Chicken Fried Steak

Also called "country fried steak," chicken fried steak is one of those Southern secrets you know about if you grow up in the South. My Italian grandmother used to make breaded cube steak quite often, but we never knew the Southern name for it and always called it "breaded steak." But as a New Englander, I didn't learn about chicken fried steak until I started taking road trips down south, and I couldn't figure out what the heck chicken fried steak is supposed to be. And then I tried it, and I loved it, but it took a while to figure out it's called chicken fried steak because you fry it in a manner similar to fried chicken. However, I especially like the way this dish uses cheaper cuts of meat and makes them into something special.
This dish is usually made with "cube steak," but cube steak is simply beef -- usually a cheaper cut of beef -- that has been pounded out and tenderized before cooking. It's a cost-saving meal that anyone is sure to enjoy, and it's especially welcome these days when a lot of us are eating on a budget, since the cost of meat has really been going up these days. It's also an excuse to make some cheap jokes about pounding my meat, because jokes like that are absolutely required on YouTube and the rest of the Internet.
Pans needed: A large cast iron skillet, preferably a deep skillet or chicken fryer; or a dutch oven. A meat tenderizer, such as a meat tenderizing hammer. Because this is essentially beef prepared using exactly the same method as fried chicken, the same preparations need to be made here as if you are making fried chicken: use two large bowls to dredge the chicken, one for the dry breading and one for the wet coating.

Ingredients

  • 4 (1/2 pound) beef cube steaks (you can use any inexpensive cut of steak to make cube steak!)
  • Steak coating:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Egg wash:
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (Buttermilk substitute: 1 1/2 cups whole milk plus 4 teaspoons vinegar)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups frying oil or shortening, your favorite
  • Gravy:
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups milk (or 3 cups milk plus 1 cup cream)
  • kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste (lots of pepper!)
You can buy cube steak at the supermarket, and it usually isn't very expensive...but you can also use any cheap cut of steak in this dish. Top round, chuck, "stewing beef" are all fine to use here, because they can all be tenderized and made into cube steak.
Cube steak is made by poking a lot of holes in your steak to tenderize it, but not everyone has one of those tools for tenderizing meat like that. Another way to prepare your steak for tenderizing is by simply taking a sharp knife and cutting slits in the steak. Don't cut it into pieces, just gently slide the knife across the top in a criss cross pattern. After this, wrap the steak in plastic wrap. Now, take the meat tenderizing hammer and pound the steaks to about 1/4-inch thickness. Be sure to work out your frustrations and hit the steak with good hard whacks! That's why the steak was wrapped in plastic first, to keep pieces of meat from exploding all over the kitchen.
Step 1: In one large bowl, repare the dry ingredients for the steak coating by mixing in all-purpose flour with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, and baking powder and soda. The baking powder and soda will help the crust stick to the steak and make it good and flaky. In the other large bowl, stir in the buttermilk, cayenne pepper, and eggs.
At this point begin heating up the oil (or shortening) in the cast iron pan. As the oil is heating up, dredge the steak in the seasoned flour, then dip it in the egg wash. And to get a good coating on the dip, dredge it in flour a second time. Repeat this process with each steak, coating it in flour and double dipping. And with that, it's time to start frying!
Step 2: Heat up the oil to 360 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 350, to help compensate for the temperature drop when the steak is placed in the oil. Fry each steak in the oil for two minutes, before flipping it and frying for another two minutes. Flip it a second time and fry for another two minutes; then flip a third time and fry for the final two minutes. The steak cooks for a total of eight minutes, flipping every two minutes. Place the fried steak on a plate with paper towels to drain. Bring the oil back to 360 degrees Fahrenheit before frying the second steak. Repeat for each steak.
Step 3: Remove almost all of the oil, and leave about half a cup. Add a quarter cup of the seasoned flour to start a roux, and whisk it on the heat to cook it so the gravy doesn't taste like flour. Then, we start adding cream and milk to the roux, and keep stirring it until it reaches the consistency you want. (Making gravy is an art form, and I'm still practicing it myself. Eventually I'll be able to make the perfect gravy.) Add some Worcestershire sauce for flavor, then add salt and pepper...then add more pepper! In the South, there's no such thing as too much pepper in this gravy.
Serve the steaks. pouring the gravy over the steaks. It may not have any chicken in it, but it's tender and more delicious than any chicken.

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