Braised Boneless Chuck Steak

Chuck steak is one of the most flavorful cuts of beef. Here it is braised to perfection in an herb gravy.

I love the flavor of chuck. I think it’s one of the most if not the most, flavorful cut of beef.

Chuck is versatile too. If you get a really good grade, you can even broil it and eat it as you do strip or Porterhouse. In fact, if I had my choice for a steak dinner, I’d choose chuck over Porterhouse because of the great flavor.

The flavor, of course, comes from the amount of fat. No lie–chuck can be a bit on the fatty side because it’s well marbled. Fat imparts flavor and there’s no way of getting around that.

My store had boneless chuck steaks or roasts on sale this week. I chose the steaks over the roast, mainly because the “roast” cut is a little bit too thick and that one really can’t be eaten like a steak. With the “steak” cut, you can either braise or broil.

Since the weather is turning very fall-ish here, I chose to braise these steaks because when the evenings start to get a nip in them, you automatically think of comfort food. And what’s more comforting than a stew or pot roast?

As far as the fat issue, what I usually do when cooking stovetop is to cook it earlier in the day so I can refrigerate the accumulated juices so the fat congeals and can easily be skimmed off. Then I reheat everything and make the gravy and serve.

The gravy tastes wonderful! I used the leftover bit of seasoned flour mixed with water to thicken. I used commercial concentrated beef stock (Knorr to be exact), but any rich beef stock can be used in it’s place. Even humble stock cubes. If you use the Knorr concentrate (the jellied stuff in the tubs) or the stock cubes (use 2), just add a cup of water.  I jazzed my stock up with a bit of thyme thrown in. I’d dehydrated some clippings from my plant and used those–about 4 pieces 2-inches long, but you can use the kind you buy in the spice aisle too.

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Braised Boneless Chuck Steak

Prep Time25 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 25 mins

Servings: 4

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 boneless chuck steak about 2-3 lbs
• 1 cup rich beef stock
• 1/4 tsp thyme -or- 2-3 sprigs of fresh
• 1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes -or-regular size cut in quarters
• 8 oz baby carrots
• 2 tbs oil for browning
• 1/2-1 tsp Gravy Master optional
• Seasoned Flour:
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

• Mix seasoned flour ingredients on a plate.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• When oil begins to shimmer, dredge steak in the seasoned flour on both sides.
• Brown meat well, about 5 minutes each side.
• Remove meat from pan.
• Add the stock, scraping up all the browned bits in the pan.
• Add meat back to pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.
• At this point, I remove the meat from the pan and pour off the juices and refrigerate for about an hour or until the fat is congealed. If you don't wish to do this, then continue with the preparation in the next step
• Add carrots and potatoes to the skillet.
• Cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are tender.
• Remove meat and veggies from the pan; cover and keep warm.
• Mix about 2-3 tbs of the remaining seasoned flour with 1/4 cup of water, mixing until the liquid is free from lumps (I put this in a lidded glass jar and just shake it)
• Stir seasoned flour/water mix into stock in pan, mixing well so there are no lumps.
• Cook gravy for 3-5 minutes to cook the flour. Stir in Gravy Master, if using.
• Either pour gravy over the steak & veggies or place in a gravy boat so everyone can help themselves.
• SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS:
• Brown chuck steak as in regular directions
• Place meat in slow cooker
• Add the stock, thyme, potatoes and carrots.
• Cook on low about 6 hours, high about 3 hours (all cookers cook differently and these are the minimum times)
• Thicken gravy if desired as in regular directions.

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