Smothered Steak

Another way to enjoy Basic Fried Steak is to smother it with pan gravy and onions, and cook it, covered, in an oven or on the range-top.

Smothered Steak is similar to Country Fried Steak, but is cooked differently.  The main difference is that the steak finishes cooking in the pan gravy.

When you prepare Basic Fried Steak to be used in Smothered Steak, you don't cook the steak pieces to full doneness.  Also you fry over higher heat in order to get a crisp, golden-brown-with-dark-spots, as described in the Basic Fried Steak post, without cooking the steaks through.

Here's how it's done.

Smothered Steak

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1 recipe Basic Fried Steak, modified as described.
1 Spanish or yellow onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick.
4 C tap-water.
4 T vegetable oil.
All purpose flour.
Salt.
Pepper.

Prepare your Basic Fried Steak as described in the recipe, but fry the steak pieces over a hotter fire for less time.  The steaks are ready to be drained when they appear as described in the Basic Fried Steak recipe.  The juices that puddle on the steaks should be slightly pink in color at the point when you drain them.  This is because the steaks are underdone, which is exactly what you want.

Next, cook and drain the onion slices as described in the Country Fried Steak recipe (yesterday's post).

Now, make the pan gravy as described in the Country Fried Steak recipe, but don't thicken it completely.  It will continue to thicken as you continue.

When the gravy is ready, season it with salt and pepper (and/or your favorite other seasonings) to taste.

Arrange the steak pieces in the gravy and pile onion rings on each piece of steaks.  There should plenty of gravy in the pan to cover the steak and onions, but if there isn't, just spoon the gravy over the food.

Now, here are two ways you can finish cooking your Smothered Steak.  You can finish on the range-top by covering the skillet and simmering for 30-45 minutes, or you can finish in a 250-degree oven by covering the skillet and cooking for 1 to 1-1/2 hours (for what it's worth, I prefer finishing in the oven).

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Note: If you're finishing in the oven (haven't tried this on the range-top), you can add flavor, color, and texture to your Smothered Steak by the addition of tomato slices at the point before you finish cooking.  Just cut a big, ripe, juicy tomato (use your favorite variety) into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices, and place the slices, one slice each, on tops tops of the steak/onion-ring stacks.  And, if you want to season the tomato slices, after they're in the pan, by applying light dusting of coarse-grind (preferably freshly ground) black pepper, go ahead.  Extra pepper doesn't hurt the flavor of Smothered Steak one bit.

That's all for now.

Happy cooking!