Chicken Fried Steak
I've been making fried chicken steak for a long, long time. And as good as it always has been, it was tuned to the nth degree, at least to my liking. Crispy and covered in sawmill sauce, it's the perfect foil for mashed potatoes. I could eat my weight in there.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt, divided
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 cube steaks (about 1/3 lb each)
- 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper, divided
- 2 tsps TABASCO® Sauce (original)
Chicken Fried Steak Gravy
- 2 to 3 cups whole milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp grease
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
First, in a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, a teaspoon of black pepper, a teaspoon of salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, baking soda and baking powder . Put aside.
Then, in another shallow bowl, whisk together buttermilk, TABASCO® Sauce and eggs. Put aside.
Pat the steak cubes dry with a paper towel, removing as much moisture as possible. Season with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes and dry again with a paper towel.
Dredge the steak cubes into the flour mixture, shaking off the excess, then dredge them into the buttermilk-egg mixture, letting the excess run off, then back into the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
Place the breaded cubed steaks on a baking sheet or metal rack and press the remaining flour mixture into the cubed steaks, making sure all the steak is completely coated. Let stand 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 225 to 250 F.
Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet or large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. The amount of oil you need depends on the size of your pan. You want it to be about 1/4 inch deep. We don't fry steaks, just shallow frying.
Test the oil by dropping some breadcrumbs in it. The oil should sizzle and bubble around the breadcrumbs. Look for the sparkling but not smoking oil - around 320-340 degrees F. Now we're ready to fry.
Place two steaks in the pan at a time and fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Do not flip more than once or the breadcrumbs will fall off. Do not fry more than two steaks or the pan will be too crowded and the breadcrumbs will fall out.
Remove the steaks from the pan and drain on paper towels. Place in a preheated oven. Reduce the heat of the pan to medium.
Fried chicken sauce
First, pour the rest of the fat into a heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup (I used my Pyrex). Do NOT scratch the pan. We want all of those delicious pieces to stay in the pan so they can flavor the sauce.
Then, add another 4 tablespoons of fat to the hot pan.
Stir in the flour and continue to whisk for two to three minutes or until golden brown.
Combine cream and milk and slowly pour into about 2 1/2 cups in the pan, whisking constantly. It might seem a little crazy at first, but it will all come together.
Continue to whisk and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook until the sauce is smooth and creamy, about 5 to 7 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little more milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Mine didn't need salt but a LOT of pepper!)
Serve the fried chicken steak with gravy and mashed potatoes and your favorite greens. Happy Cooking Time.
