Cubed Steak & Scalloped Potatoes

Patrick was out of town for Thanksgiving weekend so I went to the grocery store and bought cubed steak and potatoes for a wonderful, yummy meal that I would love! Cubed steak with mashed potatoes and gravy is truly a Southern comfort dish and I was excited to make it and have it all to myself. Well friends visited and fun was had by all over Thanksgiving weekend but my cubed steak stayed in the fridge. So Patrick had the pleasure of trying it after his inquiring questions of "where do the cubes come from??" I knew I would need to switch up my mashed potatoes for something else because he doesn't like mashed potatoes! So I thought I'd try my hand at scalloped potatoes - a first for me. The cubed steak is really, really easy and the potatoes turned out okay. The recipe needs just a little more refining which was to be expected because I experimented!

Scalloped Potatoes
I read a whole bunch of scalloped potatoes recipes online and merged them all together. I figured out the main preparation and then just went with it. Overall everything turned out great just too much creamy sauce for the amount of potatoes I had. The dish I prepped had about 4 servings.

Ingredients
Potatoes, washed and thinly-sliced (I saw recipes for peeled and unpeeled so I left half the peel!)   > I used about 4 medium potatoes
Milk  > I used about 1/3 cup, maybe?
Butter  > I used about 2-3 tbsp
Flour  > I used about 3-5 tbsp
Parmesan cheese > I used about 1/4 cup
Garlic  > I used 2 garlic cloves, zested

1. Begin by boiling potatoes for 8-10 minutes. While the potatoes are boiling make the sauce. Melt butter in saucepan. Slowly add flour and whisk together. Then add milk a little at a time until smooth. At this point I wasn't sure how much I needed so I added a little more flour and milk but didn't need this extra. Once you have enough sauce add zested garlic and parmesan cheese. Also any seasonings, I added salt and pepper.

Right after I added the cheese.

2. Drain potatoes and put them back in the pan. Toss and coat the potatoes with the sauce. Pout into small, greased casserole dish.
3. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Could place extra cheese on top and broil at the end but I chose not to do this.

A little soupy but otherwise a great dish.

Cubed Steaks and Milk Gravy
While the potatoes are in the oven you have the right amount of time to prepare your cubed steaks! Everything will be nice and hot all together at the end and ready to eat! Also at this time I put Patrick in charge of the frozen mixed vegetables.

Ingredients
Cubed Steak
Flour
Seasonings
Oil

Rub steaks with a little salt and pepper. Mix Mrs. Dash or any other seasonings into 1/2 cup of flour in a separate dish. Bread steaks in the flour and place into a medium pan with warm oil. Fry on each side for 1-2 minutes. Remove steaks to a plate and commence milk gravy making.


My milk gravy making is done differently every time and I'm still working on my technique. So here's a professionals recipe courtesy of Paula Deen! (Who else's milk gravy recipe would you want?!)

Paula Deen's Milk Gravy
1/4 cup bacon grease (the drippings from the cubed steak will substitute)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk warm
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoons pepper
2 tablespoons melted butter

Heat grease in a cast iron skillet. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and bubbly about 1 minute. Add the warm milk slowly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and stir, until thickened, about 5 minutes, adding milk as necessary to control the thickness. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Serve hot over biscuits.