Cube Steak Surprise

Week Five, Friday

I'd never heard of cube steak before. We had the choice of different kinds of beef this week at Fair Shares, and Roy had had this as a kid. I learned that it's the cut used in chicken fried steak. I found this recipe for it that seemed do-able. I used the variation in the comments that suggested tomato sauce in place of the water. The lady at Fair Shares told us this meat had to be cooked in liquid for a long time, so this fit the bill.

I had also never browned meat before in a skillet before cooking it in the oven. I remember once years ago, when I first moved in with Roy and we were trying to come up with meals I could make. He suggested a box of hamburger helper with noodles. We bought the box, but I did not understand "browning meat" - that you could just put ground meat on a frying pan without making burgers or meatballs out of it. I never did use it. This time, I just did it. I cooked the meat until the outside was brown, and I hope that was enough time and not too much.

I covered the meat with onions, garlic, green bell peppers, and a can of tomato sauce. I put some aluminum foil over it and hoped for the best.

I had time to make a salad using the last of the two week old lettuce. I put strawberries in Roy's salad again. I used the lettuce, scallions, radishes, mint, and olive oil in mine.

I've never eaten collard greens before either. When they're offered in restaurants, they're always cooked with pork. I had trouble finding a recipe until I searched for "vegetarian collard greens". This one looked like I would like it. I liked all the flavors and it balanced out the bitterness of the greens. My downstairs neighbors Gwen and Michael came to my aid by letting me use their ginger and honey. It saved me from having to buy them myself. Thanks!


The cube steak was supposed to cook for 1 1/2 hours. Roy and I pulled it out at the one hour mark. I couldn't tell what it was supposed to look like when done, so I had no idea how to judge it. We put it back in for the recommended time.



I didn't like the meat all that much. I did like the extra stuff in the recipe - the peppers and onions in sauce were great. But the meat was dry and chewy. Maybe we cooked it too long? I don't know. I taste-tested one of the leaves of the collard greens before adding the sauce to it. I didn't like it by itself, but the sweet and tangy sauce managed to hide, um, better to say complement, the taste of the greens. I would definitely make this again. I wouldn't get this kind of meat again though.