Saturday, September 3, 2011

Chicken Fried Goodness

Happy Saturday and 3-day weekend friends!! What a beautiful day it is! Did anyone else see my Baylor Bears beat those TCU Horned Frogs last night!? Sic 'em! I started my day with a yummy green monster smoothie (I've started freezing bananas if they look like they're going to go bad before I eat them and using them in smoothies) and a 6-mile run (I run to Texas country and the glee soundtrack..is that weird?). Now I'm off to read for grad school (I hope I'm not in over my head...), but wanted to share a yummy recipe with you first.


The Pioneer Woman now has a show on the Food Network...I missed it this morning though : ( I hope they replay it! On last week's show, she made chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. Hello calories!! I had never made chicken fried anything before, so of course we put our East Texas hunter twist on it and made chicken fried back strap. The gravy made this meal amazing! I also made mashed potatoes, but couldn't bring myself to copy her recipe due to the amount of time it took to make and the amount of butter, so I used this recipe instead. (I thought about steaming some broccoli so that there would be some redeeming nutritional value to the meal, but thought it would not possibly overcome everything else we were eating...)


Chicken Fried Steak (Back strap)
from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds Cube Steak (tenderized Round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
  • 1-½ cup Whole Milk, Plus Up To 2 Cups For Gravy
  • 2 whole Large Eggs
  • 3 cups All-purpose Flour
  • Seasoned Salt
  • ¼ teaspoons Cayenne
  • LOTS Of Black Pepper. Lots.
  • Canola Oil, For Frying
  • Salt And Pepper, For Both Meat And Gravy

Preparation Instructions

Begin with an assembly line of dishes for the meat: milk mixed with egg in one; flour mixed with spices in one; meat in one; then have one clean plate at the end to receive the breaded meat.

Work one piece of meat at a time. Season both sides with salt and pepper, then dip in the milk/egg mixture. Next, place the meat on the plate of seasoned flour. Turn to coat thoroughly. Place the meat back into the milk/egg mixture, turning to coat. Place back in the flour and turn to coat.
(So: wet mixture/dry mixture/wet mixture/dry mixture.) Place breaded meat on the clean plate, then repeat with remaining meat.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop in a few sprinkles of flour to make sure it’s sufficiently hot. Cook meat, three pieces at a time, until edges start to look golden brown; around 2 to 2 1/2 minutes each side.

Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. Repeat until all meat is cooked.

GRAVY:

After all meat is fried, pour off the grease into a heatproof bowl. Without cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 cup grease back to the pan. Allow grease to heat up.

Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour evenly over the grease. Using a whisk, mix flour with grease, creating a golden-brown paste. Keep cooking until it reaches a deep golden brown color. If paste seems more oily than pasty, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour and whisk.

Whisking constantly, pour in milk. Cook to thicken the gravy. Be prepared to add more milk if it becomes overly thick. Add salt and pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until gravy is smooth and thick. Be sure to taste to make sure gravy is sufficiently seasoned.

Serve meat next to a big side of mashed potatoes. Pour gravy over the whole shebang!

Traditional Mashed Potatoes

from All Recipes

Ingredients
6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and
cubed
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
Directions
1. Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil; cook for 20-25 minutes or until very tender. Drain well. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper; mash until light and fluffy.



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