[Sca-cooks] Dinner Tonight (was Re:New to list)

[Nick Sasso]

----- Original Message -----
From: <Bronwynmgn at aol.com>
> Pork chops braised (I guess; cooked in the oven with liquid in the
bottom of
> the dish) in Italian dressing; Stove Top stuffing; steamed fresh
broccoli.
> And a couple of leftover Christmas cookies for dessert.  I don't know
what it
> is about my mom's Christmas cookies.  We made these before Christmas
(some of
> them the weekend after Thanksgiving) and they are not stale.
> Brangwayna

Country Fried Cubed Steak, chunky mashed gold variety potatoes, steamed
white rice (we got a split crowd over rice and spuds), sawmill gravy,
steamed broccoli.  We have a couple we do weekly dinner with, and about
every other week we make this childhood favorite. . . three of us always
chose this as our 'birthday dinner'.  For those not familiar, cubed
steak is a piece of fairly thing cut meat, maybe quarter inch to three
eights inch thick, that is run through this machine that . . . ummm . .
. perforates or semi 'chews' the meat to tenderize it.  The resulting
steak has the same general shape as the before, is unlike anything I've
ever seem, but holds a breading and fries up in the artery clogging
tradition that is Southern Cooking.  Think of wrapping concertina/razor
wire around you rolling pin and rolling it over a piece of beefsteak.

Breading is AP flour, milk, AP flour/Wondra mix.  The Wondra, a malted
barley flour product, in the mix gives a crispier crust.  Gravy is made
in the pan drippings, or find, using AP flour, condensed milk and 2%
milk.  The flour is copiously peppered and suitably salted.  Done right,
this is a thickened piece of heaven for the rice and potatoes (see
bechamel technique).  We eat, then watch the weekly episode of "24" . .
. major hardship when it gets preempted, let me tell you.

pacem et bonum,
niccolo difrancesco