Coffee Marinaded "Cheap Cut" Steak

I was watching a YouTube video by:

Margaret  and Frank Miller

This is the trick that you didn't get from your grandmother. 

"Back in the day", our grandmother had to make a dollar go as far as it could.  They didn't buy high end cuts of beef.  But here is a recipe that has guaranteed results.

Ingredients 

1 pot of coffee

1" to 1 1/4" thick: Chuck Steak, Blade Steak or Round Bottom, do not trim the fat.

1 cut up onion

Directions

Brew your coffee as you normally would.  Then, after it has cooled enough, put that coffee in the fridge, for at least 2 hours.

Cold is your friend.  You want to marinade this in the fridge, otherwise you are inviting bacteria.

Get a pan just large enough to fit your steak.  Make sure to put enough coffee about 1 1/2 inch deep.  The coffee has acids that will work on the outside layers of your steak.

Marinade in the fridge at least 8 hours.  No more than 24 hours.  More than 24 hours and the acids in the coffee will turn the outside layers of the steak to mush.  A mushy steak is so much worst than a tough steak.

Take the steak out of the marinate and pat dry with a paper towel.  If your steak isn't dry, you will be steaming your steak and not getting a crust on your steak.

Season your steak.

Heat a cast iron skillet and introduce your steak to the hot pan with a spoon of fat.  I personally would use butter.

Once you have the outside sear on the steak, move your steak to an oven proof Dutch oven.  Add about two cups of beef broth and your sliced onion.  A bay leaf added to the pot, would be nice at this point.

Set the oven to 275 F.  Cook for about 2 1/2 hours.  This low and slow will soften the muscles inside the steak.

Once you have cooked your steak, you can skim the fat and the liquid at the bottom is your gravy.

Cutting the fat off your steak, and you are going to have a stringy, and dry steak.  The fat on your steak is your friend.  

If you are like my brother-in-law, he doesn't eat steak fat.  I am not telling you to eat the fat, but having the fat on the steak is very important.  While your steak is cooking long and slow in the Dutch oven, the fat is basting your steak.

Serve with potatoes and veggies.  

This is the Sunday Supper your grandmother would serve once a week.