Thursday, February 26, 2009

Breaded Steak, White Rice,Tostones & Tomatoes


This is what I made for my hubby last night. It is one of his favorite things to eat. He loves plain white rice with just about anything, (don't ask me why). If you don't like the rice alone, then by all means top the rice with red beans or black beans, or any other of your favorite beans.

Here's what you'll need, which is not much. This is a very economical meal. I didn't put the amounts on the ingredients because it really depends on how many you are cooking for. You would buy a nice cubed steak for each person. One plantain can be enough for two people, three plantains would be enough for four people. One bag of cracker meal is enough for four to five steaks. The cracker meal I use is found in the bread section of my supermarket in plastic bags. It is very fine. Rice amounts is usually one cup per person.

Ingredients:

Cubed Steak
Green Plantain
Cracker Meal
3 Eggs
Salt, Pepper, & Garlic Powder
Corn Oil
White Rice
Nice Ripe Tomato
Dressing of your choice

Take the green plantain, cut off the ends, make 2-3 slits from one end to the other, and peel by sections. You have to put a little thumb into it.
Slice into one inch pieces like this.


Heat the corn oil in a skillet and fry on medium heat. Oil should cover about half way up the sides. You don't want them to get brown, this is just to soften them on the inside. So turn them a few times.

Take them out and set aside so they can cool a bit for handling and smashing.

Meanwhile season your cubed steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder.


Whisk 3 large eggs in a bowl.

Spread a layer of cracker meal on large plate, coat steak with egg and then cracker meal.

Set aside.

Now back to the tostones.

This is a plantain smasher. They come made of wood or plastic. You can usually find it at your local supermarket in the Spanish utensil and cookware section.
Take each cooked piece of plantain, one at a time please, put it in the middle of the smasher and smash.


They should look like this.

Smash all of them and set aside.


Return to skillet and fry on medium heat until crispy on both sides.

Drain on paper towel and add salt to taste. Salt should be added immediately after you remove from frying.

Now, back to the steak.

In the same frying pan and oil, on medium heat, fry the steak until it's golden brown.

Turn it and cook it on the other side.



To make sure the steak cooks completely on the inside, after I turn it, I cover it, turn down the heat a bit, and let it finish cooking for a few minutes.


Slice up some tomatoes and top with your favorite dressing, and there you have it.


I hope you enjoy this recipe.

I Wish You Love and Good Eatin'

Joyce

5 comments:

  1. I never heard of a plantain smasher! I tried plantain's at Bongos Cuban Cafe in Orlando - it was a side dish to whatever it was that I ate which I can't even remember! Anyway, I wasn't fond of those but they didn't look anything like your's do and your's look so good I might give these a second try! I'm guessing I can smash them with an iron skillet maybe? So they are called Tostones?

    Course my 1st plantain experience coulda had something to do with Hubs being grouchy. I had worn him out at Busch Gardens the day before - we were at the park all day and then at Hallowscream all night - plus before we went to Bongos we had done the Cirque show ... so he was a total grump by the time we got to Bongos. Must've been past his bedtime LOL. When I vacation I like to get in all I can - he's more laid back.

    Thanks for the recipe and reminding me of Disney!! I'm so ready to go again.

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  2. Hey Mary,

    You probably had the "platanos maduro" which means soft plantains, or maybe you had tostones and they were too thick. The maduros are plantains which are very ripe, you wait until the skin turns brown, then you slice them and fry. You can find them on my post titled
    Picadillo. The tostones are not sweet, they are crispy and salty.

    Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my blog, I'm still trying to get it together. You tell your stories so well, and reading them is a pleasure. Have a wonderful weekend. Joyce

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  3. I saw that smasher for sale in the produce section at Wal-Mart's and couldn't figure out what it was or how it was used. Your dinner looks so good. We love Cuban food, at least what I've made from cookbooks I have. It's so good and full of good for you ingredients. Thanks for the new recipes.

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  4. You're quite welcomed. Since you say you like Cuban food, I'll have to post more Cuban recipes, which is not a problem at all since I have a Cuban in the house and I just love it too. When I was young, whenever I went to my Cuban girlfriends house, the aroma that came from her moms kitchen was just delightful. I fell in love with the smell and the taste. Maybe because it was so different from the food I grew up on, but I love the flavors.

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  5. I love bistec empanizado (cube steak). As a child what i would do -- and I kind of still do it, i would take the breading off as best I could, eat the steak lest my mother would get upset. Than came the best part of the meal -- the breading mixed with the white rice topped with a little bit of the oil the steak was cooked it. YUM!!!! As for the tostones -- I now make those for my family, but I use this tostonera that I found on line TOSTOBUENO. Check it out. You can make flats as well as cups to stuff with anything you want!

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