Grandpa's Chuck Steak

Felix J. Vanderschoot II was a Dutch immigrant. He came to Ellis Island from Holland at the age of 5. In the 6th grade he had to leave school in order to work and help support the family. He started at slaughter house at age 12 and in the end passed on with more money in his bank account than you will probably ever have. Needless to say, I respect my Grandfather greatly.

Of the many things he passed down to his family over the years one of my favorites was how he handled a chuck steak. For those who aren’t familiar with chuck steak – Chuck Steak is farmed from the shoulder of the cow. It is your ‘go to’ piece to make shredded beef out of, get a standard roast from, ground beef, stew meat, etc. So basically, it’s beef, but nothing fancy, can be on the tough side and is probably the most inexpensive piece of cow you can buy. Chuck, in it’s most common form, is a big piece of rectangular shaped meat about 1.5” to 2” thick. What this recipe refers to are the smaller chuck steaks. Single serving size.

What you will need is:
Chuck Steaks – how ever many you need. Approx. ½ - ¾ lbs each.
Seasoning Salt (meat tenderizer)
Garlic Powder
Butter
Fry Pan
Mallet, hammer, pounder, wine bottle, rolling pin, or the like.

About .5h before you want to eat, pull meat from fridge and Moderately coat both sides of chuck steak with garlic powder and Seasoning Salt / Meat Tenderizer. (DID YOU KNOW: most seasoning salts have a tenderizing agent already in them and most tenderizers have salt to em? – And all meat tenderizer really is…..is Pineapple enzymes. ‘Bromelain’ to be exact)

Then pound the crap outa each side of the steak (with your mallet, wine bottle, etc.) really getting the spices in there and breaking up all that collagen in the meat that keeps it tough.

Set the steak aside find your frying pan. I prefer cast iron. Set you pan on the burner and turn that burner on Med-High. And I’m talking like 7.5 to 8 on a dial that goes to 10…HOT!

When pan is up to heat and meat is almost or at room temp, butter a side of the steak and throw that sucker in the pan. Cook for 2min on each side. (buttering the second side before flipping is optional – I do it, but I’m also fat. So take it for what it’s worth.)

When done, remove from heat and set aside for 5min before diving in. If done correctly you will have a bit of a darkened salty crust on the outside and pink medium rare inside.

This steak works great with a cold crisp salad, Potato salad, Pesto Pasta Salad or Cottage cheese with fresh peaches.