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My kids insist on chicken fried steak at least once every two weeks--
but I strongly suspect it's the gravy, not the meat, they enjoy
the most ("how's about a LOT more gravy this time, Dad? Huh?"). I
tend to agree with them! My mother is a tried-and-true Texas gal,
who basically raised her kids on chicken fried steak. Until I left
home, that's the only type of steak I knew of!
Some very good advice in prior replies--I'll just add a few notes.
Buy either the pre-pounded cube steak in the market, or plain sliced
round steak (butterfly cut, roulade cut, etc). Place the meat on
your board, cover with wax paper, and smack carefully with roller
pin. If you're really crafty, use a meat pounder (I don't, despite
many years experience--I usually rip the meat to shreds with the
meat pounder). When you're tired of hitting the meat, cut it into
portions about 2" by 5" and stack them on a work plate.
In a bowl, beat egg & milk with fork, set aside. On large plate,
shake out good amount of flour. Toss on salt, pepper, herbs, etc.
until you're satisfied with color of flour. Heat moderate amount
of veg. oil in skillet until fairly hot; dredge meat through flour,
then egg/milk, then flour and lay pieces in skillet. Usual browning
rules apply--don't crowd meat if you want it browned before it's
cooked dead--and cook until the edges of meat look golden. CAREFULLY
slide meat over, and brown other side. Remove first batch after
ONLY BROWNING meat, and transfer to large plate with foil draped
over plate. Cover meat, and continue cooking off the meat slices
until all have been browned. It's not unusual to have to add some
oil from time to time, depending on how much meat you have--just
add it between batches of meat.
When all the meat has been browned, remove the majority of remaining
oil from pan, and arrange the browned portions in the skillet. You
will find you have to stack meat at angles on top of portions to
get it all in skillet (no problem). Cover loosly and crank down
the heat to low. Cook about 15-20 minutes, occassionally fooling
with the portions to get those on top transfered to bottom at least
once during this period. With care, most of the thick, golden
flour covering will remain on the meat. When your kids start
clawing the stove to get at the source of the fantastic smells,
remove the meat portions carefully (yep--back to the large plate
with the foil you used earlier. Aren't you frugal?!) Cover with
the foil, and attack the gravy next.
If too much oil, drain. If not enough, add butter/margarine. Crank
up heat to medium, and stir in flour for nice, thick roux--stir
and cook until it's cooked (hard to describe how much time). Take
the large bowl of milk you cleverly heated in microwave earlier
(note--this is a trick step, since I forgot to mention it earlier)
and start stirring it in. Let it cook on medium-to-medium high,
stirring constantly. It will thicken suddenly when it's darn good
and ready to do so. Pull it off the heat and stick in a large
spoon. With enough salt, pepper and perseverance, this is truly
a gravy you can eat by itself.
You really can't miss on Chicken Fried Steak, as long as what you
start with resembles meat and what you end with is gravy poured
on everything in sight at the dinnertable!
Good eating!
Mac
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| I've been trying for a few years now to crack the Chicken Fried steak
dish. It was only after reading this note string did I find the crucial
step: putting the egged, floured steaks into the fridge for 1/2 an
hour. I've experimented a bit with the recipe, and have come up with a
version that has won praise from three Texans who have sampled the
delights of the Black Eye Pea, down by NASA 1, I believe. The following
notes are intended for Brits who may try this recipe, but some of the
seasoning ideas and wash may go down a storm States side.
Firstly, the meat.
I've tried this with: Rump, Top rump, Silverside and Brisket. Rump can
be a little thick and large for this recipe. If its more than 3/8"
(9mm) thick then it would benefit from thinning down with a tenderising
mallet. You also do not want the steak too large, Rump steaks can be a
foot (30cm) or so across. You want to aim for a piece about 8"x4"
(20cmx10cm) or 8"x6" (20cmx15cm) and between 6-8ozs (150-200gms);
however, your skill and milage may vary.
For Top rump, Silverside, Topside(?), and Brisket I tend to buy
joints (when they're on sale) and slice off 1/2" (12mm) thick pieces. I
then attack a slice with a tenderising mallet until its about 1/4"-3/8"
(6-9mm) thick. Note: I would only use Brisket in an emergency; its got
rather alot of chewy, tough bits in it.
Secondly, the wash.
I noticed, that when I fried the steak that the crispiest batter
occured around fat. I also noticed this was true for things like
floured roast chicken. So my egg wash proportions now consists of the
following
1 size 2 egg
1 Tbls Olive Oil
1 Tbls water
1/2-1 tsp salt
To this, depending on my mood, I may add Cream of Tartar, Jalapeno pepper,
loads of fresh ground black pepper, paprika, etc. The Cream of Tartar
is mean't to help make the batter crispy, but it mainly gives the
batter a lovely sour taste.
Thirdly, the flour and seasonings
The US recipes call for flour, which is normally Plain flour. However,
US plain flour is very much lighter and finer than UK plain flour. If
you use UK plain flour, then you'll invariably end up with a heavy
coating that is not terribly crispy. The worst offenders, I find, is
the cheapo, 'basics' store brand. Plain flour from the likes of
Homepride tend to be lighter. Your mileage may vary. The work around to
this problem is to use Self Raising flour. I put the flour into a
large, flat casserole dish.
The basic seasonings seem to be salt and loadsa freshly ground black
pepper. I add (to taste) Garlic powder (note, not Garlic salt), good
Hungarian Paprika, Celery salt, Thyme and Jalapeno pepper. The Jalapeno
pepper (aka ground, dried Jalapenos) gives a real zing to this dish.
Fourthly, the coating.
I put a fair amount of salt into the flour, but not vast quantities.
Consequently I find the resulting meat very bland. So now adays, I salt
the beef, on both sides, before coating with flour. However, beware, it
is very easy to over salt the beef, the flour coating appears to seal
in all the salt. This is made worse if you have salted the egg wash.
To coat the beef, I use one hand to pick up the beef and dunk into the
egg wash; getting every nook and cranny coated. Using the same hand, I
lift the meat from the wash (allowing excess to drain off) and place
into the flour. Then use the other hand to scoop flour on to the top of
the meat and pack down. Turn over the meat, with the non-egged hand and
repeat packing flour, then lift and place on to a plate. If you use
both hands to egg and flour the meat, your fingers rapidly get
encrusted with flour and egg, necessitating numerous cleanings in the
sink.
Repeat for remaining pieces, and place them into the fridge for 1/2 and
hour. You can leave them in for longer, but the longer you do I find
the coating gets very soggy and doesn't help the final outcome.
RESERVE THE FLOUR. DO NOT THROW IT AWAY.
Fifthly, the frying.
If possible, get a large, cast iron skillet. Pour in oil to a depth of
about 1/4"-3/8" (6-9mm), try for the larger septh if possible. Also,
try to ensure the oil is fresh or has only been used once before. Heat
that oil. You have to get it hot; Hot like in chinese cooking.
While the oil is heating. Take the meat from the fridge. Arrange your
worktop thus: Meat -> Flour -> skillet -> plate to take steaks.
Take out sufficient pieces to fit into skillet, and put back into the
flour for a top up coating. Pack that flour into all the nooks and
crannies. Pick up a piece and shake off excess flour and place into the
hot oil; repeat if you have more than one to go into skillet. Note:
Make sure you have a couple of forks handy. I have taken to using
forks to pick up the floured pieces and placing into the skillet. Even
if you use your hands, you may find the thin, but large, pieces of meat
curling up underneath themself. You need the forks to straighten them out.
DO NOT TURN THE HEAT DOWN. You need a fairly fierce flame. Not so hot
that the steaks get blackened in a minute or oil splatters all over the
kitchen, but not so weak that the oil cools down.
While the first batch is frying, reflour the second batch. In any case,
fry the steaks on one side for a couple of minutes, then flip them
over. If the steaks bubble or curl up, push them down with a fork.
You'll get a sludgy mess if you dont. Keep flipping every couple of
minutes and fry until brown. Chicken fried steak tends to be reasonably
well done. Remove steaks and drain, either on kitchen towels or on the
grill rack. Sometimes I prop them up, vertically, with a fork.
You now have to wait for a couple of minutes for the oil to heat up
again. Now's a fairly good time to check out that first batch for
taste, crispyness, etc; fighting off those ravening fiends you call
family in the process. When the oil temperature is up, repeat for
second batch.
I have found that you cannot really do more than three batches this
way. Invariably, flour will fall off the steaks, and will get browned
then burnt in the oil. The resulting sludge at the bottom of the
skillet also affects the ability of the oil to heat. More than three
batches, and you may find your steaks becoming less crispy. I use two
or more skillets for large, party sized, quantities.
Sixthly, The white sauce.
Turn off heat. Drain oil from skillet. Check the amount of sludge in
the bottom of the skillet. You want to be left with about 1 tablespoon
or so of the stuff. Dispose of excess.
Now, you didn't throw away your seasoned flour? I hope not, 'cause your
going to need a tablespoon. Add a tablespoon or so to the skillet. The
flour should start cooking, without any heat, 'cause the skillet will
be very, very hot. Mix browned flour and fresh seasoned flour, and
allow to cook for about a minute. Note, all the flour must be coated
with oil; that's the secret of roux. If the mixture looks dry, add more
oil. After a minute or so, add about a pint (500ml) or so of milk, turn
the heat up, and stir, and stir, and stir.
The sauce should start boiling, then thickening. Cook it for a couple
of minutes then: Check the consitency. If too thick, add more milk. If
too thin, add disolved cornstarch or flour. Now check the flavour. It
most likely will need salt, maybe pepper. Other useful herbs to add
are: Garlic pepper, chives, chervil, parsley, etc.
SEVENTH HEAVEN.
Serve with rice, sweet corn, brocolli, barbequed beans, etc.
Angus
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