I know I said last Thursday that had a hankering for Country Fried Steak, but I changed my mind.
I had a busy Saturday planned (during which I accomplished very little, other than exhausting myself thoroughly), and had intended to relax on Sunday. The best form of relaxation for me is cooking, so I had planned to cook Country Fried Steak. When it came to it, however, it occurred to me that I had recommended that you use tomato slices as an enhancement to Smothered Steak, and that I had only done this myself in the oven, never on the range-top.
I said to myself, I said "If your going to give advice to folks, don't you think it would be a good idea to test the advice first?" Well, of course, I had to agree with myself, so I cooked Smothered Steak, with tomato slices, not on my range-top, but in a non-stick electric skillet.
My motivation for doing so was that I was plumb tuckered out from my toils of the previous day; no rest for the wicked, or so it's been said. We have rules about cooking at our house; one of them is you cook, you clean. And I just was not up to cleaning. I wanted to minimize the clean-up, and the electric skillet seemed like a good idea. Well, it was a good idea. I got near-perfect results, but only after I had to solve a problem that could have been a show-stopper.
It all stems, you see, from a single truth: if you're going to make pan gravy, you'll need an egg whisk. And if you're doing it in an inexpensive non-stick skillet, you'll need a plastic egg whisk in order not to damage the inexpensive non-stick coating. Well, although my kitchen is well equipped, I have never owned a single plastic egg whisk. And, of course, by the time I realized this, which was at the precise instant after I had added the first scoop of flour to the oil in the skillet, it was too late.
My solution, which I had to come up with in a hurry, was to use a wire whisk. Realizing that metal egg whisks are constructed (mine are, at least) of perfectly round steel wire and therefore have no sharp edges, and that it's the sharp metal edges that make metal spatulae the bane of inexpensive non-stick coatings, I thought I might, just might, be able to get away with using a metal whisk if I whisked very, very carefully.
After gently whisking the flour into the oil, I abandoned the whisk and switched to a plastic spatula to finish the job of cooking the oil/flour mixture. The pan, it turned out later, was none the worse for my use of the metal whisk. Regardless of that, I think I just got lucky.
Incidentally, if you're wondering if I could have used only a spatula for the entire job, without whisking at all, the answer, I believe, is no. You certainly can mix any two compatible substances (stuff that'll mix, that is, unlike gasoline and water), in any container that the substances in question won't destroy, using any implement - say, plaster of paris and water, mixed in a bird-bath, using a toothpick, for instance - but it's not always a good idea.
Pan gravy is an example of when it's a bad idea. If I had used only the spatula, it would have been a matter of mash and stir, mash and stir, mash and stir, . . ., ad nauseum. And, since the operation must take place under cooking conditions, the stuff would likely have burned before it was adequately mixed. Whisking is necessary when you're making pan gravy, or any gravy or sauce, for that matter, that requires a cooking mixture of fat and flour.
Anyway, despite this little whisk snag, it ended well. I did have to modify the ranging-top finishing instructions a little, by cooking at extremely low heat for two hours, but otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter. And I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency and texture. My results were on a par with that of the oven-finished version, which I have heretofore held to be the superior of the two. I'll have to reconsider my position on that matter now.
In summary, Smothered Steak cooked in an electric skillet works well. If you do it in an inexpensive non-stick one, use a plastic whisk when making the pan gravy, so as not to damage the inexpensive non-stick coating. Also, use the skillet's lowest temperature setting to finish the cooking, and finish for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, so that your tomato slices cook through.
And, oh, if you're interested, I served the Smothered Steak with rice (it's also good served over the rice) and candied carrots on the side. We had ice cream for dessert.
What do you think? I'm interested in hearing, so please comment.
Happy cooking!
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