Smothered Steak and Onions

Did you guys know that today is National Comfort Food Day?

Did any of you know that there WAS a National Comfort Food Day?

Me neither. At least, not until I saw that it was through my Facebook news feed on on Food.com. I thought it was a great coincidence and surprise considering the newest post that I had for you all. This dish is as ‘comfort food-ey’ as it gets. The ingredients are short, sweet and to the point: meat, gravy, and a starch. Is there anything else you could possibly want from comfort food? I think not.

As a self-professed foodie, I love testing out new recipes that are different, or require a unique cooking or baking form that I haven’t really tried before. I like experimenting with new flavors and spices. There are very few things that I’m not willing to try. However, there are sometimes when I just want to have no frills, bells or whistles, stick to your ribs, comfort food.

Sometimes,I just gotta have the simple things.

I had some steak in my freezer that I wanted to hurry up and use, as well as some onion leftover from Thanksgiving. I asked Ashley what she thought I should do with it, and she suggested making steak and rice with gravy.

Steak and rice with gravy is one of my grandpa’s favorite things for my grandma to make for him, so growing up, I ate my share of it. Hers is (of course) absolutely delicious. However, it’s also one of those recipes that she makes without a real ‘recipe’- meaning, she just throws all the ingredients together and it just turns out tasting fantastic every single time.

I’m working up to that level, guys. I am working on it. This dish was one of those efforts toward Grandma’s level. I took what I had in the kitchen, threw it together, and hoped that it would turn out right.

I also wrote down the amounts of the ingredients as I went along so that I could make sure that you guys could have it too.

I’m actually pretty proud of myself for making this dish off the top of my head: it’s delicious. The steak is made very tender when baked in the oven and thus ‘smothered’ by the thick, hearty gravy. It’s just asking to be served over some kind of starch- my family eats it with rice rice, but mashed potatoes or egg noodles would be just as delicious.

Meat lovers will LOVE this dish. And non-meat lovers? I’m pretty sure they’d like it too in spite of themselves.

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Smothered Steak & Onions

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Ingredients

*2 1/2 lbs of bottom round steak, pounded to about 1/4 inch thick

* 1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

* 1 tablespoon of Weber Chicago Steak Seasoning

* 1 tablespoon Emeril’s Essence

* 1 tablespoon garlic powder

* 1 tablespoon onion powder

* Olive oil, for the skillet

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 2 cups low sodium beef broth

* About 1/4 cup flour

* 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Season steak with steak seasoning, Emeril’s Essence seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder.

2. Pour olive oil in bottom of a cast iron skillet or regular frying pan. Cook steak over medium- high heat until browned on the outside, about 3 minutes per side (note: it does NOT need to be cooked all the way through). Remove steak to a plate and cover with aluminum foil, leaving the drippings in the skillet.

3. Add onions to skillet and cook until they are limp, translucent and slightly caramelized. Remove from pan and set aside.

4. Lower heat to medium. Add flour to skillet, stirring for a minute or two. Add chicken broth and heavy cream, stirring until flour has cooked down completely and gravy has thickened.

5. Place steak and onions back to the skillet and stir to combine with the gray. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

6. Remove aluminum foil from skillet and check seasoning of gravy. If necessary, add the one teaspoon of salt. Stir steak and onions, then place skillet back in the oven uncovered, for ten more minutes.

7. Serve over white rice, egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

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