A gumbo of beef, made with a 7-steak, and cooked down with The Trinity trio, okra, and a little bit of chopped tasso for some heat.

Seven Steak Gumbo

As far as I can discern, 7 steak gumbo had to have been born out of frugality.

Unlike its more pricey seafood cousin, it is a gumbo of beef and okra, but of a fairly inexpensive cut of beef, similar to round steak. Seven steak requires slow braising or stewing in order to bring out it's delicious, tender flavor, making it a suitable candidate for a gumbo.

It's called 7 steak because of the bone in it that is shaped like the number 7, when you can find it where the butcher hasn't removed it already, that is. I fix it most often as a Cajun smothered steak, but it can be used pretty much anywhere that you would use a braising steak.

Bottom round steak, slow braised with The Trinity and an easy homemade barbecue sauce.

Barbecue Round Steak

One of my favorite inexpensive cuts of beef has always been braising steaks, and of those I love cooking a good bottom round steak. It's a tough cut of meat, but give it a braise in some liquid, low and slow, and it transforms into a wonderfully tender piece of delicious beef.

Here I've slow braised it with onion, bell pepper and celery, and an easy homemade barbecue sauce - just another tasty way to prepare round steak and one that The Cajun loves.

Inexpensive chuck 7-Bone steak, or other braising steaks such as bottom round, is low simmered with onion, bell pepper, green onion, and garlic, in a rich mushroom sauce.

Cajun Smothered Steak

Sometimes called 7 Steak Etouffee, this is another one of those popular Deep South beef dishes made from an inexpensive cut of meat, and slow simmered over several hours, resulting in a fork tender and tasty piece of beef.

Poor man's steak, made with bottom round steak and slow simmered in a cream soup mushroom gravy with caramelized onion.

Steak and Gravy with Onion

The first cookbook I ever received, was the 1973 red, ring-bound Betty Crocker's Cookbook, given to me by my mama. I still have it. Anybody else?

Round steak and gravy is one of the first dishes that I learned to cook from Betty Crocker as a young bride, what seems now 100 years ago, though the dish has gone through a bit of transition since back then. In fact, I'd say that the School of Betty Crocker was the beginning of my book learnin' culinary education!

Cube steaks or tenderized round steak in a nicely seasoned Creole sauce of tomatoes, onions and peppers with rosemary and thyme - and a secret ingredient!

Creole Smothered Swiss Steak

A stepped-up version of Swiss Steak, Creole Smothered Steak can use either cube steaks, which have already been tenderized, or other beef steaks such as chuck or round steak which is generally less expensive, but also leaner cuts of beef and definitely needing tenderizing.

Be sure not to skip that step!

Braised steak with vegetables - a meal in one casserole!

Meal-in-One Cajun Steak Casserole

I don't know about y'all, but The Cajun still expects MEALS around this house no matter whether it's hot as Hades or not. He is just not a cold salad, sandwich, wrap, fruit soup, cool food for supper kinda guy.

I remembered this steak casserole recipe from another time I made it, sans the veggies. It's from one of my many cookbooks called Cooking with Cajun Women {affil link} by Nicole Fontenot of Lake Charles, Louisiana.