Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

Ingredients:

4 tenderized round steaks
1 tsp Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup light canola or olive oil
2-3 eggs scrambled
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour

For Gravy:

3 T light olive oil
1 cup whole milk
3 T flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix 1/2 cup flour, bread crumbs and steak seasonings in a wide shallow bowl (or pie plate). Heat 1/2 cup oil in 10 inch frying pan till almost smoking. While oil heats, dredge steaks in crumb mixture, then eggs, and back into crumbs. Fry till steaks are stiff, about 6-7 minutes. Keep warm in 200 degrees oven and make gravy.

To Make Gravy:

Mix the remaining oil and drippings in pan with flour in a saucepan and whisk till smooth. Cook this mixture (roux) over medium heat until it looks grainy and becomes slightly golden in color, a couple of minutes. Remove from heat. Add pepper and salt and mix well. Add cold milk, stir, and return the pan to the heat, and increase heat to high. Whisk until mixture come to a boil and thickens. Add hot water to thin, if gravy is too thick. Remove from heat to prevent scorching. The gravy should be as thick as pancake batter. Pour over chicken fried steak and serve immediately. Goes well with mashed potatoes.


This is one of my favorite meals and is easy to make in about 20 minutes.

Kung Pao Chicken

3-4 servings

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. light sesame oil or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. green onions, chopped with tops
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 - 1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger (or fresh grated if preferred)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup dry roasted (or lightly salted) peanuts
4 cups cooked rice, hot

1. Combine chicken and cornstarch in small bowl, toss to coat.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet or wok on medium heat
3. Add chicken
4. Stir fry 5-7 min. or until no longer pink in center
5. Remove from skillet and keep warm
6. Add onions, garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet
7. Stir fry 15 seconds
8. Remove from heat
9. Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl; stir well
10. Add vinegar mixture to skillet
11. Return chicken to skillet, stir until well coated
12. Stir in nuts
13. Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally
14. Serve over hot rice.

This was one of the first Asian dishes I made besides stir fry. It's a good one to start with as it uses ingredients you most likely have in your cupboards. I also like it because it's so easy to adjust the flavors and heat to your liking. Thanks to my friends Kathryn and Chris for sharing it with me!