With the purchase of our quarter of a cow, I'm exploring options that I've never tried before. Tonight, I tried making chicken fried steak, and it was okay, but not great.
The recipe I used was from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. After tenderizing, I dipped the bread in egg-milk, then in bread crumbs. Then, following the recipe, I surface fried the steaks. Then, the recipe had me return the steaks to pan to cook for another 45 to 60 minutes, until meat is tender.
It was all going well, until time to return the steaks to the pan to cook until tender. My pan wasn't quite big enough and required me to stack the steaks, and as they cooked, the previously crunchy fried bread covering got soggy. I think that even if I'd been able to lay the steaks in the pan without stacking them, after 45 minutes, the bread covering would be soggy.
Anyone have any ideas? Perhaps a better recipe? Could I, after frying the steaks, put them in the oven to finish? Or can I treat them like the "unfried chicken" that enjoy?
Rachael's ponderings and ramblings about life, teaching, gardening, knitting, home keeping and the various other topics and hobbies that prompt her interest.
I would pound the steaks a bit on the thin side. First salt/pepper, then dip in a light coating of flour .. then the egg .. then try using panko crumbs (they stay crisp). Pan fry .. for 3-4 minutes per side in oil/butter blend till browned. Transfer them to a cookie sheet with a wire rack and put in a 350 F oven while you make the gravy from the pan drippings. They will finish cooking in the oven in under 10 min. Serve with gravy. The recipe you mentioned would probably be better without the heavy crumb coating and is probably necessary to get really tender steaks .. but using a thinner cut and sealing in the juice with the panko crumbs should solve the problem..
ReplyDeleteI'll try that. The butcher "tenderized" the round steak, but I'll pound them a bit more next time. Thanks for the tips, your instructions were what I was thinking of trying, so I'm glad to be on the right track.
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