Cajun Smothered Seven (7) Steak (Recipe 83 of 125)

I recently stumbled onto a couple "southern" cooking recipe blogs. I perused through them and found some pretty interesting recipes that feel 100% southern and use ingredients I had never heard of. 

This is one of those recipes. It calls  2 cans of "mushroom steak sauce". I had never ever heard of it. So I had to find out what it was all about. Turns out my grocery store carried it. Took me FOREVER to find it and ultimately had to ask. It's basically mushroom gravy in a can. It has a beefy ish flavor to it too.  It's definitely the consistency of gravy and has a brown color to it so I'm sure it has a few other items in it. The recipe does say you can substitute with cream of mushroom soup, but that would definitely give it a different color. 

I didn't put this in a slow cooker, nor did I cook it on the stove. I popped it in the oven at 350F for 2 hours. 

I did use a 7 bone- minus the bone (confusion between me and the butcher at QFC). What's a 7 bone? The butcher basically runs a beef chuck through a band saw. Starting at the rib end, there are a couple first cut chuck roasts (or blade roasts), and then the next three slabs are considered 7-bone roasts. (Thanks Dad for the beef lessons).

Finally, I didn't use bell peppers...um Yuck. I used carrot, celery and onion as my holy trio of flavor. I'm 100% sure that changes the flavor, so keep that in mind when I tell you I WILL MAKE THIS AGAIN. It was so good. So beefy flavored, so lush. Yum. 

Cajun Smothered Seven (7) Steak

Recipe from Deep South Dish

Serves 4

2 pounds of 7-steak, or other braising steaks (see note)

1 T of canola oil or bacon drippings

1 c chopped onion

1/2 c chopped green bell pepper

1 whole green onion, sliced

2 tsp chopped garlic

1 c beef stock or broth

2 (6 ounce) cans of mushroom steak sauce (like Giorgio's Dawn Fresh)

Palmful of dried parsley

1/4 to 1/2 tsp of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama)

Couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Couple dashes of hot sauce

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Slurry of cornstarch and water, optional

Cut the meat into smaller serving sizes if desired and let it come to room temperature, at least 15 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. 

In a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed deep pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and brown the meat on both sides, just until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. 

In the drippings (add more oil if needed), sauté the onion, bell pepper and green onion and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute. 

Stir in the beef broth, mushroom sauce, parsley ( JW note: I used dried parsley. I think that works just fine in a slow cooker type meal), Cajun seasoning, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper; bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes. [JW Note: I didn't do this part. I just dropped the meat back in, covered the pot and stuck it in a 350F oven for two hours.]

Add steak to the pot, turning to coat, cover and simmer for 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until meat is fall off the fork tender. 

Serve with juices as is, or use a slurry of one tablespoon of cornstarch with just enough water to dissolve. Remove meat and set aside, stir in the slurry, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Return steaks to gravy to coat. [JW Note: After being in the oven for 2 hours, the liquid boiled down nicely. I didn't need to add a slurry.]

Serve with homemade mashed potatoes or rice. I served it over rice because I didn't have any potatoes. 

Substitute: If you can't find the mushroom steak sauce, substitute a can of cream of mushroom soup with a splash of Kitchen Bouquet and/or a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon beef in a pinch.