Friday, November 26, 2010

Chicken Fried Steak

I watched the episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown! for Chicken Fried steak several months ago.  In the episode, Bobby challenged Paula Deen to making the best Chicken Fried Steak.  As usual, the show was full of drama, but in the end, Paula Deen came out victorious with the following Chicken Fried Steak recipe.  Now, I am no expert on making Southern food (I am actually must better at desserts) but in honor of the southern cooking, I decided to try my hand at this recipe. 

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 (4-ounce) tenderized beef round steak (have butcher run them through cubing machine)
  • 1 teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
  • 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 cups hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
  • 1 bunch green onions, or 1 medium yellow onion, sliced

Directions

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 side of the meat with the House Seasoning and the other side with the seasoning salt, and then dredge the meat in the flour mixture. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 or 4 of the steaks to the hot oil, and fry until browned, about 5-6 minutes per side. Remove each steak to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining steaks, adding up to 1/4 cup more oil, as needed.
Make the gravy by adding the 2 tablespoons remaining flour to the pan drippings, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the salt. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the flour is medium brown and the mixture is bubbly. Slowly add the water and the MSG, if using, stirring constantly. Return the steaks to the skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, and place the onions on top of the steaks. Cover the pan, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

House Seasoning:

  • 1 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup black pepper
  • 1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups 

I think I need to practice cooking more.  When I originally started this blog, one of my goals was to become a better cook, but somehow it morphed into me baking A TON.  Anyways, I had the bf over and we made this meal together.  He made the Mac and Cheese (which turned out fantastic btw) and I made the Chicken Fried Steak.  Being my usual self, this recipe took me two attempts to achieve success.  I bought the wrong cut of meat initially.  I thought that cubing meant actual cubes of meat and I tried to make actual steak using cubes.  This failed miserably.  Thinking back on it, it is actually quite amusing that I thought it would somehow conglomerate and work.  Lol.  At the time though, I was a little upset that I bought the wrong cut.  Cubed steak actually is as follows: Round Cube Steak.  Once I bought the correct meat, the recipe went swimmingly.  It was surprisingly easy to make. 

Overall, I give this recipe 3.75 out of 5 stars.  I made the recipe without MSG.  One of my complaints with the recipe was the amount of House seasoning you make above.  It is a ridiculous amount.  Cut it down by at least one fourth of that and that is how much is actually necessary for this recipe.  However, despite my complaints, the steaks tasted pretty good.  The breading managed to stay on and the brown gravy was an excellent addition in small quantities to the steaks.  I hope to try my hand at more cooking in the near future.  :)      

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