The Family Table

By Lorie Thompson

Food is powerful. As well as sustaining our bodies, it can bring pleasure or evoke memories from the past. For me, cooking for people is an expression of love toward them. It is the way I was raised. If you love people, you cook for them. My Grandmother was the first person to arrive with a big box of her home fried chicken, potato salad, and a pound cake when someone in the community passed away. My mother always had a house full of guests every weekend to eat with our family. When our family traveled, a highlight of the trip was to try new foods. We always returned home with fresh ideas of items to add to our menu. The food we enjoyed was an essential part of the pleasure of the trip. I would like to share two old family favorites with you. The first is my Mama’s stew beef. It was a regular weeknight meal. I remember walking into her kitchen and hearing that jiggle-jiggle of the pressure cooker. The other recipe is for Cowboy Steaks. My family discovered these while on vacation in the early 1990s. Ingles recently had whole sirloin tips on sale. I paid a little over $30 for a 10-pound sirloin tip. In contemplating what to make with my bargain, the cowboy steaks and the stew beef were top of my list.

Lorie Thompson is a REALTOR at Poss Realty in Clayton, Georgia. Her expertise in her industry is second only to her culinary talents. Lorie is a dynamo in the kitchen. Honestly if she prepares it, it will likely be the best you’ve ever had! Lorie and her husband, Anthony (Peanut), make their home in the Persimmon Community. She is the proud mother of Joe Thompson and Kendall Thompson.

Our first meal was the stew beef with garlic, onions, carrots, and potatoes, cooked in the pressure cooker. I used trimmed meat cut in 2-inch cubes. If you cut your own, leave a little fat on the meat. If it is too lean, it will get dry. Add 2-3 medium-sized potatoes cut into half or thirds, and two onions cut into quarters, 2-3 carrots, cut into chunks. Season all the ingredients with garlic salt and the pepper of your choice. Don’t be shy with the seasoning. Add 1 C of water. Close the pressure cooker and cook over medium-high heat until steam begins to evacuate in a steady stream from the vent. Let it steam for 2-3 minutes. Place the pressure gauge on the vent and reduce heat to medium. Cook it for 25 - 30 minutes on a slow jiggle. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to reduce before removing the pressure gauge. You may thicken the broth with browned flour and butter if you choose.

My second meal from the sirloin tip was Cowboy Steaks. Our Ramey clan (24 of us!) traveled to Taos, New Mexico for a family vacation. A highlight of that trip was a wagon ride culminating in a cowboy cookout. Chuckwagon cookouts are common in the West now, but 30 years ago, it was novel. We had such a good time! The steaks were marinated and cooked over hardwood charcoal and were terrific! We came home from vacation and went to work to recreate the marinade from those steaks. We still serve

“Cowboy Steaks” on occasion. They always bring a smile and a pleasant memory of that vacation to our family. Let me tell you how to make them.

You can use ribeye or strip steaks, but this is an excellent place to use a less expensive cut. I add a meat tenderizer to the marinade for the Sirloins. Omit it if using ribeyes. In a plastic or glass container, add together 3 T brown sugar, 1 T garlic powder, 1 T soy sauce, 1/2 C Worcestershire Sauce, pepper of your choice, 2 tsp meat tenderizer, 1/4 C vegetable oil. Stir marinade together. Add steaks to the bowl, making sure to coat all of the meat in the marinade. Keep in the refrigerator between 2-3 hours before cooking. Grill steaks over hot coals to the desired doneness. Serve with a baked potato, grilled corn on the cob, and beans! Put on your cowboy boots and 10-gallon hat and tell tall tales around a campfire. Bring a little of the Old West magic home to your family. My third use for the sirloin was a Tri-tip roast that I dry roasted in the oven at 375 degrees. Rub it with vegetable oil, salt, garlic, red pepper, and rosemary. Roast to an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Use a meat thermometer. Roasting time will vary with the size of your roast. My roast was small and cooked in about 35-40 minutes. Serve sliced thin with garlic mashed potatoes, and the pan drippings poured on top. The sirloin tip’s final meal appearance was my take on a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Using the leftover roast, serve with sauteed onions and melted cheese over toasted garlic bread with a creamy horseradish sauce. To make the sandwich: Sautee 1-2 sliced onions in 3-4 T of unsalted butter until they are translucent. Season with salt and continue to cook over low heat until they are soft. Melt 2 T of butter, adding 1/4 tsp each of granulated garlic and dried basil. Brush bread or buns and toast until golden. Prepare the horseradish mustard sauce. Add ¼ C sour cream, 2 T of mayo, 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard, and 2 tsp of prepared horseradish. Stir. Slice cold roast beef as thin as you can. Push the cooked onions onto one side of the sautee pan. Add the roast beef slices, and toss over low heat, just bringing to warm temperature. Layer warmed roast beef slices onto garlic toast. Cover with swiss or provolone cheese. Cover with sauteed onions. Add a dollop of the horseradish sauce. Cover with the second side of toast and cut in half for serving. Talking with his mouth full, Mountain Man said he would tell his friends all he got for supper was sandwiches. He had no intention of telling them how wonderful those hot, ooey-gooey, onion, and beef sandwiches were! The sirloin tip is easy to cut up. I learned how to do it by watching youtube videos. If you don’t want to cut it up yourself, ask your butcher to do it for you. We ate a lot of delicious meals for our $30! The cowboy steaks travel great in a Ziploc bag. Go somewhere beautiful and have a cowboy steak cookout with your family. May God bless you with many beautiful memories with your own family.

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