Seared Steaks with Sun Dried Tomato Gravy

Incredible-ness just happened! Perfectly cooked steaks with the most sumptuous, tomato-freckled, shimmering gravy - a sublime combination of rich broth, robust garlic and onion, aromatice basil, and sweet sun dried tomatoes. A handful of ingredients; an intense amount of flavor.

I'm not kidding - the chewy sun dried tomatoes add a subtle tomatoey sweetness to this simple, savory gravy. There's just enough sweet and just enough "chew" to transform an ordinary gravy into a show-stopping sauce.

And this might be one of the easiest gravy recipes ever. You start with a simple butter-flour roux (which is just melted butter and flour in a pan), and then you add broth, basil, garlic and onion (spice rack staples). Seems simple enough, right? And that's ALL you need for the flavor base; not a complicated or cumbersome blend of herbs and spices. Just basil, garlic and onion. The flavor in the sun dried tomatoes is the final touch, and it marries everything together with flawless ease.

In the recipe below, we use 1 tablespoon of oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes. There is SO MUCH flavor in that oil; you don't want to miss a drop of it (it's also great in pasta salad). If you're getting towards the bottom of your jar of sun dried tomatoes, and there's not much oil left, simply supplement with olive oil.

Seared Steaks with Sun Dried Tomato Gravy

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2-2 cups beef broth (we like lots of gravy in my house, so we go with 2 cups of broth)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup minced oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon oil from the sun dried tomato jar, or 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 sirloin steaks or any steak of choice, about 5-6 ounces each
Salt and ground black pepper

To make the gravy, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter is bubbly, whisk in the flour until smooth. Whisk in the broth, basil, garlic powder, and onion powder and bring to a simmer. Add the sun dried tomatoes, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, to cook the steaks, brush the oil all over the bottom of a stove-top griddle or skillet and set the pan over medium-high heat. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and add to the hot pan. Cook for 3 minutes per side for medium-rare (remember, the steaks will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat, so stop cooking before you reach your desired level of doneness). Remove the steaks from the heat and let rest for 2 minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Add the steaks to skillet with the gravy and serve.
Serves 4