When Pam and Mary and I went with Nick to his parents’ house for Sauce Day last year (we had an awesome day turning many, many, many pounds of tomatoes into many, many, many jars of tomato sauce), one of the things Nick was excited about was a delicious lunch featuring a dish his mom makes with beef cutlets and vinegar.

He had really talked this up — especially the part about it being even better the second day. And then, of course, he forgot to tell her ahead of time that he’d promised us this special meal. Luckily for him, his mom had everything she needed to make it and was a good sport about doing so when put on the spot.

And it was pretty damn delicious the first day!

The version we had for lunch that day had breaded beef cutlets fried and topped with a sauce made from oil, vinegar, garlic, carrots, and onions.

We decided to try to adapt it for Cooking Club because while breading and frying makes things delicious, it didn’t seem totally necessary to get the essence of this meal — which was really in the vinegar (and garlic).

We tried a few different versions and were very pleased with how it came out!

We started with lean stew beef and skipped the dredging and frying. We used just a little olive oil to cook the meat and then skipped adding more. At the end, we decided to serve it with just enough egg noodles to feel a little comfort food-y without blowing our macros.

We plan for about 3 servings per pound of meat. For each pound of meat, use:

1 pound lean stew meat (I usually cut the meat into smaller pieces, about an inch square)
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, oregano to taste
1/2 serving egg noodles, cooked

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and brown the meat.

After a few minutes, add the garlic. A few minutes later, add the onion, carrot, salt, pepper, and oregano.

When the onions and carrots are soft, add the vinegar.

Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes.

Add the egg noodles and either serve or put away for a day or two before serving so the flavors really soak in.

For each of 3 servings: 327 calories, 10.4 grams fat, 20.5 grams carbs, 32.8 grams protein.