My husband and I set off the other day for a journey from Philadelphia to Kentucky. Since he was driving, I decided to watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on my tablet. I had never watched the show before, but I made it to series five before the character Charlie Kelly orders milk steak.
In fact, first, Charlie wants to put it down as his favorite food when he is filling out an online dating profile after a waitress announces she is getting married. Later, in the same episode, Charlie orders it in a restaurant. If you are wondering how to make milk steak at home, then here are some different ways that you can cook this steak that is boiled in milk. Following the airing of the episode, several milk steak recipes have been invented.
What is Milk Steak?
In case you are wondering, milk steak maybe a steak that is boiled in milk. The dish is never shown on screen, but others have figured out how to make milk steak. Therefore, we can assume that milk steak is real.
Many have tried to use a variety of different steaks to make milk steak boiled over hard or cooked to another level of perfection. If you would like to try at home, then there are several ways to make this dish. Therefore, we can answer the question is milk steak real with a resounding yes. Yet, I was left to wonder how Charlie Kelly would make this dish if he was standing in my kitchen with me when I got home.
As we passed through the sleepy farming communities of Kentucky and I kept watching more of the show, I got to remembering about when my Dad was left home to feed all of us kids one time when I was little. Since Dad knew nothing about cooking, he decided to boil steak. While I am absolutely convinced that my Dad never knew anything about the show, I decided what he made could be called milk steak boiled over hard.
Milk steak Boiled Over Hard
Milk steak Boiled Over Hard is an easy recipe to prepare, and it may take ingredients that you already have at home. That may be why my Dad once made it when I was little.
Ingredients:
4 or 5 morel mushrooms- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 pound boneless beef steak
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ cup whole milk
Instructions:
- Slice your morel mushrooms in half lengthways. If they are exceptionally large, then cut them into four pieces. Place morels in a colander and run them under water for a few minutes to remove dirt and insects. Then, slice the mushrooms into bite-size pieces until you have enough to make 1 cup.
- Dice enough yellow onion to make 1/4 cup.
- Shred the carrots until you have enough to make 1/4 cup.
- Cut the steaks into bite-size pieces and place them on a broiler pan.
- Broil the pieces of meat about three inches from the heat source for about four minutes.
- Turn the meat over and cook another four minutes. Remove the meat when it becomes golden brown in color.
- Pour oil into skillet.
- Add mushrooms, onion and carrots to skillet. Fry until tender.
- Stir in seasonings and cornstarch. Stir to coat all vegetables.
- Add milk and cook until a thick gravy forms stirring frequently.
- Put steak in a pan and cook until steak is warm.
- Remove to a serving platter and enjoy.
We finally pulled over to get gas, and I watched a honey bee gathering nectar. I then started wondering if you could flavor a steak with honey and milk. Calling my sister who always knows everything resulted in a recipe for Always Sunny steak that took the milk.
Always Sunny Milk Steak
Ingredients:
- 2 6 ounce ribeye steaks
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup honey
Instructions:
- In a small bowl, whisk together milk and 1/2 cup honey.
- Set the skillet on stove and heat skillet until hot.
- Add mixture to skillet.
- Add steak to skillet.
- Cook steak over low heat for six minutes making sure milk does not boil.
- Flip steak over.
- Pour remaining honey directly on top of steaks.
- Continue to cook until the desired doneness is achieved. For a rare steak, you will need to cut cook about three more minutes, for medium-rare about five more minutes, for medium about seven more minutes and for medium-well about 10 more minutes. Never cook a steak well done as it will get tough.
- Remove steak to a serving plate and enjoy.
Milk steak and Jellybeans
When Charlie Kelly orders milk steak in a restaurant, he orders it with a side of jelly beans. While you can use the Always Sunny Milk Steak recipe from above, you will want to consider making your own jelly beans at home. Many store-bought jelly beans are filled with artificial flavors that would not taste the great steak. Therefore, consider making your own gourmet jelly beans to go with the steak.
Homemade Jelly Beans for Milk steak
Instructions:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon gelatin
- 1/4 cup blackberry margarita
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Red food coloring
- Blue food coloring
Instructions:
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar and gelatin.
- Bring to a boil over low heat making sure that no gelatin clumps form by stirring frequently.
- Use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of our liquid. When it reaches 230 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the pan from the stovetop.
- Set the pan in ice water to prevent the temperature from rising further. If needed, you can put ice in your kitchen sink and set the pan on the ice.
- Add in the margarita and the salt.
- Spray jelly bean molds with non-stick cooking spray.
- Fill the molds with the liquid. Be sure to fill each mold all the way.
- Let the jelly beans sit for five to six hours until the gelatin hardens.
- While the jelly beans are still gummy, take them out of the mold and place on parchment paper. You may need to use a tool to help remove the beans from the mold.
- Dust the jelly beans with the cornstarch. Allow them to sit overnight.
- In a glass jar, combine the remaining water and sugar. Add 50 drops red food coloring and 100 drops blue food coloring. Shake vigorously and adjust the color if desired.
Place about 50 of your jelly beans in the jar. Hold the jar at a 45-degree angle and start turning the jar around in a circle in your hand making sure to always keep the jar at an angle.- Continue for 14 minutes. Then, use a long-handled spoon to remove the jelly beans from the mixture. Set the jelly beans on parchment paper.
- Repeat the procedure until all your jelly beans are turned and coated. Let the jelly beans rest on the parchment paper for at least four hours. Once the top side is dry, then turn them over and let the bottom side dry.
- Prepare the steak as directed in the Always Sunny recipe and serve milk steak with jelly beans.
I was still not quite happy with my attempts to consider how to make a milk steak, so I decided to experiment some more. My husband and I went on a business trip to Kentucky where we ate wonderful bacon milk gravy over biscuits for breakfast one morning. Then, it hit me. I bet milk steak is steak covered with milk gravy. Of course, you could still serve it with a side of jelly beans instead of your favorite alcoholic beverage.
Milk steak Smothered in Bacon Milk Gravy
Ingredients:
- 2 12 ounces porterhouse steak
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1 pound bacon
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups whole milk
Instructions:
- Place steak in a large sealable plastic bag.
- Add soy sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, basil, parsley, white pepper, hot pepper and garlic to bag. Shake vigorously to coat steak.
- Lay bag flat in the refrigerator for at least eight hours.
- Remove steak from the bag.
- Prepare grill for indirect heat.
- Cook steak until desired doneness is achieved.
- Meanwhile, fry one pound bacon.
- Reserve bacon for another purpose, and measure out 1/4 cup bacon drippings into a small pan.
- Whisk in flour and cook until a caramel brown. Never quit stirring or the flour will burn.
- Add 1/4 cup milk to flour mixture, and beat until smooth. Continue adding milk and beating until you have added all the milk.
- Simmer gravy until desired consistency is achieved.
- Remove steak to a serving tray and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Cut steak into bite size pieces and put on serving plate.
- Cover steak with milk gravy.
- Serve and enjoy
We stopped at a steakhouse for lunch, and I could not stop thinking about what a milk steak could possibly be. While my meal was delicious, I kept wondering if the way that this steakhouse made their steak could be turned into Charlie’s favorite dish. Before we left, I discovered that the manager was also a fan of the show, and he shared with me how he thought he would make a milk steak.
Steakhouse Milk steak
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces ribeye steak
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup shortening
Instructions:
- In a small bowl, combine salt and ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- Cut meat into bite-size pieces.
- Sprinkle over meat and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Put flour in a small bowl.
- Break eggs into another bowl and beat well.
- Place shortening in skillet and let get hot over low heat.
- Dip each piece of meat in flour turning until well coated.
- Dip each piece of meat in egg and then place in skillet.
- Cook for four minutes.
- Turn over meat and cook for another three minutes.
- Remove meat to a serving plate.
- Add milk to skillet and whisk until gravy is formed.
- Stir in remaining black pepper.
- Pour over meat and serve.
As we continued driving across Kentucky, I kept thinking about what is milk steak. The question kept bothering me as we drove and I watched more of the show on my tablet as my husband drove. While the question may remain one of the great mysteries of all time with some even suggesting that Charlie Kelly was supposed to say milkshake, the answer is that we will never know unless the producers decide to reintroduce the idea in an upcoming episode to answer one of the greatest questions of all time. Since we have finally reached our destination, however, I will have to quit pondering ideas and get to work.
