Onion Gravy Smothered Steak - Old Fashioned Southern Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean to smother a steak? ›

Smothering meat, seafood or vegetables is a cooking technique used in both Cajun and Creole cuisines of Louisiana. The technique involves cooking in a covered pan over low heat with a moderate amount of liquid, and can be regarded as a form of stove-top braising.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

Gravy beef can come from the shin area of the leg or the heel muscle in the silverside. As this cut comes from a muscle used constantly for movement, it contains a high amount of connective tissue.

"Smothered" means to "brown" the meat with a little oil then simmer in a small amount of water to make a brown gravy. The secret is in the "browning". Water, a vegetable mixture and seasonings are added, and the pot is covered and slow cooked until the meat is tender.

What does it mean to smother your steak at Texas Roadhouse? Oh, smothering your steak is a rare treat for the hands-on animal-flesh aficionado! Pick out your Porterhouse steaks, and then immobilize your bovine, firmly pressing a fluffy pillow over it's snout.

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

Similar to flour, cornstarch is another ingredient that can be used to make gravy thicker. With cornstarch, making a slurry is also an option, but with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisked into cold water. Again, you'll want to add the slurry in increments so you don't over-thicken the gravy.

Red-eye gravy is a Southern favorite. It requires just two ingredients: the drippings of pan-fried country ham and black coffee.

The sauce is easily incorporated into other common marinade ingredients such as olive oil, soy sauce, mustard, and lemon juice — or you could simply coat your steaks in straight-up Worcestershire sauce, let them marinate for between 30 minutes and 2 hours, and then sear them on a grill or in a skillet, One Good Thing ...

Throw the steak on the cast iron, and let the steak sizzle for about 1 minute, then flip. Keep flipping every minute. Once the internal temperature hits 105ºF, add some butter, rosemary, thyme, and garlic cloves to the skillet, and let it all come together. Scoop some butter over the meat now and then.

How is the perfect steak cooked? ›

For a rare steak, remove the steak from the heat at 125°F, about six minutes total cooking. For a medium-rare steak, aim to remove the steak from the heat at about 130°F, about eight minutes total cooking. For a medium steak, 140°F is the sweet spot at a total of nine to 10 minutes cooking.

Most big steakhouses broil their steaks. Yes, there are few "grills" out there, though some restaurants may still grill their steaks in a way that you and I would recognize. Many restaurants, though, use overhead, infrared broilers that produce incredible temperatures to cook steaks.

When you open the steak up, it now has two matching sides, resembling a butterfly. Now the steak is only half as thick and will cook much more quickly. Butterflying a thick steak helps you get the inside well done without charring the outside.

The little spikes cut up the connective tissue and muscle fibers. This allows your steak to cook far faster and at a higher heat. Pounding steak leaves the meat more even, thus allowing it to have a faster and more predictable cook time.

During cooking, aim to cook your steak medium-rare to medium – any more and you'll be left with a tough piece of meat. Turning it every minute or so will make sure you get a really even cook. After cooking, leave it to rest and rub with a little extra virgin olive oil or butter for an incredible, juicy steak.

Tenting steak in aluminum foil after grilling keeps the meat warm during the resting period. When it's 3-5 degrees under its ideal doneness temperature, remove your steak from the grill and loosely wrap aluminum foil around it. Give your prime-grade beef, ribs, or chicken the time they need to rest before serving.