Cube Steak

For my next recipe, I'd like to introduce you to a lil' Midwestern cooking. I love Indiana food, and this is quintessential.

To start off with, any good Hoosier household has an electric skillet. If you don't, you need not fret. Any ol' frying pan will do. Start out heating up your skillet to 350 and throw in several tablespoons of shortening. You could also use lard if you lean that way. No cheating though. This is a high fat high calorie food and no substitutions may be made.

While that's heating up, take your cube steak and salt and pepper each side. Then coat in flour. A mix of white and wheat works real nice.Here's a nice example of cube steak. It's a piece of beef that's been tenderized. When we were first married, I asked the Rocket Scientist if he liked cube steak and he had no idea what I was talking about. I quickly educated him. If you're like him, just look in the meat case and the package will say 'cube steak.' Pretty straight forward.

Then plop them down in the heated skillet and cover. Check them after 3 or 4 minutes. You want a nice brown color on either side. Once the color is there flip'em over. They'll cook a little longer on the first side to make sure they're cooked all the way through.

If you like, you can then add a little water to the pan (just enough to cover the bottom completely) and steam them for 5 or 10 minutes. This will make them a little softer. I didn't bother this particular time. I just didn't feel like it.

Here's one of our side dishes. We have this all the time and it's 100% healthy. Zucchini or squash or both with mushrooms and onion, sauteed in olive oil. I throw in some pepper and garlic salt for flavor. Cook until it reaches the tenderness of choice. I like mine real soft. My husband likes it firmer. To each his own.

And here's the finished meal. I decided at the last minute that I wanted mashed potatoes (another traditional Midwestern staple) so I threw them into the pressure cooker. LOVE the pressure cooker. Get your potatoes up to a boil and five minutes later they're done. It's a beautiful thing.

P.S. To truly be a Hoosier, cube steak MUST be eaten with ketchup. It's the only way.