Foodie Friday -- Cubed Steak with Mushrooms

Somewhere I saw a recipe that featured cubed steak and mushrooms. The picture made it look wonderful . . . and then I couldn't figure out where I'd seen the recipe.

And I had already bought the steaks and mushrooms.

I googled it, but every single recipe seemed to use Cream of Mushroom Soup (Yuck!), or some intense form of flour/egg white/flour dredging, so I winged it.

This turned out to be a pretty good recipe.

*When I bought the cube steak, it came in a package of three, weighing in just under one pound.

Cube Steak with Mushrooms

3 cubed steaks

Flour (1/2 cup)

Salt

Pepper

2 Tbls. Vegetable oil

1 cup Beef broth, warmed

1 8-oz package sliced mushrooms 

Place flour, salt and pepper in Ziploc bag. Add one cube steak, toss to coat.

Turn large skillet on high and add oil. When oil is hot, place one cube stake in pan. Repeat dredging steaks in flour mixture, and adding to pan. Do not over crowd.

Cook on high until blood rises to the top of the steaks, turn to cook the other side. When blood rises from second side, turn once more for about 1-2 minutes.

Remove steaks to plate and tent with foil.

Add a little bit of beef broth to pan, scraping up brown bits.

Add mushrooms, allow to toast for 2 minutes. Add rest of broth, boiling until sauce slightly thickens.

 

Add the cube steaks, spooning sauce and mushrooms over top. Allow to cook for 1-2 more minutes until heated up and gravy has thickened.  

Serve and enjoy!

 

Tips & Tricks:

·         Cube steak is typically used for Chicken Fried Steak. This is a very tough piece of beef, which is why it’s sliced super thin and it looks like it’s been mutilated by a bunch of knives. This is the only way this piece of meat can become tender.

·         The beef broth is used to deglaze the pan, pulling up all sorts of yummy goodness that seared to the bottom of the pan.

·         I was lazy and bought sliced mushrooms—Baby Bellas—which are a little sturdier than your basic white mushroom. You can slice them yourself, but the price was the same at my store so I bought them sliced

·         I didn’t calculate the WW points, but I don’t think it added up to too many.

·         I served this meal with oven roasted potatoes and green beans.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY-- Shrimp Scampi

I invented this recipe last Tuesday. My hubby was out of town (he’s not a shrimp fan) so it was just the kidlet and me. I wanted to make something with shrimp and lemon. After trolling the Weight Watchers online menus, Food.com and my own plethora of recipes, I invented this recipe.

And if I do say so myself, it’s a darn good recipe!

My daughter had hers mixed with fettuccine, while I spooned my shrimp scampi over a bed of fresh spinach. For those who need gluten-free or those simply wanting to cut calories, this is the recipe for you!

I used the salad-sized shrimp available in the Frozen food section of the story, since they are shelled, cleaned and cooked. I weighed them in their frozen state, so once thawed they probably weighed less.  Prepare all your ingredients first, since this recipe cooks quickly!

Shrimp Scampi

Two servings

6 oz. cooked shrimp

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced finely
1 tsp. fresh lemon thyme, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
¾ cup chicken broth
Juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbls. cornstarch

Thaw shrimp according to directions, or use cleaned, fresh shrimp. Juice lemon and add to cornstarch for thickening. Put aside.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet or wok, add garlic, shallot and lemon thyme. Cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add shrimp. Cook one minute. Add chicken broth, boil until reduced by half. Add lemon and cornstarch mixture. Stir until thickened. If it thickens before pasta is ready, add a little pasta water to thin.

When pasta is cooked, drain and add to shrimp mixture. Toss. Salt and pepper to taste.

To lighten:

Instead of pasta, lay a bed of 2 cups of fresh spinach on a plate and spoon ½ shrimp mixture over spinach.

This is a very, very low point recipe. Trust me.

Enjoy!

Later, Peeps!