Welcome!

Welcome to Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. This is a place for me to post recipes of all kinds...along with other miscellaneous fodder from my so-called life here in the south. Who knows what you will find here. Could be anything from my husband...known as IT Guy...to my kids and beautiful grandbabies that are growing up way too fast right before my eyes. But...mostly this will be a place for food. I hope you'll see something you like and if you decide to try something from the list...leave me a comment and let me know!



Friday, July 12, 2013

Country Fried Steak

IT Guy is pretty easy to please. As long as I stay away from fish or Chinese food, he'll eat just about anything. He was raised on a farm, so he's a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy but he also loves casseroles. Leftovers? Yup...he's all over 'em. One thing that's a favorite and a guaranteed hit every time is country fried steak. He LOVES it. I don't make it that often...maybe just a few times a year...but when I do, the man is putty in my hands. The recipe is easy and delicious and if you want to please the love of YOUR life....like I do...then make this.

Country Fried Steak



6 3-ounce cube steaks
Salt & pepper
Salt and pepper cube steaks. Set aside.


½ cup milk
2 eggs

In a medium bowl or a large zip top bag, combine ½ cup milk and eggs.


1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a pie plate or a large zip top bag, crush crackers to fine crumbs then add the flour and the spices. Dredge cube steak in cracker crumb mixture, then egg mixture then cracker crumb mixture. Repeat until all cube steaks are covered. Heat 3 cups of oil in a large skillet and fry steaks for 10 minutes. Turn over and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove steaks from oil and drain. Place steaks on a plate and keep warm in a 225 degree oven. Pour all oil off but 1 tablespoon and the cooked bits to be used for the gravy.

4 cups milk
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Combine milk, flour and salt & pepper. Stir well and pour into the skillet with the 1 tablespoon of oil and the cooked bits. Heat and stir until thickened. Serve over meat and with mashed potatoes. 


Let's begin, shall we?


Season the steaks.....both sides!


Crush the crackers into fine crumbs.


Then add the flour and spices.


Combine the eggs and milk. I use 
gallon size zip top bags for the 
dredging and dunking process. 
I just find it easier and less messy.


Here's the meat all ready to go in the oil. 
Make sure the oil is hot before you put the meat in!


Fry it up....10 minutes on one side...


Five minutes on the other.


Transfer the meat to a plate when 
it's done then pop it in the oven to keep warm.


Here's the stuff for the gravy.


Mix it up....


..then pour it into the same skillet you 
fried with meat in. Make sure you pour 
off all the oil except 1 tablespoon!! And leave
 the crunchy bits in the pan, too!


Yummy gravy!!

Beef Carnitas

My mom is the queen of deals. She has a favorite grocery store around here that she hits up on Monday mornings because she knows they mark down their meats. She's always scoring good deals for me because she knows how much food I cook. Her latest deal was on stew meat so I had to come up with a dish to use stew meat. (Hey..it just dawned on me that my mom is planning my menus!! What's up with that???) Knowing that IT Guy loves Mexican food I decided carnitas would be a perfect use for the meat. I know I can always put a smile on IT Guy's face with food from south of the border!!

Beef Carnitas



3 pounds stew meat
2 tablespoons red chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 – 3 cloves of garlic – minced
1 14-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
1 onion - sliced

Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray.

Place stew meat in the crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and then pour over meat in crock pot.

Cook on low 6 – 8 hours or on high 5 – 6 hours.

Serve in flour tortillas with cheese, salsa and sour cream.



Our ingredients. Oops...I don't see our onion!!


Place the meat in your crock 
pot then combine everything else.


Pour the mixed ingredients 
over the meat in the crock pot.


Throw the onion in there, too!


After it's cooked, remove the meat to a plate.


Then shred it up a little bit with two forks.


Put the meat back in the crock pot 
and give it a stir then serve it with 
some warmed flour tortilla and all the fixin's!