Featured beef cut:
Cube steak
Cube steak, also known as minute steak, is a tenderized cut of beef, usually from the top round, bottom round or top sirloin. It’s basically a beef cutlet. It cooks quickly, so by itself you only want to cook it for a minute or two per side- thus the name “minute steak”. Cube steaks are the ideal cut for dishes such as chicken fried steak and Salisbury steak. My personal favorite is the chicken fried steak.
This is a recipe for a classic chicken fried steak with homemade country gravy, served with a side of mashed potatoes and good ole canned green beans (I think canned green beans are great and will not be convinced otherwise).
Ingredients:
- Cube steak
- Two eggs
- 2 cups flour, divided
- Hot sauce of choice (of course, I recommend Big Daddy’s Man Sauce)
- Cooking oil
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2.5 cups whole milk
- Salt
- Pepper
- All purpose seasoning
Directions:
- In a shallow dish, whisk eggs with a little bit of milk and some hot sauce (we used our own Big Daddy’s Man Sauce Smokey Chipotle!)
- In two more bowls, add 1 cup of flour to each bowl. Season each bowl of flour with your favorite seasoning. We used about a tablespoon of all purpose seasoning with some paprika.
- Season your cube steaks on both sides with all purpose seasoning.
- Coat each piece first in flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the second dish of flour.
- Set on a plate or cooling rack until ready to cook.
- Heat a high smoke point oil, such as canola, in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Test for readiness by sprinkling in a pinch of flour. If it immediately starts bouncing and bubbling, it’s ready!
- Working in batches if necessary, cook the steaks on each side until golden brown, just a couple minutes per side.
- Set aside on a cooling rack and cover with tin foil to keep warm while you prepare the gravy. (You can also put the steaks in an oven preheated to 200F to keep warm).
- Turn the heat down to low, and allow the pan to cool slightly.
- For the gravy you want to first make a blonde roux using equal parts oil/butter and flour. The professionals measure by weight. We eyeball it. There looked like there was about 1 tablespoon oil left in the pan, so we added 3 tablespoons of butter for a total of 4 tablespoons of fat, and used 4 tablespoons of flour.
- Once the butter starts to bubble, add in the flour, stirring constantly until everything has combined. Continuing cooking and stirring until the the roux turns from white to a light brown/blonde.
- Add the milk a little bit at a time, adding more once all has been incorporated in to the roux, stirring constantly. Continue to add milk and stirring until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. (We used about 2 1/4 cup flour to our 4 tablespoons fat 4 tablespoons flour. You may use more or less depending on what consistency gravy you want.)
- Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste and stir to combine.
- Serve chicken fried steaks alongside mashed potatoes and cover in gravy, with a side of green beans cooked as you like!
