for the roast
3 lb bottom round
2 c vinegar
6 c water
3 lg onions
2 ts salt
2 Tb sugar, more to taste
4 ts pickling spice

Ginger Snap Gravy - Soak ginger snaps until soft
- needs stirring off and on to get it fairly smooth.

Dumplings - Early in the day, do this: Make croutons
out of 2 slices of bread cut in small squares and browned
- help dumplings float.

1. Wash off potatoes (9 fairly medium, not little) and
cover with water - boil in salted water until tender
(1 hour? or less).

2. Peel off skins while hot - put in large mixing bowl
and mash - add nothing, just turn over a few times off
and on and let get "cold". Turn over every 1/2 hr or
so by stirring.

Take now after meat is finished, as this is the last
thing before meal is ready, and make dumplings.

Now into your cold mashed potatoes, add salt,
3 whole eggs, stir and add a bit more salt
(it should be squishy).

Now add 3 cups plain flour and mix in good - it's hard
to mix and should be fairly solid.

Have a wide pot boiling. Take big handful (hands dusted
with flour before each dumpling is made, with crouton
in middle), and drop into boiling water (not to boiling
tho, but gently moving). When all are in, lift off
bottom so they float and move in the boiling water.
Boil 20 min - take out one and cut - if dry textured
inside, it's finished.

Cut and fry dumpling next day (do not put in gravy
to store - keep separate).

If dumplings are bit undone - don't worry - just slice and
fry golden brown right off - maybe next time will be better.

DO NOT put salt in potatoes 'til time to make dumplings - it
will make potatoes watery.

Sour Beef - Bottom Round Roast (can cut up in big serving
chunks (say 6 pieces).

1. Take meat, wash off, and put in fairly big pot -
preferably not aluminum.

2. Cover with 1 c white vinegar to every 3 c plain water
(say 6 c water needs 2 c vinegar) - (also put in about
3 big fat onions). Either take onions out when tender,
or put in 1/2 hr later, as they finish before meat most
times and will fall apart.

3. Put in salt (medium amount, say 2 ts) - then sugar
(approx. 2 Tb, more can be added) - then about 1 big
tablespoonful of McCormick's "Pickling Spices" all
wrapped up in piece of cheese cloth and tied tight
(you use tea strainer).

4. Boil for at least 1-1/2 hr until meat is tender,
but not falling apart. Watch closely as vinegar foams
up fast and boils over and makes one awfully sticky
mess. When it starts to boil, turn down and boil gently
(not as slow as simmer tho), with lid at slant, never
covered tight.

Want sweeter, add more sugar and bit salt, too. Take
spices out before adding ginger snaps. Want more sour,
add tiny bit vinegar. Take out meat and onions - add
mushy ginger snaps and stir until smooth and fairly
thick - put NO LID ON AFTER THIS (just put meat and
onions back in or it will get watery). Make early and
warm up if you want it later.

bettyb711 on discusscooking.com

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