Steaks that should have been hamburger

[barefootfarmer]

We butchered a dairy cow last fall and I should have had the whole thing made into ground beef and pepperoni. But I wanted to try some steaks out "just to see". They are SO tough no matter how I've tried to prepare them. I'm thinking about cooking in a pressure canner and then shredding for soups.

Does anyone have any better suggestions?

[Skandi]

Ohh.. many ideas!
Half freeze them (or half defrost if frozen) cut very thinly against the grain and use for stirfries. www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/crispy-orange-beef-recipe.html#! Though I use orange juice and sugar.. you get the idea

cut into thin slices beat with a hammer, then roll up round any kind of stuffing, braise slowly. www.nigella.com/recipes/view/beef-olives-2286

Use for pies or stews, more winter food than summer but still lovely. www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/jools-s-favourite-beef-stew/#hjb68SiJxZ7cuKOD.97

Chili, made with proper beef not ground..

[Bear Foot Farm]

Beat them down to about 1/4" thick, dredge in seasoned flour, brown in butter, then add water to cover and let simmer a couple of hours

[barefootfarmer]

Now why didn't I think of any of those? Thanks!

[terrilynn]

You could can them.

You could also can what we call Pot Roast In A Jar:

  fill a quart jar 1/4 full with the steaks then fill the rest of the jar with cut up potatoes, carrots, and onions, no other liquid. Pressure can 90 min at 10lbs pressure.

 Makes a perfect single size meal if someone misses dinner or only 1 person to feed and you don't feel like cooking.

[okiemomof3]

smother them. just make smothered steak. lightly flour and season with salt, pepper, and garlic and sear on both sides. put in baking dish and smother wiht a mixture of cream of mush soup, package of onion soup mix and 2 cans of water mixed together. cover and bake at 325 for 2-3 hours. makes yummy gravy to serve over mashed potatoes.

[solargeek]

Crock pot. We had the same problem with a few of our steaks and after the 1st, I loaded them into the crock pot.

So I poured in 1 beer (not a light beer) per 1.5 pounds of meat and seasonings that you like.

5-6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. No beer taste remains.

Also I add a small amount of molasses on top of the meat - maybe 2 Tablespoons and I don't stir it in as I don't want it to just sit on the bottom

Yum! I thicken the sauce for gravy.

[Deleted]

Pot roast, sear, add water and cover. Later, add vegetables....James

[manygoatsnmore]

Those are lots of good ways to tenderize tough meat. How about going the opposite direction with some of it and making jerky?

[barefootfarmer]

So glad you mentioned jerky. I'd forgotten that I wanted to try that. Any handy recipes?

[oldmania]

Judging from the dinner we had there last week, the Steakhouse Restaurant near us might buy them.

[manygoatsnmore]

I'll have to look in my recipe files and see if I still have a good teriyaki jerky recipe (my "files" consist of boxes, bags and envelopes of random recipes, lol). It might take me a while!

[paquebot]

As suggested by several others, beat on them. Every kitchen should have a meat tenderizing hammer or mallet in it. Think of how great Swiss steaks are. They don't start out tender, they are tenderized. We do that with venison from old bucks instead of grinding it all. The slits or holes let in the seasonings and break up tough fibers.

Martin

[dw]

You have lots of good ideas here but you could just grind them for hamburger yourself. We have done that and it made a great casserole.

[barefootfarmer]

Huh! I never even considered that, dw. That's an interesting idea that I might have to try.

manygoatsnmore no rush on the jerky. I'm not in any hurry to pull it out and thaw it right now. But I added it to my list for the winter.