This is one of my favorite all time comfort foods. It’s a meal you make when you feel like telling your diet to take the night off. There are so many subtle variations of this dish, but I have a few twists that make this one a little unique. Chicken fried steak gets it’s origins from the german jaeger schnitzel and it is a fantastic way to use any cut of meat that could benefit from being “aggressively” tenderized. Whether you’re using antelope, deer, elk, or even Canada goose breasts…this preparation works perfectly for it all. It’s almost mandatory to serve this with mashed potatoes and a veggie of your choice (because that makes it healthy).
Ingredients:
Breading:
· 2 eggs
· ¼ cup milk
· 1 cup flour
· ¼ breadcrumbs (optional for a little more crisp on the breading)
· 1/2 tsp garlic powder
· 1/2 tsp onion powder
· 1/2 tsp salt
· 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Misc:
· +/- 2 lbs red meat of your choice.
o Note: because this preparation would make a brick tender enough to chew, the ideal cuts for this come from the front quarter roasts. Any roast cut will do but I prefer to save the backstraps and hind quarter cuts for other recipes where tender meat is the star of the dish.
· +/- 6 tablespoons oil
o When frying anything I try to stay away from olive oil. It’s smoke point is too low for a quick, hot fry. Use vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil or any alternative with a high smoke point like avocado oil.
Gravy:
· Equal parts oil and all purpose flour.
o This will be about 3 tbsp each for +/- 2 lbs of meat
· 2 cups milk
· ½ cup heavy whipping cream
· Salt (to taste)
· Black pepper (fresh ground is best for this step not necessary)
· 2 to 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional but a nice twist on the old classic)
Instructions:
Add oil to large sauce pan and turn stove on to medium high heat, you’ll want the oil around 350 degrees before adding the meat. Use only enough oil to give a ¼” layer of oil on the entire bottom of the pan (this does not need to be deep fried). Pre-heat oven to lowest setting.
Slice meat to 1” thick pieces. I tend to cut the same direction as the grain of the meat as it will help the cuts hold up to the next step. Take one cut of meat and place it inside a folded piece of parchment paper, thick plastic bag, or in a pinch tin foil. This is to keep things in your kitchen a little less messy. Use the flat side of a meat mallet to flatten the cut to between ¼” and ½” thick. You’ll want to pound the cuts firmly but don’t just wail on it like a carpenter driving nails. Work from the center to the edges, the cut will begin to feel more tender under the mallet and spread out (usually to twice the diameter of the original). Do each cut of meat one by one and then set aside. If your meat mallet has a side with short prongs, give each cut a once over with the prong side with the meat uncovered.
On a large plate, combine 1/3 cup flour and all of the dry ingredients for the breading (not the eggs or milk). This creates your seasoned flour coating. In a medium bowl, add the eggs and the milk for the breading; whisk until well combined. This is the “egg wash”.
Press each tenderized cut of meat into the seasoned flour. I say “press” because if you simply dust the meat in flour, it won’t stick as well. This seasoned flour coat is where you get your flavor as well as a binder for the breading. Do this for all pieces of meat first and set aside. Mix remaining 2/3 cup of flour and bread crumbs to the seasoned flour plate with an additional pinch of salt. This is the flour that will make up your breading and it will lose much of the seasoning flavor during frying. This is the reason for doing a base coat of seasoned flour.
Working one at a time, dredge each seasoned cut of meat through the egg wash and then coat in flour. Do this twice for each cut for a medium thickness breading. Set aside on a clean plate.
Check oil temperature. Gently slip each breaded cut of meat into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan, leave room in between each piece (you’ll likely have to work in batches). Do not move the pieces until they are ready to flip. At 3 minutes, use tongs to check the bottom side of each piece for a golden brown breading. If ready, flip each piece. Remember the color will continue to get a little darker on your breading even after flipping. Fry on the second side for 2 -3 minutes. Then move pieces to loosely tented tin foil and place in pre-heated oven. I typically turn the oven off at this point and keep the door shut: you are only keeping them warm, not continuing to cook them.
Once all pieces are cooked and resting in the oven, you are ready for the gravy. Drain all but about 3 tbsp of oil from the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and allow a minute or two to cool down. Begin slowly whisking in the equal amount of flour. You are making a paste (called a roux) that will thicken the gravy, the end consistency should be something like thin cake frosting. Whisk in milk and cream. This will take a few minutes of whisking to blend the roux with the milk/cream. Once smooth, you should have a nice traditional gravy consistency. If you’d like it thicker, whisk in small amounts of flour; if you’d like it thinner, whisk in additional milk. When you have the consistency you’d prefer, add rosemary (if using). Stir in ground black pepper and salt to taste. I like a lot of both salt and black pepper in this gravy, but add them in ½ tsp or less increments until you get the taste you like. For me, I usually end up with about 1 tsp of black pepper and 1 ½-2 tsp salt.
Take the chicken fried steaks out of the oven, plate it up, top with gravy and enjoy!
Serves: 3-4
