Friday, August 4, 2023

"Meat and Three" - The best word combination in the southern dialect

I have no idea who offered the first "Meat and Three" option in their cafe, but southern cuisine owes that person a huge Thank You because their idea of simple, preplanned meals opened up a world of good eating possibilities. 



Over my many years of being here and there, I have chosen my share of "One of these and three of those" lunch offerings from marker boards and paper menus all across our good old USA.  In my opinion, none are better than the ones offered to Southerners ordering a cafe meal. Eventually I will post more of these combinations than you will want to see. Here is one that belongs right up at the top of any list of great grub offerings.

This may not be the way your grandmother made this culinary treat, but if you came to my house for a Saturday lunch, this is how I would cook this.

Smothered Round Steak - Meat and Three Dinner

This dinner includes round steak smothered in onion gravy, buttered roasted whole kernel corn, purple hull peas and sour cream mashed potatoes with gravy. My favorite bread is always cornbread!  When taken one step at a time, this is an easy meal. With six or seven similar recipes, you can open your own meat and three restaurant and become a legend.



You'll need:

Round steak, frozen whole kernel corn, frozen purple hull peas, boiling potatoes (red potatoes are best for mashed potatoes, but I had russet, so I used russet), butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, Lawry's garlic salt, onion, garlic, self-rising corn meal, self-rising flour, buttermilk, oil and a beverage like iced tea. (KF note: Frozen? Did he write FROZEN?) 



 

Cooking the Purple Hull Peas – We blanch and freeze these each summer, fill our freezer and then eat them from fall to the next summer when the next crop comes in. If you don’t garden, you can usually buy them in the frozen vegetable section of your grocery store. To cook them, thaw the peas enough to get them out of the freezer bag. Then they go into a boiler with some water, a little vegetable oil, a half teaspoon of sugar and a half teaspoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook the peas (uncovered) at medium heat for twenty or forty minutes. Our frozen peas are parboiled (blanched) before freezing and they cook quickly.






Cooking the Cornbread – Cornbread is made with 1 cup of self-rising white cornmeal, 3/4 cup of self-rising flour, a half teaspoon of salt and enough buttermilk to make a batter like thick pancake batter. The cornbread batter is poured into an oiled (2 Tablespoons oil or bacon fat) preheated skillet and baked in a 390-degree preheated oven until the top browns. When the top is light brown (30-40 minutes), the bread is done.


 






Roasting the Whole Kernel Corn – We buy frozen whole kernel corn from the grocery store and oven roast it from frozen. First, put the corn, a bit of salt and a Tablespoon of butter (no water) into an oven proof bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and put it into the oven to cook while the cornbread is baking. After about ten or fifteen minutes, remove the foil and finish the corn uncovered. When the cornbread is finished cooking at 390 F for 30-40 minutes, the corn will be ready, too.



Cooking the Mashed Potatoes - Peel and cut the potatoes into 1 or 2 inch pieces. Cover the cut-up potatoes with water in a boiler. Add a half teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered at medium heat until the potatoes are soft - fork tender (20-30 minutes). When the potatoes are done, drain and transfer them to a bowl for mashing. Add a couple of Tablespoons of sour cream, some butter, and mash the potatoes with a hand masher. Season the potatoes with fresh ground black pepper after mashing. I like just a few small lumps left in my mashed potatoes. I guess that is a personal quirk. We also like sour cream at our house so I usually add just a bit more after mashing the potatoes.















Cooking the Round Steak – As the first step when preparing this meal, I cut the round steak into workable portions and season the uncooked meat with Lawry's garlic salt and black pepper, then set it aside until I am ready to cook it. We use a lot of Lawry’s at our house. I consider it to be an excellent seasoning. I am one of those who like to season the round steak and also season the flour, so I also add some Lawry's garlic salt and black pepper to the flour. After the round steak portions have rested a while with seasoning, it will be time to dust them with flour and cook them. First, dredge the meat portions in flour and then and fry them, in a little vegetable oil until browned. If you like thick crust, pass the meat portions through a mixture of milk and an egg (whipped up) before breading with the flour. When the round steak is done, remove it, set aside and make the gravy. To do this, you will make a medium dark roux and then dilute to the thickness you like with water and red wine. Add three or four Tablespoons of the seasoned flour to the sauté pan and cook it to a medium brown roux. Cook the flour with constant stirring over medium heat until the desired level of brown is achieved, and you will have your roux for making the gravy.

 














I like a little red wine in my gravy so I add a splash (two or three Tablespoons) to my completed roux to deglaze the pan (the wine is optional, and it can be skipped if you do not cook with wine).  If you don’t add wine, just use a little more water to make the gravy. Regardless of whether you add red wine or not, and enough water to the hot roux (Slowly – with stirring - in three or four portions if needed) to make a medium thick gravy. Return the fried round steak portions to the pan of brown gravy and add a cup of thinly sliced onion. Cover the sauté pan with a lid and simmer the round steak with onions and gravy at low heat for about 30 minutes. The longer you simmer the steak, the more tender it will become. A thirty or forty minute simmer usually seems good to me.







Iced tea is nice with this meal.













Here is a nice suggestion for dessert.






Thanks for looking at my post.
God Bless You.


44 comments:

Anonymous said...


Meat and Three = Dinner is served!

Anonymous said...

Here I'm eating salad & celery & you put this up on the website.
You sure know how to hurt a guy.

Anonymous said...

Always open these articles up right before I go to lunch. Yum

Anonymous said...

Vegetarians and Vegans just don't know what they're missing.

Anonymous said...

This looks so good
lol I took a Konjac root supplement and I will be dining on a small water cress salad for lunch.

Anonymous said...

In most small towns the closet place for the meat and three is the Chinese Buffet.

Anonymous said...

I'm having to watch the carbs now but that looks like something I have done many times but using tenderized deer steaks (we call cube steak around here).

Anonymous said...

I've loved meat and three for nearly 7 decades. In fact, that is what I serve for dinner virtually every night.

Hubby and I have been up at dawn the past two days, picking field peas and okra till it's too hot. I froze 8 quarts of sliced okra yesterday. This afternoon will be spent shelling, blanching and freezing peas. Love the new vacuum sealer gift from my sister-in-law.

Thanks, Bear! You're an inspiration.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

1:00 pm - I will do Chinese later. I promise.

Anonymous said...

I do not know this guy, I made his recipe from last week, and I would love to peruse his recipe box on a grand scale, This man can cook.

This one is easy but its still a home run........

look forward to this post every Friday

Anonymous said...

With tears in my eyes remind me of what my mother and grandmother used to cook! I live in Hattiesburg area, would love to have a similar meal.
Mom and dad’s in Petal and Main Street in Collins come close!

Anonymous said...

Kitchen Bouquet great seasoning sauce for gravy “level of brown”.

Anonymous said...

11:33 - I miss it as much as I miss my high cholesterol levels and the 35 lb I had too much…

Marlo's Always Good said...

Marlo's in Canton will get you a fabulous meat+2veggies+1dessert. Generally 3-4 meats to choose from 6-8 veggies and a couple desserts. I've eaten there quite a few times and never had anything that wasnt good.

Anonymous said...

Pig Out is also a term created in the Southern USA. For those of who DO pig out...only 'Two Meats and Three' will suffice.

The sign that advertises One Meat or Meat and 3 is totally depressing.

Restaurants that have signs reading: If you get two meats you will be charged for a second plate...have been torched.

Anonymous said...

Yes Yes Marlo’s does it right!

Anonymous said...

Show me the calories, sodium, fat, protein, fiber, cholestetol, vitamins etc, for your recipes, ZeroBear, aka ButterBear.

The trick to great cooking is to make low fat, low starch, low sugar, low cholesterol and low sodium, when combined with meat and vegetables, taste great. BTW, Plain Greek Yogurt is a fantastic substitute for butter in mashed and baked potatoes. After 17 years old, even if active and fit, a Keto/ Mediterranean diet is smarter.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE!
Nobody every invite @4:28 to a party or potluck!

Anonymous said...

This looks so good! However, in this hot weather I’ll be eating BLT’s.

Anonymous said...

4:50pm
Funny, I get invited to cook for others and enjoy it but dislike the visiting part. So I cook and clean the kitchen while they jawbone amongst themselves. Win/win.

Anonymous said...

This is a great post, that appears to connect with several people who read this blog. Please continue.

And might I add, the photos, and comments, seem to add to the quality of the content.

Anonymous said...

People who come on these posts to lecture, ridicule and admonish others regarding calories and other content should be knee-capped and made to flip donuts with a little stick at Krispy Kreme.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a story about the legendary DIRTY CHARLIE’S. in Oxford…..a customer complained that there was a fly on his plate…..Charlie told his cashier to charge him for 2 meats!

Anonymous said...

@4:28 - "meat and 3" can be a serving of chicken, green beans, rice and a salad. My condolences for your terrible physical condition that leads you to trash healthy things that other people can eat without developing all the shit that is wrong with you. Unlike you, some of us inherited good genes, regularly exercise, drink alcohol in moderation and love our lives, family, food choices and cultural heritage.

Anonymous said...

6:56am
That meal as pictured and described is likely 4,000 calories, with over 25 grams fat. I exercise daily and have a BMI of 25, partly because of my leaner diet. Few can load up on that much without weighing 250-300 and waddling between feedings. Obesity is a popular killer in MS.

Anonymous said...

Eating a meat and three a couple of times a month will not make you obese. Moderation is the key.

Anonymous said...

8:19

I'm 6:56. I'm 70 years old, BMI of 24 (beat you!), exercise daily and have done so all my life, and I eat anything I want to, including an occasional 4000+ calorie meal. My parents lived into their 90's as did their parents before them. I take no pharmaceuticals like statins or hypertension drugs because I don't need them.

One of the problems with people like you, lecturing and virtue signaling, is that about half of Mississippians are NOT obese. Are we invisible to you or not entitled to eat what we want?

Anonymous said...

", Plain Greek Yogurt is a fantastic substitute for butter in mashed and baked potatoes. " Using Greek yogurt in the place of butter on the cup of sugar that is a baked potato is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. We all know what you just stated about the healthier diets but you can't do that 100% of the time. A good old southern dinner with the works can be justified occasionally.

Anonymous said...

Y’all might be not obese, but do you know what your cholesterol and LDL levels are and what these numbers mean regarding your health? Keep on eating, saves us some social security payments. LOL

Anonymous said...

2:29 recommended the kneecapping of the Karens who appear here to admonish others while prancing around like my fifth-grade teacher with a plastic ruler in her hand.

If you miss me, I'm still counting the posts of those people. I'm also eating a Twinkie.

Anonymous said...

Meat and three places are the best! We used to go to a place in Abbeyville, MS when I was pregnant, it was SO good. Of course, you had to beat the college kids coming for lunch. They had such good plate lunches and great cobbler!

Anonymous said...

9:41
I get your point about the starch (a form of sugar) in a potato, which also has vitamins C and B. But why rationalize making a potato dangerous? Nonfat yogurt is healthy and by itself makes a potato less lethal, whereas butter, sour cream and gravy, piled in and on potatoes, are unnecessarily risky and caloric.

My original point in my first comment was for ZeroBear to include basic nutrition information with his gastronomic "delights" (to make food choices better informed in the second most obese state in America). The nutritional components could be estimated from online sources.



Anonymous said...

I've re-read the post twice, and I still cannot find the passage in which the author suggests that he recommends such a meal for every lunch and dinner. The numerous posts above arguing the "medical" bases for not eating such foods show the typical "(social) media-driven medical information" and as it almost always is, it is has no basis, is completely distorted or out-of-context, and is largely incorrect.

As just a few examples: Simply putting "butter and sour cream" on "a potato" is not medically significant, much less "unhealthy" for 99.99% of the population, as a discreet thing. Putting a stick of butter and a carton of sour cream on a potato the size of football as one part of every meal is not healthy, but putting a couple of teaspoons of butter and sour cream on a smaller potato once in a while will have no effect for anyone without specific allergies or medical issues affected by the chemistry and interactions of those particular items. Similarly, eating "red meat" is portion- and frequency-dependent. Eating a small portion of lean red meat (like round or sirloin) 2-4 times a week is not any way compatible to eating a 16 oz ribeye, with that loaded football potato, at every meal, which would certainly by ill-advised for all. Eating salads at every meal could be a great idea, but not if drowned in a cup of ranch dressing. Drinking a fifth of booze a night is very, very bad, but having a bottle of wine or 6-8 oz. of booze over the course of week is meaningless. It isn't about meals/items, it is about diet. It isn't about consumption, it is about moderation. No one with a healthy diet will be harmed by an occasional unhealthy meal just as no one with an unhealthy diet will be "fixed" by an occasional healthy meal. The body and its systems simply do not, and could not, function that way.

That said, while I am A (retired) doctor, I'm not YOUR doctor. If you want specific advice, YOUR healthcare providers are the ONLY people from whom you should take specific advice. Do not take specific advice from uneducated, untrained, and inexperienced idiots on social media, social gatherings, general interest media, etc. Since only uneducated, untrained, and inexperienced people would offer others specific advice in such forums, don't take ever take such advice from such sources.

Kingfish said...

Um, no Karen. We are not going to post all that label stuff. If Zero tried, I would delete it. Someone always wants to ruin it for everyone. He probably wants to ban buffets, too.


Damn, that makes me miss the Pizza Hut buffet.

Anonymous said...

"The nutritional components could be estimated from online sources."

What dark force is preventing anyone from looking such things up if they feel the desire to learn them? Good lord, the guy offers some recipes in what seems to be a truly happy and friendly desire to share. He didn't suggest here, nor have I seen in previous offerings, a lifetime nutritional plan for all. I wouldn't know the author if he jumped out of a bowl of peas or mashed potatoes (with or without butter, cream, or Greek yogurt) but as I mentioned above, preparing and eating exactly these recipes on an infrequent basis would induce no medical effect in anyone not subject to specific reaction to any of the ingredients. If you have a healthy lifestyle and diet that's wonderful but if you think a "meat and three" on an occasional basis is "dangerous" for any and all, you might wish to consult with a knowledgeable healthcare professional and quit listening to bullshit spouted by those who have no idea about what they spouting.

Anonymous said...

Did not see the proviso in recipe: "Only for occasional use". Guess the retired doc expects people who are about to indulge in a fatty, caloric belt tightener first call an MD to get it approved?

Alternatively, the author of the post who has very good orgsnization, description and photos, could inspire all readers with concoctions that are both healthy and tasty.

Anonymous said...

"Guess the retired doc expects people who are about to indulge in a fatty, caloric belt tightener first call an MD to get it approved?"

For some, an MD and in particular a psychiatrist would be a good first call before engaging in a whole host of their regular activities, not the least of which is hitting "send."

PS - a "belt tightener," when misapplied to food, would be indicative of a caloric deficiency or reduction, not over-indulgence (for most humans, "over" is the key word, not "indulgence").

Anonymous said...

That food looks gross. All brown and fried. No color on the plate.
Ugh.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Thanks ZeroBear. Always enjoy your recipes.
Thanks Kingfish for adding this to the website.

Anonymous said...

I am in my 40s but I would very much like to be adopted into the Bear Family.

-signed Hungry Bear

Anonymous said...

I'm glad people who enjoy this buffet type food, instrumental to their fitness, take the stairs after lunch to save the elevator. What does one call the buffet that immediately precedes one's funeral? Just desserts.

Anonymous said...

I work out 6 days a week, minimum of 1 hour cardio a day. I am not saying 4:16 is wrong and I realize I am the exception in Mississippi but my appreciation for this food in small/rare increments does not affect my waist size.

It does not have to be all gas or all brakes if you are an adult with self control.

Anonymous said...

My family goes back 4 generations in far South and far North Texas, so I've enjoyed Black Eyed Peas (about same as purple hull peas) all my life. Never have I heard of anyone adding oil and sugar to cook them! Our TX method is to add onion, peppers and pork to fresh or dried peas. Let flavor and nutrition reign!


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