Chicken fried steak

There’s a food tradition in this country that needs to go away, Dear Reader. It’s the tradition of calling cubed steak that’s dipped in flour and then deep fried ‘Chicken Fried Steak’. When you fry chicken, do you first de-bone the chicken, send it through a tenderizer and then put too much pepper on it as you deep fry it? No. You take the chicken, marinate it, perhaps in a little buttermilk and some spices, dredge it in flour, and pan fry it in about ½ an inch of oil. Right? That’s kind of what we’re going to do today. And along the way, we’re also making mashed potatoes and a country gravy (and no, I’m not talking that icky white paste with pepper that so many places serve). So let’s have dinner!

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Country Gravy

The Steak


So I was confronted at the store with this lovely sale on chuck rib steaks. Not too much marbling, but not too much side fat either. Definitely steaks for a good panfry. Each steak is ¾ of a pound, and about ¾ of an inch thick. That will change. Tenderize your steak. Take whatever you use to tenderize (skillet, mallet, hammer), whack it a few times all over each side, knock it down to just over ½ an inch in thickness. Season it. Now, before you ask me the question, I’ll answer it for you… I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU USE TO SEASON IT. SEASON IT WITH WHAT YOU LIKE. I’m using Montreal steak seasoning from McCormick. It’s got some spices, pepper and garlic. It works. Do that on the outside, let it sit for a few minutes. While it’s sitting, prepare your batter.



Today’s batter is the simplest drench/dredge there is. In one tin/plate, flat shallow dish thingy, beat up an egg and about 2 teaspoons milk. Season it with salt and pepper. In another tin/plate, mix 1 cup flour with some of your seasoning. You should be able to SEE the seasoning, but not a whole lot. Some specks, but not a huge amount. Take 2 tablespoons of this and set it aside for the gravy. DREDGE the steak, both sides, let it sit.





Heat some shortening in a skillet over medium heat until about 350 degrees. Your goal is about ½ inch in the bottom of the skillet.







While your shortening is heating, take the steak (already dredged), and dip it in the egg mixture.





Then dredge it again, drench it again, dredge it again. There’s going to be 2 layers on this.






When the shortening is hot, gently place the steak in the pan. Cook until the down side is browned, but not all the way done (you should still see some white in 1 or 2 of the divots). Flip it.



Cook the other side until completely browned, then flip a second time to
catch the first side again. All in all, my steak was in the hot grease for about 15 minutes: 5 minutes the first side, 8 minutes the 2nd side, 2 minutes back on the first side.


After you finish the steak, set it aside on a plate to rest. You’ll be using the pan for gravy.



The Gravy

Drain the fat from the pan. I usually drain it all out, catching as much of the fond as possible before it leaves. Then add back in 2 tablespoons of the fat back into your pan, heat to medium.







Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture over the fat in the pan. Cook it until it’s a really really pale tan, mixing in the bits of fond. Once it’s all uniformly tan, pour in some milk. Typically it’s going to be about 1 ½ cups of the white stuff. And yes… I use whole milk. This is comfort food, not good for you food.






Mix/stir/whisk the flour mixture with the milk, making sure there’s no lurking lumps ready to turn into paste in your mouth. Bring the whole concoction to a boil, stirring more or less constantly.







It’s done when your spoon/spatula/whisk leaves a trail behind itself (tried to catch it in the photo).




The Mashed Potatoes

OK, everyone should know how to make rudimentary mashed potatoes, right? What’s that? How? You only open a box or an envelope and that’s your m…. Oh, Dear Reader. Tsk tsk tsk. Homemade mashers is one of the easiest dishes you can do.


Take as many potatoes as you have people eating, plus 1 if they’re mid-sized. That’s how much you’ll make. I was making for myself, so I did 2 potatoes. Now, since I love mashed, I picked REALLY BIG POTATOES. I used standard russets. Wash them. Peel them. Chop each potato into 6 chunks.





Boil these chunks in enough water to cover the tops of them until they’re fork tender. This means you can put a fork into one of the chunks, twist it and break the chunk apart, but it won’t disintegrate. Drain the boiled potatoes. In the pan with the potatoes, throw in 2 tablespoons butter (BUTTER. Not margarine. BUTTER), mash with a masher. Add about ½ cup milk, mash with the masher. Mix until mostly smooth.




Plating it up: Spoon the potatoes on the plate with the steak. Make a well in the center of the potatoes (it doesn’t have to be deep), pour gravy over everything. Enjoy.

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Country Gravy

I took this to show the absolute perfect medium-rarity of this fried flesh. MMMmmmmm… and tender too.

Cheater fajitas

Welcome once again, Dear Reader, to Cooking with Darkneuro... I'm just kidding. It's Tuesday! Today's dish is 'Cheater Fajitas'. I call them cheaters because, well, the chicken isn't marinated OR grilled and I didn't make the spice mixture. So it's not truly a fajita in the purist sense (and I can do those, I just do these more often because it's less stress in my tinytiny kitchen), but it is a fajita for MY purpose, which is hunger.

Cheater Fajitas

Note on measurements: This made 1 medium and 3 humongous servings. Adjust accordingly.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch slices (use scissors. It's SO much easier)
2 tablespoons butter, separated
1 teaspoon E.V.O.O.
1 packet taco seasoning (I use McCormick, and yes, I mean taco seasoning)
3/4 cup warm water
1 red onion, sliced thin (slice it how you like, it'll be sauteed)
1 yellow pepper, sliced thin (again, slice how you like)
flour tortillas
Toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, salsa, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, sliced olives





Heat the EVOO and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium high heat until butter just starts to brown. Add the chicken, stirring every minute or so until it's browned.



Add the seasoning packet and 3/4 cup warm water. No, it's not soup. Bring it to a boil, stir every couple minutes


Pretty soon it reduces way down and your chicken is thoroughly cooked. When it's reduced down so that there is a SMALL amount of sauce and most of it is just coating the chicken, cover it and slide it off heat while you either finish with the veggies or set up assembly.




While you're reducing the chicken, melt the remaining tablespoon butter in a saute pan over medium high heat until bubbling. Add the onions and peppers. Saute them for a few minutes to desired doneness (Mine take about 7 minutes with my stove, just until they start to brown).



TO serve: Set up an assembly line, people can load on what they like. My tortilla holds chicken, peppers and onions, salsa, sour cream and cheddar. (this was the medium... Recipe should make 5 to 7 this size)

Fried Shrimp

Yes, Dear Reader, it's another Tuesday. I was in the mood for shrimp. I love shrimp. I love seafood. So I made shrimp. But I hate the mess batters leave. So I didn't batter. Please note, this can be a "true" meal if you add random side dishes, or you can use it as a finger food, or appetizers.. Suit yourself. It was a meal without side dishes for me. But it also means I got the need to eat shrimp out of my system for a bit.


Easy Fried Shrimp

Deveined and peeled shrimp (don't ask amount. I made just under a pound, tailor it to your needs) **NOTE: If you want a 'handle', leave the last joint and the tail when peeling**
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup flour
Your favorite seafood rub or seasoning mix. I used Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic, about 3 tablespoons.
Fry sauce or your favorite dipping sauce

Oil.
Now, here's where I'm supposed to say "Heat approximately 1 inch of oil in a heavy skillet until X degrees." Hate to tell you, but you heat it until it's hot. I know. It's a shitty way to measure heat. What I do is I take a 'test shrimp', dip just the tip in (that just caused SO many filthy thoughts through my head. yes. I'm incorrigible. ). Does it bubble? No? Not hot enough. Wait a minute or 2. Dip it in again. Bubble? Good. You're hot. I know. I should measure, I'm sorry. I don't have a thermometer for oil/candies. I've always measured it this way. Mom does too. From what I can find out, it should be 350-375 in a deep pan or dutch oven or fryer. I did a heavy skillet, about 1" of oil and heated until it bubbled the shrimp. My bad.


Mix the corn starch, flour and seasoning together in a dish. Rinse the shrimp, drain. Dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture until well coated. Let rest approximately 5 minutes, dredge again. Drop into hot oil, careful not to splash. Flip using tongs or chopsticks after approximately 2 minutes. Remove after another 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels or newspaper.

Serve with fry sauce.

Some notes:
On the fry sauce: My older sister brought this to my attention. It's really kindof like 1000 Island dressing without the pickle bits and with just the barest hint of chile. I like 'Some Dude's', but there are other brands out there. They may be advertised as a dipping sauce for onion rings or those batter-dipped onions. You should be able to find them with the ketchups and barbecue sauces in your local grocery. A make-it-yourself version would be mix ketchup, mayo and mustard together, add a drop or 2 of tabasco for that hint of pepper. Adequate, but I dig the fry sauce.

On the spice mix: Use what you like. I like Paul Prudhomme's line and have for years. You can also just salt and pepper it if you like. I wanted to get a bit of spice into the coating.

Chicken in red sauce

Greetings once again, Dear Reader. Ya know, I'm kinda really diggin' this Recipe Tuesday. I like cooking. It's fun. As with everything, if you like it, lemme know. Oh. Turned comment moderation off. My brain don't wanna work that way. Apologies to those whose comments I deleted by accident, yes I feel like a dork. Please comment again if you are desiring of doing so.
Now. Onto dinner:


Quick Chicken in Red Sauce over Pasta (serves 3, double or triple for more)

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon E.V.O.O.
1 cup onion, chopped (I used a medium yellow onion. figured it was close enough)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (7 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped medium (I regularly poach chicken for chicken salad, had some on hand)
Pasta, for plating (I used fettucine, you can use just about anything you want or have on hand)



Heat the butter and oil over medium high heat just until shimmery. Add the onions and garlic, saute until translucent. Add the tomatoes, sauce, mushrooms, sugar, spices, salt and chicken.









Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Stirring occasionally, simmer on medium low heat about 15 minutes or until sauce is reduced. Serve over pasta.







This started life as a recipe I actually filched from a cooking magazine and then changed. The original recipe was the red sauce for a chicken lasagne, called for less garlic, less mushrooms and more chicken, and had the addition of wine. I wasn't in the mood for wine in it tonight, although if you like, feel free to toss in 1 cup of a dry white.
And yes. It does double duty as a kick ass red sauce for a lasagne.


THE CHICKEN: I end up poaching chicken 2-3 times a month for chicken salad. To do that, I bring 3-4 cups water to a boil in my saute pan with either an 'Italian Seasoning' blend or a 'Cajun Spice' seasoning blend in it (about 2 tablespoons) and some salt and fresh ground pepper. Slip in a chicken breast or 2, bring it back up to JUST UNDER the boil and reduce the heat to medium low (the goal is to keep it right below boiling). Simmer about 15-20 minutes depending on thickness, drain, chop. TaDa! Poached chicken. You can throw wine in here too. Or chicken broth. Or veggie broth. Throw in some soy, maybe. Depends on what you want the finished chicken to taste like. But poaching is a piece of cake.

Tomato Chicken Alfredo.

Good eve, Dear Reader. I did it. I really did it. No, didn't have sex. No, didn't tell R. (the beautiful biker at work) I want to get naked with him. ((although I did find out he's divorced and has 2 kids, ages 15 and 13, and he used to live just south of Reno and he GETS dry weather and weirded out skin... he GETS it)) (((and I really don't know if he's interested or not and I'll probably post on it sometime this week, maybe, 'cause I really do need a keeper... Or a magic 8 ball to tell me what to do))) AAAAUGH. Ok. Sorry. My mind is being quite 'shiny' lately. SO. [no sex..no nekkid. ah. Food.] Yes. Food.

I got experimental in the kitchen. I had an idea. And it was an idea that isn't the bastard child of any recipe book, didn't come from anything that I've had anywhere, didn't SEE it anywhere... but um... Well... You see, Dear Reader, I let myself make Tomato Chicken Alfredo to put over/with pasta. It's a little involved, but overall very quick. I liked it, Bro had 2 huge portions and belched happily the rest of the eve, and it's really damn good if I do say so myself. Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Tomato Chicken Alfredo (to be served over/with pasta)

Marinade:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ground fine
2 teaspoons dried oregano, ground fine
1/2 teaspoon marjoram, ground fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken, chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium to small onion, chopped fine
8 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 Roma tomato, chopped fine (for garnish)

Marinate:
Mix the marinade 1 to 2 hours before you're ready to cook and eat. Toss the chicken in the marinade, refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Sauce:
About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute 1/4 of the chopped onion for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 the garlic to the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes or until really soft and translucent. Add the chicken with any remaining marinade and saute until cooked through and brown. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove to a plate on the side.

Melt the butter in the hot pan, still over medium-high heat. Saute the remaining onion and garlic until soft. Scrape as you cook, Dear Reader. Get that loverly fond. Mix it in.

Stir in the tomato paste. Lower heat to medium.

Stir or whisk in the heavy cream. Bring to a bubble, stir and let it cook down for a couple minutes. It will thicken up as it cooks, and as long as you keep stirring, you should be able to reduce it down by half.



Once it's reduced, stir in parmesan cheese in batches, melting each batch before adding more. The goal here is to keep it bubbling, keep it from sticking and melt in the cheese so you don't have lumps.



Stir in the chicken and any accumulated pan juices, heat back to a bubble.



Toss with pasta or serve over pasta. Garnish with fresh tomato.

TOMATO CHICKEN ALFREDO

NOTES:

NOTES: Chop everything ahead of time. Don't be dismayed at the amount of butter. Yes, it's a smidge fattening. I'm not saying make this every night of the week. We eat like this 1 night a week. Really. And you can use half&half instead of cream. AND you can cut back on the cheese. You can cut the chicken smaller. You can freeze 1/2 of it for future dinners. It made enough for leftovers.

That said: Feel free to use less onion and more garlic. Grind your spices FINE. I used Bro's mortar and pestle. Chop your onion FINE. I used my little electric chopper (it's over in the kitchen stuff at your local Walgreen's. $10-$15 is what I've seen it for. Really. It's a good investment). Add some prosciutto if you like. I actually talked myself out of it at the store. I'd use it as a garnish along with the fresh tomato. On the tomato paste: I used a jarred import I picked up at the Epicurean (they've got a mini-grocery! With IMPORTED STUFF!!! YAY!!!). I wouldn't use the extra 'spensive tubed stuff. You'll notice the marinade smells awfully barbecue. It's not. Really. If you want to add more/different spices, have at it. This really was an experiment. I'm just OCD about recipes. If I make it, I want to write it down so I can re-create it if necessary. Feel free to play.

And sorry about picture size. Blogger's messing up for me again.

Oven Barbecue Chicken

Greetings, Dear Reader. I cheated. I got intrigued with the Honey Ginger Chicken recipe and decided to change out sauces. Same method on the chicken, different sauce. And this would go better with mashed potatoes or a nice polenta, but I did it with rice. Plain this time.

SO... As I said. Same as the Honey Ginger, just a different sauce. The chicken is made the same way and the sauce is applied the same way.

THE SAUCE:

I decided I was in the mood for some barbecue, Dear Reader.

1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used the store brand hickory flavor)
3 tablespoons steak sauce (I used Lee&Perrins)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Here's the pictures and it fixed my craving for barbecue.



***EDIT*** Just as an aside, I just noticed... the House™ has had 10K visitors. Welcome!

Ginger Rice Plus..?

I thought I'd follow up last week's chicken recipe with the recipe for the rice it's sitting on. It's SUPER easy, no mess, no fuss, and (alas) no pictures. It's rice, you know? I will say that I am a firm convert to basmati rice over the standard 'long grain white rice' that Mom always made. The basmati has a better texture, is less starchy, and the slight tone the aroma gives is exquisite. One caveat: If you have a rice cooker, follow their directions for basmati rice.

Darkneuro's Ginger Rice

1 cup basmati rice
1 3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a 3 quart saucepan. Once boiling, cover pot with the lid if it's tightfitting, or foil and then the lid if it's not. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes. Stir rice to make sure the ginger is fully incorporated, serve.

Makes about 3 cups


Now, since that was kindof cheesy because it's rice... IT'S JUST RICE... I thought I'd also post the following:

Tomato Provencal
(I got this recipe from my French teacher in 1985)
Take a large tomato (preferably organic), slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices. Brush both sides with olive oil. Finely chop basil and parsley together, enough to cover the tomato slices so no red is showing (sorry for the lack of measurements. depends on the size of the tomato. I can usually get away with a handful of each). Shred mozzarella LIGHTLY over the top, sprinkle lightly with VERY finely minced garlic (about 1/4 teaspoon each slice), throw under the broiler and broil until cheese is bubbly.
Your house will smell WONDERFUL, and they're great as a sandwich, appetizer, garnish... They're delish.

Honey Ginger Chicken

I decided to hit Mom's old recipe books and came across this. As usual, Dear Reader, I've messed with it and come up with something just a little spicier than the original recipe.

HONEY GINGER CHICKEN

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds chicken thighs

Sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup chili sauce (see notes below)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco©)

Heat your oven to 425. PAN PREP: Foil a 13x9x2 inch pan. I would suggest rolling the foil over the edges of the pan, makes it easy to pour out the fat later. [see the note on this down below]

Heat the oil and butter in the pan in the oven until it's melted. While it's melting, mix the flour, the grated gingerroot and the pepper. Coat your chicken in the flour mixture thoroughly. Let it sit a couple minutes, then coat the skin side again with the flour mixture. Place the chicken SKIN SIDE DOWN in the pan.



Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The skin should look rather dry. Remove the chicken from the pan and drain the fat (see? Methods to my madness.). Return the chicken to the pan, skin side up.



Mix the sauce ingredients. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the chicken, reserving the other 1/2 of it for the first basting.


Bake 5 minutes. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Feel free to move the chicken around in the pan, since this will make sure the sauce penetrates the cut side. Bake for 5 minutes. Baste a final time, spooning the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the chicken. Bake for 5 minutes.

Serve over rice, spooning some sauce onto the top of the chicken.

Notes: As stated, I foiled my pan. I foil all my cooking pans except the baking pans (and they get parchment) because it's a cleaning thing. The original recipe had instructions to bake the chicken, drain the fat THEN foil the pan, which is just silly. "Here! Let's put foil over the remaining fats AND the fond (and it's all about the fond) and then BAKE IT AGAIN!"

You can leave out the hot sauce if you like. I like a little spice. And of course, you can do it 'to taste'.

CHILI SAUCE: I had never heard of this, thought it might be similar to enchilada sauce or something. It's not. It's a ketchup-type product that has more body and flavor than ketchup. Which means I've found a new ketchup, Dear Reader. Like I said... It's got more body and flavor, and something tells me that's what I want on my french fries when I bother to eat them. There were several brands at the store, I went with the most familiar name.

On the sauce: I mixed my sauce while the chicken was in the oven for the last 15 minutes.

On the rice: I used basmati rice, and threw about 1 teaspoon of grated gingerroot in with it.

Now, what I changed: I dropped the amount of soy from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. I upped the ginger all over by 1/2 a teaspoon, all measurements (I like ginger). I also added the hot sauce. Some orange zest or juice in the sauce would NOT be remiss, since orange and ginger go together really well.
Oh, and the original recipe was from The Betty Crocker Cookbook, the one from 1989? 1990?

Peanut Butter Fudge

<What can I say, Dear Reader? I'm a follower of good ideas. Recipe Tuesday (started by Hiromi, carried on by Goose). This is one you can make with your kids, if you have them and they're driving you nuts during vacation. If you don't, like me, then it's a really quick and easy recipe for really good fudge. Recipe is, again, courtesy of Alton Brown (mostly 'cause he cooks the way I like to cook. And he wears cool shirts). Just as a side note, I realize I'm posting this on Monday night, but I've been up 37 hours. I gotta go bed.



Peanut Butter Fudge (NOTE: I doubled the recipe)

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar


Microwave butter and peanut butter in a microwave safe dish for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes.






Add vanilla and powdered sugar to peanut butter mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. NOTE: Add the sugar in batches.



Pour into a buttered 8x8 inch pan lined with wax paper. Place a second piece of waxed paper on the surface of the fudge and refrigerate until cool. Cut into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight container for up to a week.



OK, Dear Reader. I have some notes: 1. I doubled. I have a lot of people to do treats for this Christmas. 2. It WILL be HOT when it comes out of the micro. PLEASE supervise if you're making this with kids. We don't want emergency room visits this holiday. 3. When stirring in the powdered sugar: I put in the vanilla first and stirred it well, then dumped in the sugar. It does NOT stir very well. I ended up using my hands to mix it and pat it into the pan. Nature's utensils. Works great. And the oils in the mix are NOT bad for your skin, unless you're allergic to peanuts. And if you are, IGNORE TIHS RECIPE! Warning: May contain peanuts.
Further warning: This stuff is like crack. You will become addicted. I am. It's heaven in fudge form.

Happy cooking, Dear Reader.