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May 21, 2005
This Is What We're Having For Dinner Tonight
I'm still watching "The Thorn Birds". I think this mini-series is about three years long. The cast got old and died off... Australia's government changed during filming... this is a long mini-series. 
A few days ago we watched "30 Minute Meals With Rachael Ray", and got the recipe for chicken fried steak from The Food Network's web site. Here's the recipe. We're skipping the biscuits. It's so easy even I can make it without starting a four-alarm fire.
Chicken Fried Steaks and Creamed Pan Gravy with Biscuits
1 1 /2 pounds (1/2-inch thick) round steak
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cornmeal, eyeball it
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt, 1/3 palm full
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, eyeball it
2 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons water, 2 splashes
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups beef broth or stock
1/4 cup half-and-half or cream, 2 turns of the pan
1 package bake-off biscuits, prepared according to package directions
Waxed paper
Preheat large, heavy skillet over medium high heat.
Set steaks on to a waxed paper lined work surface and cover with another piece of waxed paper. Pound steaks to 1/4-inch thick. Pull steaks off work surface and set to the side. Line work surface with more waxed paper. Pour 1/2 cup flour into 2 piles on opposite sides of the work space. Add cornmeal, paprika, salt and pepper to 1 pile of flour. Beat eggs and water in a pie plate or shallow dish.
Cut steaks into 4 portions and coat in flour, eggs, then seasoned flour and cornmeal.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot pan and cook 2 steaks at a time. Brown steaks about 2 minutes per side, or until cooked and remove from the pan. Add 2 tablespoons more oil and repeat with remaining 2 steaks. Remove steaks to serving platter and pour off all but 2 to 3 tablespoons of drippings. Add 2 tablespoons flour to drippings and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and season with salt and pepper. Whisk half and half or cream into gravy. When gravy bubbles, remove from heat.
Serve steaks and warm biscuits with gravy on top.
Posted on May 21, 2005 at 05:27 PM | Permalink
Comments
I've got the secret to avoid fires of any magnitude when immersion frying in a relatively shallow pan. Simple: turn the burner off. If the fat is hot enough to brown meat, you can afford the momentary differential in temperature while you (carefully) place the item into the fat. Now, obviously this won't work so well if you're using an electric stove. My advice: don't try making stuff like that on one. I know people who created serious kitchen fires spilling grease onto a heating element. CO2 tanks are great, but trusting folks to calmly deploy one can be a stretch when an emergency transpires and getting them to replace the powder is like finding someone in California who actually has an earthquake-readiness kit: no one does it.
The recipe sounds good, though down-home isn't my favorite cuisine. I guess Paul Bocuse will always command my culinary loyalty. Here's to blue steaks with red-wine butter sauce!! Wash it down with a Pinot Noir!!
Posted by: DP in SF at May 22, 2005 7:33:15 PM
By the way, Trish, since this post is about steaks, I'll submit the following criteria on men obtaining any level of custody of their kids (partial recompense for anything unfair I've posted on this fine blog): no custody and double child support for any man who eats steak cooked more than medium-rare. Teaching a kid that this is how a human eats something a cow gave its life to provide is child abuse in and of itself!!
Posted by: DP in SF at May 22, 2005 7:38:37 PM
DP, I agree. Men who cook their meat until it's like shoe leather should not have the custody of kids or pets. Why ruin a perfectly good piece of meat? I prefer mine medium-rare, heavy on rare. I like to hear a "yipe!" when I stick a fork in a steak.
I like down-home cooking because some of my relatives cook it that way. I love chicken and dumplings with fresh green beans cooked with bacon. My aunt used to make peach wine. I don't think I'd like it anymore because it's too sweet, but it was tasty before I got into other kinds of wines. I'm a Yankee now, so I have to eat less down-home cooking.
By the way, the chicken-fried steak ended up burning because the burner it was cooked on is on the fritz. It sometimes goes directly to a "scorch" setting, even if it's on very low. We're going to try to make chicken-fried steak again tomorrow. Tonight, it's steamed mussels. Mussels were on sale at the grocery store, and I couldn't pass that up. My son LOVES mussels. ;D
Posted by: Trish Wilson at May 23, 2005 12:16:49 PM
For that matter, any mom who bakes tuna casserole, and throws a can of strained peas on top should not have custody of the kids or pets. How are kids going to know what good cooking tastes like if a typical meal from mom and dad consists of tuna casserole (gag) and overcooked steak (barf)? At least the kids won't get fat. They won't want to eat. LOL
Posted by: Trish Wilson at May 23, 2005 12:26:45 PM
