Ideas for tough-ish, leftover beef?

[Anonymous]

I have some local, grass-fed beef that I cooked last night - It's kinda tough but I don't want to waste it. Does anyone have any ideas for leftover beef? Can I shred it for burritos? Boil it for soup? PLease help.

[Anonymous]

Hash, especially if it is a roast that has pan juices. Cut it into small pieces, dice some potatoes and onions the same size. Fry the onions to wilt them, add the potatoes and beef with some of the juice (or beef broth) and cook until the potatoes are tender. You can add in any other veggies you might want. Diced fresh tomatoes or green peppers work well.

[Anonymous]

Thank you - if I keep cooking it, will it get more tender?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you could turn it into beef jerky somehow?

[Anonymous]

What kind of beef? I will boil flank steak for for 1-2 hours to make it tender, and then I shred it and add taco seasoning for tacos/enchiladas.

[Anonymous]

Have any shoes that need re-soleing?

[Anonymous]

OP, recooking it now probably won't help with tenderness, but a good rule of thumb is, the lower the quality cut of meat, the lower the temperature (and the longer) you should cook it at. Unless it's a prime steak, grass-fed is pretty tough anyway, so I usually braise it.

You may want to try cutting it into smaller pieces and braising it anyway. I have no idea if it works on already cooked meat, but's worth a try!

I personally would make stroganoff out of a tougher cut (with braising). I like the simply recipes recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beef_stroganoff/ (though obviously with the cheaper cuts of meat!)

[Anonymous]

Braise it in some liquid like chicken stock or beef broth for a long time on a low temperature, with some celery, carrots, onions, and garlic. When it's almost done, add some potatoes and you'll have a great stew! If you have some thyme, a bit of cayenne, and some seasoning salt, add some to taste. Tough meat become fork tender this way.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the information - I was a veg. for years and am just now getting into meat via the grassfed stuff. It is tough and I am on a steep learning curve. This time I shredded it and reheated it with some salsa and served it with tacos. Next time I'll try turning it into stew, a la PP 15:21.