Basic Chicken Fried Steak

If you are not from the south, then you probably are not very familiar with chicken fried steak. To those of us south of the Mason-Dixon line, chicken-fried steak is like walking or breathing. But us southerners get confused when we hear of someone who is ignorant of this wonderful southern pasttime.Someone who knows not of the chicken fried steak? That's blasphemous!.

But it's true. On an episode of Bobby Flay's Food Nation Bobby helped out in a southern style kitchen in Fort Worth, Texas. Someone had to teach Flay that the gravy goes ON the steak. Bobby Flay! This guy is supposed to know a whole lot about food, especially since he is a restaurateur.

Chicken fried steak is just that: steak fried like you might fry chicken. Usually, it is thin strip of round steak, tenderized and pounded thin. When one eats the finished product, one must be able to cut through it with a common table knife.

This particular process uses a dredge-drench-dredge procedure. That is, it goes into a dry mix, then a wet mix, then back into the dry mix. The use of baking soda and baking powder with the buttermilk will make a lightly crunchy exterior.

Ingredients

• 4-6 slices of tenderized round steak
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  
• Seasoning such as Special Sh*t
  
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
  
• 1 large egg
  
• Oil for deep frying

Step 1: Prepare the Stations Place flour in a shallow dish. In a second dish, stir together baking powder, soda, pepper and salt; then mix in buttermilk and egg. The mixture will be thin.

Add enough oil to a deep cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven to make at least 4 inches of fat. Bring temperature of shortening to 325 degrees.

Step 2: Dredge Season both sides of the steaks with the seasoning. You must do this first because seasonings burn and blacken in hot oil. Dredge each steak in flour, shaking off excess.

Step 3: Drench Dunk the steak into the batter. Make sure both sides are coated well.

Step 4: Dredge Dunk steaks back into flour and dredge well, patting in the flour until the surface of the meat is dry.

Step 5: Chicken Fry Fry the steaks, pushing them under the fat or turning them as they bob to the surface, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Drain steaks on paper towels and transfer to a platter. Serve with pepper cream gravy.