Chicken Fried Steak... the Brainy Way!

A little southern hospitality never hurt anyone...

There always a first time for everything in the kitchen when it comes to the variety of meals you can prepare; and the Brainy Gourmet is no exception. Yes, the Brainy Gourmet is making chicken fried steak for the first time ever! But, what's there to be afraid of? I have heard that most worry is over  the outside coating with regards to it being cooked to crispy or not.

Making this for the first time, I was more concerned about the taste of the steak being tender and delicious than the crispiness of the outside coating. You can look at this as a dilemma which is similar to ordering fried chicken: crispy or original. Original recipe is more of a traditional pan fried and not so crispy; which is what I prefer.

As I said, I wanted the steak to have an exceptional tenderness and taste. To begin, choose either flank, sirloin or round steak and generously sprinkled meat tenderizer and garlic powder on each piece and let them sit 2 hrs before frying. Preparing to fry: whisk in a shallow bowl one egg in 3 tbs of balsamic vinegar, adding 1 tbs of dried herbs. Use a plate for the flour coating, add to that a pinch of salt and black pepper, mixing it up with a fork.

Pour enough oil (one inch high) into your skillet. Turn up the heat to prepare to pan fry. Take one palm sized medallion of pounded round steak, dip into the egg mixture and then coat with flour -salt and black pepper. When the oil is hot, lay in your coated first steak. Continue, until you have all pieces in the skillet. Since, the oil is extremely, don't walk away for a minute. 

Once the frying is nearly done, test to make sure the meat is just pink inside; if yes, you can set aside the steak on a paper towel in a warmer or oven on low heat in order to prepare to a side dish.

Since I wanted to serve yellow squash, I just fried in the same skillet (wiped out with paper towel) dropping in a dollop of butter. You can also serve with mashed potatoes, which should be prepared just prior to frying and kept warm in a covered 'oven safe' dish in the oven on low heat.

If you want gravy on that as many southern folk do, then take some saved bacon grease to melt into the skillet and add a mixture of milk and flour to make a creamy white gravy.

 ~ Tutti a Tavola!