Recipe(tried): Braggin' Rights Chicken-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy and Perfectly Lumpy Mashed Potatoes

Sorry not to have posted this sooner -- haven't been on the 'puter much in the past couple of days. This is our favorite CFS recipe.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!!

BRAGGIN'-RIGHTS CHICKEN-FRIED STEAK

2 pounds round steak sliced 1/2" thick, twice-tenderized by the butcher
(we use cube steak)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or regular milk soured w/lemon juice)
1 egg
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
Vegetable shortening (preferably Crisco)

Cut the steak into 4 equal portions. Pound the portions until each is about 1/4 inch thick.

Place the flour in a shallow bowl. In a second dish, stir together the baking powder and soda, pepper and salt, and mix in the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco and garlic. The mixture will be thin.

Dredge each steak first in flour and then in the batter. Dunk the steaks back into the flour and dredge them well, patting in the flour until the surface of the meat is dry.

Add enough shortening to a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven to deep-fry the steaks in at least 4 inches of fat. Bring the temperature of the shortening to 325 degrees F. Fry the steaks, pushing them down under the fat or turning them over as they bob to the surface, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Drain the steaks, and transfer them to a platter. Keep them warm while you prepare cream gravy.

Place the steaks on separate plates, spoon mashed potatoes next to them,
and cover both generously with the gravy. Serve immediately.

FOR THE CREAM GRAVY:
Discard all but 4 tablespoons of fat from the skillet, leaving any cracklings from the steaks.

Whisk 1/4 cup of flour into the fat in the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring and scraping, for 2 minutes.

Gradually whisk in 4 cups milk. Raise the heat slightly and bring the gravy to a simmer. Cook, stirring often and scraping the browned deposits from the bottom of the skillet, until the gravy is thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.

FOR THE POTATOES:

PERFECTLY LUMPY MASHED POTATOES

4 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled if desired, or if not, well scrubbed, cut into 2-inch chunks
4 teaspoons salt plus more to taste
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste

In a large heavy pan, cover the potatoes with cold water. Stir in 2 teaspoons of salt, set over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat slightly, partially cover, and cook, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a simmer. Stir in the butter, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Cover the saucepan and remove from the heat.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Mash the potatoes (leave some lumps). Return the pan to low heat and whisk in the heated milk mixture. Beat the potatoes with a wooden spoon (or an electric mixer) until they are light and fluffy. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

I have taken the recipes for the gravy and potatoes out of the El Paso Chile Company's Texas Border Cookbook (we usually just wing it and don't follow a recipe for these -- although my husband does gravy better than me). That cookbook also has a good recipe for chicken-fried steak coated with saltine crackers, but I think the Braggin'-Rights version is the
BEST!

:0) laa