Chicken Fried Steak
6-8 1/4" thick eye of round steaks, pounded to tenderize
1 c milk
1 T vinegar
1 1/2 c flour
1 T salt
2 t fresh ground pepper
2 t garlic powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t onion powder
vegetable oil, for frying
Gravy:
3 T butter
3 T flour
1 c chicken broth
1 c milk (or 1/2 & 1/2, or a combination of both)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t fresh ground pepper
2 dashes hot sauce (I use Frank's)
1/2 t salt
1. In a gallon-sized ziploc, soak steaks in milk and vinegar for at least an hour, but preferably
overnight.
2. Mix flour and spices in a ziploc bag and then pour about 3/4 of it into a shallow dish; pour milk marinade into another shallow dish.
3. One by one, coat each steak in the flour mixture, the milk marinade, and then the flour mixture again; place on a wire rack over a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place the rack of steaks in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. [If you are really good at multitasking, you can make the gravy simultaneously with the steaks, otherwise I'd do it before you move on.] In a medium pot, melt butter and stir in flour; cook for about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in broth and milk, bring to a simmer, and allow to thicken. Add Worcestershire sauce, pepper, hot sauce, and salt; bring back to a simmer and then turn the burner down to low just to keep it warm until ready to use.
5. Preheat oven to 250*; line a jelly roll pan with paper towels and put a wire rack on it. Heat an iron skillet over medium-high heat (I put the burner on a 6), place 1" of oil in the skillet, and heat to about 350*.
6. Pour the remaining 1/4 flour mixture in a shallow dish; coat each steak one more time in the flour mixture before putting it in the oil. You can probably fry two steaks at a time, 2-3 minutes on each side. Using tongs, transfer the steaks to the second wire rack and place that in the oven to keep them warm while you cook the rest.
