Friday: Chicken Fried Steak with Biscuits and Gravy

This meal is what I consider to be quintessentially American fare, keeping in mind that I am Canadian. These are the same buttermilk biscuits from before, with only thyme as the herb.

You will need:

2 lbs round steak, called minute steak (looks like it has been stretched and thoroughly abused) in 4 pieces

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1 c all purpose flour

3 large eggs

1/4 c vegetable oil

2 c chicken broth

1/2 c homogenized milk

1/2 tsp thyme

Heat the oven to 250 degrees, season your meat on both sides with the salt and pepper and place your flour and eggs in two separate cake or pie pans.

Cake pans are good for containment

Dredge the steaks first in the flour, then the eggs, then back in the flour, then back in the eggs, then flour one more time. It`s a double dip! 

Dip dip!

Place on a wire rack and let sit for 15 minutes. During this time, you could do your biscuit prep! It`s listed down at the bottom. 

Trust me, will be so good

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a largish heavy-bottomed pan (my favourite pan!) until it shimmers.

Shimmering!

Add the steaks two-at-a-time, not crowding the pan. You want browning, NOT stewing! Again, don`t move the steak until it comes off the pan easily, if you have to pull it, it`s not ready. If it is browning too quickly and you are getting black bits in your pan, turn down and remove from heat for a moment.

Just until golden

Place the steaks back on the (now cleaned) wire racks in the oven. 

Add the remaining oil to the pan (at least 1 tablespoon) and stir in 3 Tbsp of the flour from the dredging pie pan, stirring fast and well. 

Whisking would be too frustrating at this point

Add the broth slowly, incorporating as you go. Keep stirring until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. 

I left in the chunks of batter because I like the crunch. If you are a purist, feel free to get them out

Add the milk and the thyme and stir constantly until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, about 5 to 10 minutes (hey, I don`t know how hot your pan is). Check the taste, I find this can be quite salty but usually needs just a hint of pepper. 

Spoon, meet gravy

Now we need biscuits! 

That`s a giraffe

You will need:

2 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1/3 c lard (or shortening. or butter, or a combination thereof. arf and arf is not bad)
1 c buttermilk or soured milk
1Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a decent sized bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, herbs, salt and baking soda.

I like to use the pastry cutter for that - less dishes!

Cut in the shortening or lard with a pastry blender or two butter knives. You can substitute butter in part or full, but they won't be as fluffy. Does everyone know how to cut stuff into flour? A pastry blender is the easiest, but a couple of butter knives pulling in opposite directions will do the same:

Keep your fat in the fridge for this, you want cold shortening, lard or butter

One kitchen gadget I love

You want the mixture to resemble bread crumbs:

Crumb-y

Add the buttermilk. *If you don't have buttermilk, pour a tablespoon of white vinegar into a one-cup measure and fill the rest with milk. Let it sour and voila! Buttermilk! Stir it in, dough will be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly knead 10 times. Pat it into a circle, aboot an inch thick. You can roll it, but you are just going to get a rolling pin dirty for no good reason. That is pretty thick, don't make 'em thin. Cut it into traditional circles, or squares, whatever! Those are your biscuits, freak them right up. Tonight I am making jungle animals.

Dough right out of the bowl

Ready for kneading

Pat into a circle

About an inch thick

$5 to the first person that can name all these

Brush the tops with melted butter, bake for 14 to 16 minutes until just golden.

They can over-brown on the bottom, so keep an eye on them for the last minute, removing just as soon as they turn golden. Take them off the sheet immediately. Really fast!

So flaky

Near...

Far!

Far-er

Enjoy! Mashed potatoes are awesome with this!