An Ode to the Roadside Diner ~ Gluten Free Country Style Cube Steak with Gravy

The days of Roadside Diner food may be non-existent if you live gluten free. 

That is, unless you want to make it yourself. In the South, Diners always had the best home cooked dishes that were comfort food personified. 

You can still find them in small little one stop light towns...Just look for the place where all the police, fire and EMT workers go for lunch. You know the kind, you get a hand written special note on the inside of the menu and it's a meat and two veggies or three if you really want a plate full. And always, you can count on Salisbury(up North) or Country Style (down South) Cube Steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, and if you're Southern, turnip greens. 

So, straight from a Southern raised cook, I give you...

Country Style Cube Steak with Gravy

Gluten Free & Egg Free

First you want to purchase cubed steak, or the steak which has been pounded to make it less sinewy. You can get them in most supermarkets although ours are bought from a local farmer.

The dredge we make them in is my concoction of:

1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Biscuit & Baking Mix 

(this already has baking soda in it to make the coating thicken)

2 tablespoons of Garlic & Pepper mixture

2 teaspoons of Paprika

generous pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt

Mix thoroughly before placing meat in.

Wash off steaks in water and then place flour into a big freezer bag. I did not illustrate below, but trust me as far as mess goes, you'd do better with the flour in a bag and then shake it to coat. Do one at a time in bag of flour mixture. Place on tray.

Heat up a generous portion of oil in the bottom of a dutch oven pot to a med-high setting. Place your dredged steaks into the oil and let them fry to crisp the coating and leave drippings in the bottom of the pan.

The drippings is where all the goodness lies in making the gravy.

Once the meat is browned, pull it out of pot and place on clean tray that has a napkin or two to soak all the excess oil from cutlets. Place 1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill Biscuit & Baking Mix into warm oil and drippings on a medium heat. Sift in for smoother gravy while whisking it together. The mixture will become thicker and gummier, making a roux. Be careful not to burn.

Immediately pour 1-2 cups of warm water mixed with 1 tablespoon of beef bouillon.

My favorite is Better Than Bouillon Organic Beef

Whisk until the gummy roux turns into a smooth, beefy gravy.

I always season a bit with black pepper to taste.

Then place your browned steaks into the gravy mixture, sinking them into the gravy to cook

 until they are tender, on a slow heat and covered pot. 

My stove sits on 4 for the burner with the steaks bubbling away and filling the kitchen with great smells.

Keep checking water level, but forget about it for at least 45 minutes otherwise.

Then place Chopped 1 whole Onion and a couple hand fulls of Bella Mushrooms in to boil away 

for 15 - 20 minutes in the simmering steaks

and gravy. (If you don't like mushrooms, leave them out, but highly recommend)

And here is that sloppy goodness on a plate just like at the Diner in town.

You don't need a knife to cut this steak. It is fork tender and delish!

Makes you feel comforted already doesn't it?