My Recipe Place

I have hundreds of recipes and I'm willing to share them with anyone who likes to cook. There won't be a lot of order here and probably no easy method of finding a category. I'm pretty technology-impaired (I could not get a photo into my profile, even though I followed the instructions and was quite successful in getting the photo into other spaces on the blog) but I'm a great cook. So, I'll do what I do best and that is share the best of the recipes that I have tweaked and refined.

All recipes come from somewhere else. Some recipes have been around for eons. It is what an individual does with that recipe; how one changes a recipe by adding or subtracting or innovating, that makes each recipe the signature piece of the cook. Even here, I expect that you may use a recipe as a springboard for your own creativity, so that the recipe becomes your own.

Grillades is an old-time New Orleans version of "smothered steak." Some of my friends in other parts of the U.S. call it "Swiss Steak." In New Orleans those titles are much too bland for the Creole mind set. All dishes in New Orleans have charming and sometimes amusing names. It is one of the many facets that make New Orleans so unlike any other city in our country. This is a very old recipe and while I've eaten it all my life, I first found the recipe in the very old "Times-Picayune Cookbook."

Originally this dish was made with veal round. When I was growing up in New Orleans, veal was plentiful and inexpensive. Today, however, veal is rare and extremely expensive. I use beef round, as do must folks in New Orleans. Grillades is traditionally served with Grits. In fact, in New Orleans the dish is always referred to as Grillades and Grits

This recipe is dedicated to Chip, a blogging friend. It was in copying this recipe for Chip that I got the idea for this blog!

GRILLADES AND GRITS

2 pound beef round

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 Tablespoon finely minced garlic

2 Tablespoons flour, more if needed

2 Tablespoons shortening

1 cup chopped onion

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup beef broth, more if needed

3 cups cooked grits

Cut meat into pieces about 3 or 4 inches square and pound with mallet to about 5 or 6 inch square. Rub salt, black pepper, cayenne and garlic into the squares of meat (both sides,) then rub in the flour. Cover well with flour. You may need to use more than 2 tablespoons.

In a large, cast iron skillet, melt the shortening over medium heat and brown the meat (grillades) well on both sides. Lower heat and add the onions, tomatoes, beef broth. Bring to a simmer, cover loosely and cook over low heat for about 30-35 minutes, uncovering to turn the meat over ever 10 minutes. A rich gravy will form during cooking. If the gravy appears too thick, add more beef broth, a little at a time.

When the meat is tender, it is done. Remove meat and keep warm in oven. Prepare the grits according to package directions. Just before serving reheat the gravy. Arrange meat and grits on plates and cover with gravy.

Serves 4-6