Consider fair warning issued.
Health food fanatics, nosy nutritionists, vegans, vegetarians and iron-willed dieters stop reading now.
Keep reading and you’ll only be reminded of another worshipped culinary icon you’ve chosen to forsake – the Chicken Fried Steak with Cracked Pepper Gravy.
We’re of the persuasion that a great chicken friend steak is an art form unto itself. Moist and tender with just the right amount of tooth inside covered with a golden brown, crunchy outside; typically covering your plate and slathered in a peppery cream gravy.
I’ve had the genuine good fortune to eat CFS from Montana to Texas and from Oregon to Georgia. Without a doubt the South lays by far the most legitimate claim to the CFS, and begrudgingly I’ll have to admit that Texas probably has the most authentic claim to the ‘invention’ of the CFS of all.
[A bit of history for those whose favored waterways are running bank full or beyond today and the chance of reasonable fishing has been blown all to hell, you might care to note that German and Austrian immigrants who settled the Texas hill country in the mid-19th century are credited with the origination of the CFS. Tenderizing tough, less favored cuts of beef, breading and frying them was just another chapter in the history of Weiner Schnitzel.
A friend of Japanese heritage argues that CFS is really a knockoff of the Japanese dish tonkatsu - traditionally a breaded and deep fried pork cutlet served with a wonderful sauce on the side. With all due respect to our friend from Japan, we’d choose the CFS 90 times out of 100 and so would he.]
Those of us with a soft spot in our hearts for CFS oft shared some mystical exposure to the dish from our youth. Mine was in the kitchen of my MaMa (pronounced maw-maw) as she hand pounded round steak and then breaded it in her home crafted breading; my PaPa ate his slathered in Tabasco, though MaMa always made a peppered cream gravy for we mere mortals.
Her CFS crust was alway crispy, golden brown and never burned or dark brown (loathsome evidence of CFS gone wrong), the meat toothy but packed to the brim with that fine beefy flavor we all know and love.
In honor of the holiday weekend and flooded waterways throughout the West, crank up the stove and serve Chicken Fried Steak with Cracked Pepper Gravy for the gang. There’s nothing extraordinary about this recipe – it’s just startlingly simple and damned authentic.
1 and 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp fresh ground pepper (large grind)
2 tsp kosher salt
3 tbs paprika
1 tbs chile powder2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 bock beer (Texicans would insist on Shiner Bock)4 tenderized round steaks (1/2 to 3/4 pound each, and pound ‘em yourself for the full effect)
Peanut oil (roughly 2 cups)
Cracked Pepper Gravy (MaMa’s version)
5 tbs butter
1/2 cup flour
2 and 1/2 cups whole milk (no time to wimp out here)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs cracked pepperMix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, pepper, salt, paprika and chile powder well, distribute on a plate.
Mix the wash. Whisk the eggs, buttermilk and beer to blend in a large bowl, set aside.
Dredge and cook. Heat the oil in a deep heavy skillet (cast iron is the classic) to 350; heat the oven to 225.
Dredge a steak in the flour mixture, coating well, then shake off the excess. Dip into the egg wash and then again into the flour mixture, making sure the steak is coated well on both sides.
When the oil reaches 350, slide a steak (we can fit two in our pan) in and cook for 4 minutes; gently turn and go another 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and hold in the oven.
Make the cracked pepper gravy. While the steaks are cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour once the foam has settled. Mama never measured the flour, though we usually add in about 1/2 cup and continually whisk until the roux is smooth, just fragrant and has the slightest hint of brown. Slowly add the milk while stirring to keep it smooth, add the salt and pepper and simmer for 7 or 8 minutes to reduce a bit.
Serve it hot with side of your choice – to be absolutely Texas authentic those would be green beans and mashed spuds of course slathered in gravy. This meal screams for a cold beer. Or several.
Hot damn. Enjoy.
Tags: Friday Feast
