Confusing Meat Departments
Reminds me of blue jeans because they will use different names for this cut of steak, i.e. a “Chuck-Eye” at one grocery is the same cut as a “Delmonico” at another. I’m not sure if the Delmonico brothers trademarked their stuff back in the day but it is what it is – and what this is is a very versatile cut of beef! I’m writing about Delmonico’s now for the second time on my site, the first write-up was a way to grill them, but this method is even tastier! These critters usually come in “small”, by that I mean between 3 to say no more than 5-6 ounces, with an average of 4 ounces a piece. If you can find them larger then that’s fine but you won’t need big as long as you follow my preparation method below.

Pictured is a Delmonico (Chuck-Eye) steak sitting on a bed of rice smothered by (pretty much) homemade mushroom gravy, and it’s a full meal – delish! So how do you get there? Well, it only takes half your brain matter plus about an hour and a half, no more than 2 hours tops. So let’s begin –

Here’s How to Begin:
One Chuck-Eye steak per person
1 can of Giorgio “Chunky style” Portabella Mushrooms, (Enough gravy to top three steaks. If you’re a purist and you want to use fresh Portabellas who am I to argue?)
About 1/4 to 1/3 (thinly sliced) medium White Onion (these will disintegrate in the finished gravy)
Killen’s Salt & Pepper mix (so good for beef!)
Uncle Ben’s or Success’ Boil ‘n bag White Rice
Stick Butter (a tablespoon equivalent)
“Better Than Bouillon” Roast Beef base (1 heaping tablespoon mixed into 2 cups of warmed water). You are free to use broth but your gravy will not turn out as tasty.
Flour 1 Tablespoon
Thyme and Sage for seasoning the gravy
You will need a small oven proof pyrex-type dish with lid, place the lid on tight and place the cuts in the oven once they are seared.

And You’re Off!
1 Begin by sprinkling Killen’s on each side of the steak cuts, using your fingers press the mix into the meat on both sides. Go ahead and boil the rice bag and just leave the rice at room temperature once you’ve drained the water out. Just fluff the rice with a spoon and let it sit away from heat, you do not need to keep the rice warm, I have a trick for that later.

2 Pre-heat your oven on Bake @ 200 degrees.

3 In a small (or medium depending on number of cuts) skillet with a lid, pour in about a tablespoon or more of olive oil and get that hot where it’s running like water in the pan, now you’re ready to sear the meat. Place those puppy dogs in there, (not your real puppies, just the beef cuts!). 🙂 Keep the lid on while you brown those guys good on each side, usually takes only 4-5 minutes a side as long as the oil is hot.

4 Once the meat is good and seared now you’re ready to place the cuts in that pyrex oven dish with lid on, do not drain the skillet, just place the meat only in the small baking dish with lid on and place in the oven on a lower level rack @ 200 degrees. These will need to sit in there for at least an hour or more so forget about them for now, you’ve got mushroom gravy to make!

5 Using the same small skillet, melt about a tablespoon or more stick butter in the pan. (Please if you’re still using margarine, take that tub of margarine and step into your back yard. I want you to throw that worthless shit into your choice of neighbor’s back yard you hate the most.) 🙂 Friggin’ margarine sucks, it does not go with cooking at all. And don’t tell that neighbor it was me who sent you, you chose their house, not me!

6 Take the small to medium size dishes (real plates, not plastic or paper) you’re going to serve these on and I want you to place them in the oven on the top rack, we’re warming the plates! Good plates are rated for low temps in the oven, mine have no problem.

7a Open the can of mushroom pieces and drain all the water out, now take those finely chopped pieces of white onion and saute them until translucent in the pan, then add in the drained Portabella pieces and let these two saute together with lid on. Once you’ve given them 5-7 minutes of mixing around it’s time to add the tablespoon of flour, mix this sticky mess around making certain that the butter and the oil left in the pan have coated the flour well. Once that’s all warmed and mixed, turn up the heat and pour in at least one cup of the beef stock. You’ll want to stir frequently and allow this mixture to come to a boil so the flour has the best chance of thickening the gravy. Never add salt to this gravy, canned mushrooms already contain a ton of salt.
(Making gravy is not, I repeat not an instantaneous exercise. To make successful gravy this way will take at least an hour so settle in, calm down, it’s not a race, maybe drink a beer (or two) or whatever your favorite libation is because you’re going to be stirring gravy for awhile).

7b Keeping the lid off is going to thicken the gravy faster while keeping the lid closed will have it preserve moisture and stay too thin. So it’s going to be back and forth. You want it to thicken up so you shouldn’t need the entire two cups of stock, more like 1-3/4 cups is what I find most beneficial for all parties involved. You have to romance gravy, it’s not a one-night stand. Make sure it’s not too thin or too thick, or dried out but a low to medium temp on the stove for this part will serve you well. Add in the final seasonings, I like to use both Sage and Thyme in this gravy, both these flavors are most compatible in this concoction. It’ll probably be an hour or more once you’ve been successful at “romancing the gravy” to a thickness level that’s ready to serve.

At Last – It’s Ready to Serve!
Take your warmed plates and place a bed of rice on each. Then place a Chuck-Eye steak on top of that along with a pour of the au-jus from the oven dish it was baking in. Now top it all off with a plentiful smothering of mushroom gravy and Wa-La! No steak knife required, if you followed my instructions you’ll be cutting this puppy with a simple table knife or fork, it’s going to be that tender.
“At Last”, your tastebuds will thank you! (Included is Etta James’ famous version of the song “At Last”)