Chicken-Fried Steak
This is a favorite recipe of ours because, apparently, Chicken-fried … stuff is an essential food group in a Southern family. Fortunately, chicken-frying is a pretty simple skill to learn, and it doesn’t really matter if you’re using gluten-free flour, wheat flour, chicken, beef, or pork.
My main beef (no pun intended) with chicken frying is the tremendous volume of oil necessary. We’ve found that we like to cut chicken breasts into slices no more than 1/2 an inch thick, which, by the way, makes great chicken nuggets, which toddlers love to dip in ketchup. This reduces the oil level down to about 1/8-1/4 inch deep, which isn’t bad.
Chicken Fried Steak
Tenderized steak, sliced chicken, or pork
Flour
Milk
Salt, Pepper, Tony’s Seasoning, or whatever you prefer
Oil for frying (I recommend coconut)
Season the flour however you like it. I really like the taste of Tony’s Creole seasoning, but it’s also a little too spicy, so I use just a little of it, along with some salt and maybe some pepper.
Dredge the steak in seasoned flour, dip it in milk, and dredge again. Fry in medium-hot oil until brown on one side, flip, and repeat. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
If your meat is thin enough, you shouldn’t have to worry about the length of frying time. If you choose to use the full thickness of a chicken breast or leg, you’ll need to cover and turn down the heat after flipping so it will cook more slowly. After several minutes, turn up the heat and take the lid back off to crisp the breading. It’s a bit of a pain, and as I mentioned, the oil has to be much deeper. Slicing the meat into strips simplifies things tremendously. Anyway, back to the recipe…
After you take the meat out, drain off most of the oil, leaving just enough to mix some flour or cornstarch into it to make gravy. You can make gravy the way I do; just add some flour, brown it a little, and then add some milk until you think you’ve got enough, or you can look up a recipe. Wait, is there such a thing as gravy recipes? I’ll have to look into that!
By the way, apparently, the only way to serve chicken-fried anything is with mashed potatoes, gravy, and ketchup. I agree with all except the ketchup. It seems I’m not a true Southerner.
Enjoy!
Linked with: A Southern Fairytale, Skip To My Lou, MIYMM, Tip Me Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Hearth And Soul, Blessed Wit Grace, Tuesdays At The Table, WFMW, Crystal And Co., Allergy Free Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Frugally sustainable, Full Plate Thursday, GNOWFGLINS, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Friday, Weekend Potluck, Sorta Crunchy, Feed Your soul, Show And Tell, Sweet As Sugar Cookies, Food Adventure Friday Cast Party
