I guess I’m feeling a little nostalgic these days, with the holidays quickly approaching and my daughter being away at school. Therefore I turn to comfort foods from my childhood. I’m also extremely stressed out, because I decided to refinance my mortgage the month before the holidays. What the hell was I thinking?! I’m a realtor so I should know better. When my clients go for a mortgage I literally give them a checklist of things NOT TO DO like purchase all kinds of furniture on a “no payments/no interest” for 18 months deal, lease a new vehicle, etc. and definitely one of the things includes not putting anything on the credit cards. Knowing the rules, this was a really dumb move on my part considering I like to do a lot of my Christmas shopping ONLINE! Hello…who still waits in lines all night waiting for Black Friday when you can get the same deals sitting in front of your computer in the comfort of your pajamas. Well, I can’t do either. Which also means I have to be a little conservative with my grocery shopping too. AND…Guess who’s probably not outside taking advantage of the last few days of this Indian Summer and grilling steaks. Instead, I’m looking for cheap ways to cut costs on my usually pricey eating habits.
There are several ways to cut costs when cooking. Buying in bulk comes to mind, however, two things inhibit me from benefiting from these savings. 1) I live alone now since my daughter left for college and I hate eating the same meal for lunch and dinner for a week straight. 2) I have the worlds smallest freezer. So that leaves me with choosing lower cost ingredients. Cheaper doesn’t mean boring and bland! It just means being creative.
This dish is made with cube steak, famously used for Chicken Fried Steak! Its made from round steak or top sirloin which comes from the hind portion of the cow, just above the shank. Its a much tougher cut of beef and when you see it packaged as cube steak it look like ground patties. This is because it’s been tenderized, either by blades or pounded. Around where I live, you can usually pick up a 2lb package for approximately $6-$7.
My mother use to make Cube Steak with Ketchup Gravy when I was a growing up. I thought I was the only person that ever at it because I figured it was just something my mom made up so she could rinse out the ketchup bottle! Turns out I’ve run into several people who grew up on this very same dish. Here is the thing, though…I don’t make recipes (even family ones) by the book. I always tend to change things up a notch. So while the concept of dredging the steak in flour and cooking the steaks in a ketchup/water sauce is the same…that’s about it. The recipe I’ve prepared for you is much more flavorful and if you make my mashed potatoes with it, you might add this one to your regular fall menu planning.
Let me know what you think!
Print Recipe
Cube Steak with Ketchup Gravy
A delicious comfort food that reminds you of your childhood. The tangy gravy with remnants from the steak is tasty goodness smothered over creamy, rich homemade mashed potatoes. Surely, this recipe will be a hit on a chilly, fall night.
Instructions
Mix flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge steaks in flour mixture.
Heat oil in large frying pan medium-high heat.
Fry steaks in olive oil, browning on both sides. When blood starts to come to the top, flip to brown the other side.
In a medium bowl, combine ketchup, vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce and bouillon base. Stir well.
Add all steaks back to frying pan and pour ketchup mixture over steaks to cover (if sauce does not cover, you can add a bit more vegetable stock or water). Sprinkle with oregano. Cover and set heat to low simmer for 30 minutes. Flip steaks and stir sauce a bit. Continue to simmer for an additional 30 min.
Serve over mashed potatoes. And garnish with fresh parsley.
Recipe Notes
You will likely need to brown the steaks in batches as there are too many to fit in one pan. To avoid burning the remnants in the bottom of the pan between batches (as that doesn't taste good in the sauce and it makes it difficult to get a nice browned coat on the steaks), wipe out the excess and add fresh oil for the new batch.
I make the ultimate mashed potatoes, true story! You can find that recipe here.
Hi everyone!
Welcome to Haute Haus! Its Sunday afternoon. I just got done cooking (I will post what I cooked later tonight to test out how to post recipes on here). I’m super excited about this blog. Believe it or not, I’ve owned this domain since 2013. Its taken me this long to actually decide what to do with it and quite frankly I’m not even sure I know the full extent of what I plan to do, but I figured its best to start and modify as I find my core audience. When I initially bought the domain I intended to use it for my real estate business but ended up buying another domain for that. For this domain, my intention was to keep it for a personal blog. My interests have been all over the board but the base has always been the same; recipes, social liberal interests, personal relationship experiences and things I do around the house such as gardening, DIY projects and wildlife stories, as well as some travel and dining info. Whew! That still sounds like a very long laundry list! Well, my hope is to keep it more like “organized chaos.”
Now that my daughter has left for college, I’ve been left with not only a broken heart but quite a bit of empty time on my hands and one less person to share my thoughts and perspectives with. I’ve always been a writer (or perhaps a really good note taker) and for the last 2 years I’ve actually cataloged an entire notebook of blog post ideas for this site. Don’t jump to any conclusions though. I still complain that there isn’t enough time in the day to work full time, do real estate part time, manage a house, take care of the dog and be a single mom (despite her being away at school). There are many a night that I eat salami, cheese and ice cream for dinner. When my friends ask me why I’m still single I tell them I can’t find time to go out and meet a man….but somehow, I still felt the need to start a blog. More on that in a future post, I promise!
I will forewarn you that I do tend to curse a lot. I will try to keep that in check. I also work full time, so my posts will either been scheduled or posted at night. My responses to comments will also be delayed until the evenings. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter! I will start using other social media as I become more knowledgeable with them.
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Looking forward to this new adventure with all of my followers!
Amanda, xo
