Things to cook with steak meat?

Melinoe

Back in May for my boyfriend's birthday our roommate got him a huge pile of steaks as a birthday present. They sat in the bottom of our freezer until about a month or so ago, at which point we dug them out and wrapped them up in a less ridiculous fashion than our roommate had; now each individual piece is wrapped in cling wrap and then in aluminum foil, and remains in the freezer. But my boyfriend is concerned that they're going to be freezer burned and inedible soon, and wants to consume them sooner rather than later.

The problem is that I am not the hugest fan of beef in the world and am a picky eater. I like ground beef pretty okay and will eat plenty of stuff that has ground beef, but we don't have a grinder or anything. Our preferred way of cooking is to cook up something in a fairly big batch that we can eat for dinners for several days instead of cooking every night, but I'm not really sure what to do with the steaks.

I've made stir fry and beef stroganoff with it; stir fry is good but there's only so often we can eat it, and stroganoff is alright but I really hate mushrooms so that was sort of a problem. The beef also seemed pretty tough when I cooked both of those things but I'm not sure if it's the way the beef is or if I am just bad at cooking it.

Any suggestions for meals would be appreciated, preferably those without cream of mushroom soup/where mushrooms are a major part of the dish. In stir fry I can just pick them out but with something like beef stroganoff it's a lot harder to do so. Non-stew things would be preferable because they haven't worked out so well in the past but I am open to suggestions if your stew is super awesome.

Also, is the meat actually in danger of becoming inedible soon or will it be fine for a while longer?

e: Oh, and I kind of suck at cooking, so easier recipes would be best!

MegaMan001

I'm not a cooking expert, but these steaks have been frozen for almost four months? They're probably pretty much beyond any cooking that doesn't involve several hours in a slow cooker to make it tender again.

I've done this recipe before, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sensational-steak-sandwich/ and that shit is delicious. You could make a ton for the week too.

Quid

Something simple I always like is cooking up sliced beef and onions in olive oil with a generous amount of curry and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and putting it in a wrap with cold veggies.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

You might try hot beef sandwiches, which is pretty much just sliced beef and gravy on some good bread with mashed potatoes (open faced)
You could do beef and egg noodles, or beef stew, or you could also slice them super thin and slow cook the meat on a griddle with onions and such for cheesesteak sandwiches.

You could also braise the meat using some combination of red wine and stock and use it to make one hell of a lasagna

Beef fried rice, beef wellington, barbequed beef, beef kabobs...

Foomy

Do you own a food processor? while not as good as a grinder, you can chop the beef up with it to get it pretty close. Just use short pulses and checking it constantly to make sure it doesn't go all gooey. It wont look as nice and even as store bought ground beef, but it will probably taste better.

and yes it is in danger of becoming inedible soon, Freezer burn happens when water in the food evaporates out, even when frozen water will still sublimate(solid to gas change), and so slowly over time the water evaporates out drying out the meat, sort of like making jerky really really slowly. The best way to prevent it would be to package your items going into the freezer into air tight bags,with as much air removed from the bag as possible, or vacuum sealed. The plastic wrap+tin foil isn't a very good air seal.

minirhyder

Philly cheese steaks!

Noquar

This sounds like a date for beef stew in the crockpot. Pick a recipe and go for it.

Quid

minirhyder wrote: »

Philly cheese steaks!

Oh Hell yes.

supabeast

Do you know what kind of steaks they are? Sirloin? T-bone? Filet?

Ruckus

You could Pot Roast them, though that's usually done with a larger cut of beef, the principal is the same. Pot Roasting is actually a bit of a misnomer, since the cooking method of a Pot Roast is actually technically braising. Onion Soup Pot Roast is one of the most common methods, and produces a ready supply of delicious gravy that's awesome on mashed potatoes.

iMatt

Grind it up and make Chilli! - All meat threads feature this answer and I was glad I could provide it first for a change

Djeet

You don't need to grind to make chili, and I haven't eaten ground meat chili in forever (but I live in Texas where chili is serious business). My chili uses meat cut into 1" cubes, browned and then slow cooked with onion, tomatoes, ground up dried chilies, spices and salt. Beans are controversial, I don't put them in my chili, but that's preference not ideology. If you want to put beans in your chili I'd stick with canned/cooked beans as using dry beans is going to complicate cooking. Slow long cooking preferred (after browning I usually put it in crock pot for an 8 hour cook on lowest setting). When done the meat will just fall apart, and it reheats very well.

Generally I use 1/3rds of chuck, veal, and pork shoulder. Veal's just luxury, but I would keep pork shoulder as the additional fat is going to help keep it moist. If you don't have pork shoulder you could use bacon, but cut it small, also pork butt by the pound is usually less than half the price of bacon.


If I had a lot of not-ground beef I needed to use I'd make some "Mongolian" beef.

Cut 2 lbs of meat into 1" cubes. Marinade in yogurt and soy sauce 30 min to 2 hours. Put 2 TBLspn of sesame oil into a pan and heat over medium high heat while rinsing off marinade. When oil is very hot add meat and brown. It's hard to say how long due to pan size and construction but I'd probably leave it at least 60 seconds on the first side, then shaking the pan to roll the meat onto another side for cooking, shake/turn every 60-90 seconds. I wouldn't cook more than 4-5 minutes, but again, depends on pan crowding; it's better to work in batches than to crowd pan, as crowding the pan seldom results in adequate browning. If you do multiple batches you may need to ad more oil in between to prevent burning. Reserve meat to a plate/bowl. Without rinsing the pan add 1-2 TBLspn of sesame oil, 6 TBLspn of brown sugar, 3-4 TBLspn of soy sauce, 3-4 TBLspn of hot sauce (chili/garlic sauce like sirracha), and 1 cup of water (scrape up any sticky brown bits and stir into sauce with wooden spoon) and bring to simmer and reduce by 1/2 to 2/3rds. You want a thick syrup/glaze, NOT candy. Return meat to pan, stir to glaze, and remove from heat. Top with a bunch of scallions (green onions) cut on the bias. Serve over rice/fried rice.

Melinoe

supabeast wrote: »

Do you know what kind of steaks they are? Sirloin? T-bone? Filet?

Unfortunately no, and neither does our roommate, which makes recipe shopping hard >< It's definitely not T-Bone or skirt steak; they're mostly fairly thin (1 inch or less but not skirt steak thin, a couple are thicker than that) and don't have a whole lot of fat on them.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, there's some good looking stuff that we'll sift through and try!

Darkewolfe

When you rewrapped the steaks, you didn't thaw them and then refreeze them, did you? You kept them frozen the whole time?

Because thawing and refreezing is very bad.

supabeast

Melinoe wrote: »

…they're mostly fairly thin (1 inch or less but not skirt steak thin, a couple are thicker than that) and don't have a whole lot of fat on them.

Sounds like sirloin and similar cuts. Marinade them in soy sauce, chopped fresh ginger, crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper. Sear each side on medium-high heat in a pan or on a grill for 90 seconds and then finish them in an oven preheated to 350° for 2 minutes per side. Make sure not to overcook, they need to be just warm in the middle. The temperature will be more even if you warm them to room temperature before cooking.

Also, Anthony Boudain’s steak tartare is great.

DVG

If you want to try a convential preparation for at least some of them, after thawing let them rest on the counter for a few hours (to come to room temperature before cooking) with some Applewood Smoked Sea Salt on them (about as much as you'd use to season something). Add some pepper and garlic powder while grilling or broiling, and you have something freaking delicious.

illig

They're probably ruined by the freezer for anything 'real steak like' - but i second the slow cooker suggestion

There are tons of recipes out there for amazing, melt in your mouth, beef things from a slow cooker. Also if you don't have a slow cooker, then get a slow cooker - it's the ultimate 'lazy person's cooking method'

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Meat-and-Poultry/Beef/Slow-Cooker/Top.aspx