Steak Fingers — The Comfort of One Last Good Meal

Two weeks. I am spending the remaining days doing ordinary things with extraordinary attention: making Marvin's breakfast (oatmeal, toast, orange juice — the same breakfast for twenty years), sitting with him in the living room (the living room without his chair, the space where the chair was now occupied by a folding chair that is not his and that he does not sit in, because he knows, somewhere, that the folding chair is wrong), walking with him to the mailbox (when he can walk, when the day is good, when the distance is manageable), reading to him (Chekhov, because Rebecca said to, and because Chekhov understood that ordinary life is the only life, and the ordinary is all we have left).

I read him "The Lady with the Dog" on Tuesday afternoon. The story about a love that begins as an affair and becomes the most important thing in two people's lives, and the ending, where the characters realize that the hardest part is just beginning — the living with the love, the carrying of it, the daily weight of something that is both burden and grace. Marvin listened. He did not understand the plot. But he heard my voice, and the voice was reading, and the reading was a sound he has heard for forty years, and the sound was home, and home was the voice, and the voice was mine, and I read to him until he fell asleep, and the sleeping was peaceful, and I kept reading, softly, after he was asleep, because the reading was for me now, and the reading was the goodbye, and the goodbye was Chekhov, and Chekhov understood.

I made his favorite dinner — roast chicken with the lemon and the herbs, the Thursday chicken. I made it on a Tuesday. I made it with the care of a last meal, because it is a last meal, the last roast chicken in this kitchen for this man at this table. He ate it. He said, "Good." He always says good. Good is the word. Good is enough. Good is the last thing. Good.

The Thursday chicken was Marvin’s meal, the one I could make in my sleep after forty years — but there were other meals like it, other recipes I reached for when the ordinary needed to feel sacred. Steak fingers were one of them: simple to make, satisfying in a way that asks nothing complicated of the person eating them, the kind of food that says I made this for you without requiring words. When you are feeding someone you love through the last ordinary days, the simplest meals become the most important ones.

Steak Fingers

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs beef cube steak, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• Vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 inch depth in pan)
• Country gravy, for serving (optional but recommended)

Instructions

1. Season the meat. Pat the steak strips dry with paper towels and season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Make the dredging station. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a second shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until fully combined.
3. Bread the steak fingers. Working one strip at a time, dredge the steak in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Dip into the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Dredge once more in the flour, pressing gently to adhere. Set on a plate or wire rack and repeat with remaining strips.
4. Heat the oil. Pour enough vegetable oil into a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron works best) to reach about 1 inch up the sides. Heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 350°F, or until a pinch of flour sizzles immediately on contact.
5. Fry in batches. Carefully lower the breaded steak strips into the hot oil, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Fry for 3—4 minutes per side, until deep golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet and season with a pinch of salt while still hot.
6. Rest and serve. Let the steak fingers rest for 2—3 minutes before serving. Plate alongside country gravy for dipping, or serve with mashed potatoes and a simple green vegetable for a full dinner.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 490 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 530mg