Chicken Fried Steak (makes 4 portions)
4 (6-ounce) beef cube steaks
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
vegetable oil as needed
Season both sides of the cube steaks generously with salt and pepper.
Whisk together the eggs and milk in a pie pan and reserve. Add the flour, paprika, and white pepper into a second pie pan, and mix well to combine.
One at a time, dip the cube steaks into the egg mixture, turning to coat completely, and then dredge in the flour, coating both sides. Place the egged and floured steaks on a plate, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Add about a 1/4-inch of vegetable oil to a large skillet, and place over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the steaks and cook about 3-4 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove and drain for a couple minutes on a wire rack set over some paper towels. If working in batches, keep the cooked steaks in a warm oven until the rest are done. Serve immediately topped with country gravy.
Country Gravy (makes about 3 cups)
4 ounces ground pork sausage, or pork sausage link with casing removed
3 green onions, light parts chopped, green parts sliced and reserved
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups cold milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne
Lightly brown the sausage in a medium saucepan over medium heat. As it cooks, break the meat up into very small pieces with a wooden spoon. Add the light parts of the green onion and the butter; saute for a few minutes, until the onions are translucent.
Stir in the flour and cook this pasty mixture for 3 minutes. Whisk in the cold milk gradually until combined. The gravy will thicken as it comes up to a simmer. When it simmers, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Before serving, season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.
Note: the thickness of this gravy is easily adjusted by adding another splash of milk towards the end of the cooking process. For an extra thick version, reduce the milk by 1/2 cup.
40 comments:
There's a special place in hell for people who post irresistable pictures and fabulous recipes of food that will kill you -- just as we're all trying to shed our holiday weight. It's like marketing cigarettes to children. I'm alerting the FCC.
LOL! Shouldn't you be foraging for some kelp or something? ;-)
What kind of steak you would attempt to cube if you were in a cubeless steak country?
people usually substitute round steak pounded out with a meat tenderizer to about 1/2-inch. You can also use top sirloin if you want a little more expensive cut.
Pure comfort food!! I like my gravy with a little more color and add a couple drops of kitchen bouquet but otherwise this is just like Mom and Grandma made. When is the cookbook coming out?
This is why I exercise 5 days a week - so I can enjoy favorites like THIS! I'll try this recipe this weekend!
Ahhhh... My new desktop background. Very excellent pic!
I would add two lines to your chicken fried steak recipe (added part in bold). It makes a huge difference, though I don't know why.
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Whisk together the eggs and milk in a pie pan and reserve. Add the flour, paprika, and white pepper into a second pie pan, and mix well to combine.
Using a paper towel, pat dry the steaks. Dredge them in the flour mixture, and shake off the excess. One at a time, dip the cube steaks into the egg mixture, turning to coat completely, and then dredge in the flour, coating both sides. Place the egged and floured steaks on a plate, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
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The country gravy sounds fantastic, and since we LIVE in the country, we are obligated to test it out :).
John I'm so totally buying the book...
-saberj2x
ummmmmmmm Chicken Fried Steak
/homer Simpson
Actually, sometimes when breading I see directions to coat in flour first, and then egg mixture. Here you do the egg first. How do you decide what layer goes first when breading something?
some do, flour, egg, then flour again. up to you, i like a thinner crust.
Hi Chef John, silly question here; but why is it called chicken fried steak when we're frying beef? Going to try this recipe soon :)
because it's steak fried like chicken, it's chicken fried steak
Hi Chef John, thanks for the response! I have another quick question, this time about the country gravy: do you think it'll be okay to substitute soy milk for regular milk? Thanks!
sorry, never touch the stuff!
well, there's other kinds of milk out there, like coconut, rice and almond, one of those might work (?)... I don't go near soy milk either.
Guess I'll have to stick with regular milk :(
I'll have to try out this gravy; it looks fantastic.
The recipe worked great as worded! I had no sausage (How can that be) so I used Irish Bacon and some sage.
Also, I thickened the gravy with Lipitor.
OK, kidding.
Looking forward to the cookbook, I hope it comes with a CD of you reading the recipes.
Chef John reading through that recipe makes me want to cry. My goodness I feel so warm inside. I cannot wait to try this awesome recipe. Thanks for all you do. I have truly enjoyed your food!
You're killing me...I want this steak so badly but cannot have it for my diet of NOT eating wonderous scrumtious things such as this for a while. Curses--you know my weakness!! :)
The cookbook is going to be nice but seriously when do the online and chef school classes start?
or, you could just have it
what a warm delicious recipe!!!love it!!
Chef, I have leftovers--Do you have a recommendation for reheating so they maintain some of that chicken-fried integrity without over cooking them? Refry? Hot oven?
sorry, but fried foods NEVER reheat and stay crisp. That's just the way it is. You just heat in a pan and hope for the best.
Dang, I was hoping that there was an ancient chef secret....Thanks for the answer.
Next time I eat it all.
What a fantastic blog you have! And the pictures are wonderful! Well done!
Blessings-
Amanda
Oh my gosh! How could I have never met your blog? I love your recipes on Food.About.com. Now a kitchen's heaven here on your blog, with tantalizing recipes and very good pictures that make me put on just by seeing them... I seldom try new to me recipes, but yours, I always try. You make cooking seem so easy that it's difficult to resist not try, and even worse, not EAT them...THANK YOU, THANK YOU for sharing your talent.
Wondering if you could make a sansrival the easy way... it seems to be super complicated....
love your chocolate fudge by the way...
Chef John, as part of your challenge I gave this recipe a try. The taste came out GREAT and was very good, however the problem I had was the breading falling off the meat while cooking. How can this be fixed? I made sure the meat was room temp and I pressed it into the meat but this happens a lot to me whenever I fry. Is it the oil not being hot enough or is the meat too wet when I put it in? HELP!
Oh, and yes I did let the meat rest after breading as you noted, but perhaps 10 min is not enough?
yes, from the meat probably being wet. Make sure to pat it dry with paper. Make sure it's floured well, and then let it sit out for a while so the eggs can dry out a little. Also, if the oil is not hot enough, it sometimes makes the coating come off.
also, some use the flour, then egg, then flour again method.
Thank You for the reply and info chef! Again the recipe turned out and tasted GREAT--flavor was spot on and easy to follow..a winner in my book. It just did not "look" very pretty or appealing with the breading 'gaps' falling off all over.
Thank You for the reply and info chef! Again the recipe turned out and tasted GREAT--flavor was spot on and easy to follow..a winner in my book. It just did not "look" very pretty or appealing with the breading 'gaps' falling off all over.
Turned out delicious.I would normally not serve sausage gravy over the steak.I would use it over biscuits.All said and done this was very good.
Johnny Scott-Georgia
Amazing Chicken Fried steak! Love it when its real and authentic. I am always looking for new good chicken fried steak recipes
You can buy round steak and have the butcher put it thru the tenderizer. Also if you lay the steaks in a single layer on paper towels and cover with paper pressed on top, let sit for an hour or so, turn over and set on fresh paper, and let sit, it makes for incredibly crispy delicious steak without the egg wash, just flour salt and pepper. And fry in Crisco shortening. Keep meat warm in low oven on cookie racks on trays while you make the gravy.
I bought a huge eye of round and sliced it into steaks. Gee... Pounding my meat is tiring. I'm so happy my wife volunteered to do it for me. She's doing a really good job.
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