Chapter 6

BEEF

For the people of rural Appalachia in yesteryear, beef did not figure prominently in daily diet. While most families owned one or two milk cows and while milk, butter, cheese and buttermilk were of considerable importance, beef seldom appeared on the menu. A family may even have owned other cattle, but if they were so blessed, the livestock were used as draft animals to plow, pull sleds, help with logging, assist in road building and the like. Moreover, pork was far easier to preserve than beef, not to mention that hogs required appreciably less care, were hardier and were capable of “running wild” while fattening themselves up during the fall. Still, beef began to creep into Appalachian menus with increasing frequency during and after the Depression, and inclusion of a selection of recipes featuring the meat (mostly the cheaper cuts or in ground form) seems appropriate. Beef is, of course, far more prominent in today’s Appalachian cooking.

A hefty slice of meat loaf makes mighty fine eating. Tipper Pressley.

Vegetable Beef Soup

For this recipe, you’ll be taking whatever leftover vegetables you might have in the refrigerator (corn, field peas, limas, green beans or the like) and combining them with other basic vegetables after they have cooked.

1 onion, chopped

Several celery stalks, chopped

4 to 6 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, chopped in small pieces or diced

Beef broth, enough to cover the vegetables

2 or 3 turnips, sliced (optional)

2 cups ground beef or venison (more if you like a meaty soup)

Olive oil

Leftover vegetables (already cooked), if you have any available

Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by chopping up the onion, celery, carrots and potatoes; cook them in beef broth (you can buy canned broth, use the paste that mixes with water or buy bones to make your own) until almost tender. At that point, if you like them (I do), add turnips. They don’t take nearly as long to cook as the other veggies, so they should be introduced relatively late in the cooking process. Meanwhile, brown ground beef (or venison, which works equally well in this recipe) in a bit of olive oil. When it is completely browned, add it and the leftover vegetables to the cooked ones. Add additional broth if needed to get soup at the liquid-to-ingredients ratio you want. Salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer slowly for an hour or so in order for the flavors to blend. Served with a big piece of cornbread, this makes a fine meal.

TIP: You can take pretty much the same approach with the carcass of a baked wild turkey or the dark meat of a wild turkey that has been cooked until it comes away from the bones. In this case, be sure to use the turkey stock.

—Jim Casada

Simple Oven Stew

¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

3–4 tablespoons canola oil

4–5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4–5 large carrots, cut into chunks

2 ribs celery, cut into chunks

1 large onion, cut into slices

1 package onion soup mix

3 cups water

Mix flour, salt and pepper in a paper bag. Add meat cubes and shake well. Brown meat in oil and place in a large casserole. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, onion soup mix and water. Cover and cook at 325 degrees for 2 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.

—Jim Casada

Shepherd’s Pie

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)

1 large can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cans green beans or 1 quart of home-canned ones, drained

1 pound cooked mashed potatoes (the real thing—a plague on the paltry powdered substitutes. Leftover mashed potatoes work just fine.)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with onions and mushrooms. Drain, if necessary. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper to meat mixture.

In a deep baking dish, layer green beans, ground beef and tomato sauce mixture; cover with mashed potatoes and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until heated through.

TIP: As is the case more often than not, especially in the ground form, beef and venison are pretty much interchangeable in this and most other beef recipes in this book—and, for that matter, in general.

—Jim Casada

Country-Style Steak

⅓ cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound steak, cubed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

1 (4-ounce) jar whole mushrooms

1 to 1½ cups water

Mix flour, salt and pepper. Dredge steak in flour and brown quickly in oil. Place in an 8" × 11" casserole dish. Slice onion and cook in a saucepan until tender. Place on top of steak along with drained mushrooms. Add two tablespoons of the remaining flour to pan drippings. Stir until brown, add 1 to 1½ cups of water and cook until thick. Pour over steaks. Bake covered in a 350-degree oven for an hour or until tender.

—Jim Casada

Oven Meatballs

2 pounds ground beef

1 cup quick or regular oats (not instant)

1 cup soft bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

Flour

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1½ cups water

Mix ground beef, oats, bread crumbs, milk and salt; roll into 2-inch balls. Roll meatballs in flour and place in a casserole dish. Pour 1 envelope dry onion soup mix and 1½ cups water over meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

—Jim Casada

Tipper’s Favorite Meatloaf

1 pound hamburger meat

1 slice of bread, crumbled

1 onion, chopped

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

¼ (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1½ tablespoons vinegar

¾ (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1½ tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon mustard

Mix the first seven ingredients together and put in a loaf pan. I line my pan with foil for easier cleanup. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over meatloaf. Take a spatula or case knife and help the liquid seep down into the cracks along the side; give the middle a poke or two, as well. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking, pour off grease that has ponded in the loaf pan and put the pan back into the oven to finish cooking. This may not be necessary—it depends on the fat content of the meat you use.

TIP: This recipe is easily doubled. I almost always double it so that we have leftovers to enjoy for dinner during the week.

—Tipper Pressley

Hamburger and Beans

1 pound ground beef

½ cup diced onion

1 can baked beans

1 tablespoon sugar (or less to taste)

Brown ground beef and onions; drain fat. Add beans and sugar; stir to combine. Heat through. Serve on buns or over rice.

TIP: Leftover homemade baked beans may also be used.

—Tipper Pressley

Tender Cubed Steak

Cubed steak

Flour

Seasonings

Olive oil (or your preference)

Chicken stock

Dredge cubed steak in flour seasoned to your taste. I like to use salt, pepper and garlic powder. Heat olive oil, or whatever oil you prefer, in a frying pan and bring to medium heat. Place floured, seasoned cubed steak in hot pan and brown on each side, but don’t worry about cooking through. Once both sides are browned, place cubed steak in a slow cooker.

Cubed steak ready for flouring and frying. Tipper Pressley.

Add a tablespoon or two of flour to the frying pan like you were going to make gravy from the drippings. Cook and stir flour for a few minutes and then pour in chicken stock. Continue to cook and stir while gently scraping the cooked pieces off the bottom of the pan.

After a few minutes of cooking, pour chicken stock over cubed steak in the slow cooker. I aim to have enough chicken stock to almost cover the steak. Then cook on low for several hours or until done. The meat turns out super tender, and the broth makes gravy that is perfect for putting over mashed potatoes or rice.

TIP: Use flour leftover from dredging to make gravy.

—Tipper Pressley

Cabbage Patch Stew

Stew

1 pound ground beef

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1½ cups cabbage, coarsely chopped

3 or 4 celery stalks, with leaves

1 (16-ounce) can stewed tomatoes

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans

1 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

Dumplings

2 cups biscuit baking mix

⅔ cup milk

Paprika (optional)

A bowl of cabbage patch stew hot from the pot. Tipper Pressley.

Cook and stir ground beef in Dutch oven until brown; drain. Add onions, cabbage and celery; cook and stir until vegetables are light brown (about 10 minutes). Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans with liquid, water, salt, pepper and chili powder. Heat to boiling and then reduce heat.

To make dumplings for the stew, mix baking mix with milk until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls onto the boiling stew. Cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle dumplings with paprika, if desired.

TIP: This stew is really good with crackers or cornbread, if you want to skip the dumplings.

—Tipper Pressley