I denigrated my late mother's cooking last week on this site, and while I was absolutely right (sorry, but she just didn't cook), I forgot about one dish she made that I absolutely loved as a kid - minute steak.
A minute steak is a thin piece of meat pounded flat and usually cooked in a fry pan. Usually it's a pretty tough meat, which is why it's sold thin and then pounded down further.
There's not much to a minute steak, and that's the point. They cook quickly, need little prep, and leave you feeling happy and full. On top of that, they're cheap.
I used to run the two blocks from elementary school for lunch at home and gobble a hot minute steak down while watching Bozo on a little 10" black and white TV. By the time the Grand March started, I was on my way back with a slightly logey feeling and a little gristle lodged in my teeth left from the tough chewy meat.
The Washington Post's Russell Cronkhite has rediscovered minute steaks. I only knew them as flank steak from a cow, but he covers beef, pork, veal, and lamb in his article. He uses red wine and portobello mushrooms with the beef steak. My mother took a more traditional upper Midwestern approach from the early 1970's. She used... salt. That's about it.
Reading the articles and imagining the sizzle and the aroma from the pan, I almost want to go back to eating meat just to have one.. Almost.
Mmmmm. Steak. Yummy perfect steak.
And tough, chewy, hugely flavorful minute steaks with lots of gooey cheese and sauteed onions and green peppers.
Think I will have a Philly Cheesesteak for dinner. Nice suggestion.