Pw's Chicken-Fried Steak

3 lbs. cube steak
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk, plus 2 cups for the gravy
3 cups flour, plus 1/3 cup for the gravy
2 tsp. seasoned salt
3/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you can handle it)
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 cup veg. oil for frying

1. Begin with an assembly line of dishes for the meat, milk-egg mixture, and flour mixture with a clean plate at the end to receive the breaded meat.
2. Get cube steak out and ready.
3. With fork, beat eggs and 1 cup milk in a bowl.
4. Mix flour with seasoned salt, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper in bowl.
5. Lightly season a piece of meat with salt and pepper then dip it into the egg-milk mixture.  Flip to the other side to coat.
6. Next, place the meat on the plate of seasoned flour. Turn over to coat thoroughly.
7. Now place the meat back in the egg/milk mixture, turning to coat.
8. Finally, dredge in flour one more time.   This repetition will create a nice, thick crust-the signature quality of chicken-fried steak.
9. Place the breaded meat on the empty plate until ready to fry and repeat the process with the remaining pieces of meat.
10. Heat the oil in a large skillet over med.-high heat.  When the oil is sufficiently heate fry 3 pieces of meat at a time.  Cook on one side until the edges start to look golden brown, about 2 1/2 min.
11. Tun over and cook for 2  or 3 minutes, until the other side is golden.
12. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm.  Repeat with remainder of meat.
13. Now it's time to make the gravy.
14. After frying all the meat, pour off the grease into a heat-proof bowl.  Withoug cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over med.-low heat.  Add 1/4 cup grease back to the pan. Allow the grease to heat up.
15. Sprinkle 1/3 c. flour evenly over grease.
16. Using a whisk, mix the flour with grease, creating a golden brown roux.  It needs to attain a deep rich color.
17. After a couple of minutes, whisking constantly, pour in 2 cups milk.
18. Whisk to combine, then let the gravy come to a slow boil. It will thicken gradually, but if it seems too thick add splashes as milk.  Cooking process should take 5-10 minutes.  Generously season with salt and pepper, careful not to underseason.
19. Serve meat with mashed potatoes and cover both with gravy.

Pw's Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I got a new cookbook from my mom for my birthday that I have been wanting ever since it came out.  I was so excited!  Thanks Mom!

The Pioneer Woman is awesome.  Her food is great, and her explanations make it so that everyone can do it.  Her book is full of amazing pictures, and it has been a delight to dig into.

Disclaimer: her recipes are NOT low fat.  :)  We're eating great and loving her recipes, but it's time to hit the treadmill.

5 lbs. russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
12 Tbs. butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened, additional 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) optional
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup half and half
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a slow boil over medium-high heat.
2. Peel potatoes and rise in cold water.  Chop into halves and/or fourths.
3. Add potatoes to the pot.  Bring to a full boil and cook for 20-30 min.
4. They are ready when you can slide a fork in with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost but not completely fall apart.
5. Drain in a large colander.
6. Return the potatoes to the pot and turn the heat on low.  With a potato masher, mash the potatoes over low heat to allow much of the steam to escape.  Continue mashing until all lumps are gone, about 2 minutes.  Turn off the heat.
7.  Add butter.
8.  Add cream cheese.
9. Next add the half and half and stir together.
10.  Add seasoned salt, salt, and pepper.  Be sure not to underseason.
11.  Spread the mashed potatoes in a 2 quart baing dish.
12.  If you want you can dot the top with butter slices.  At this point you can cover the dish tightly with foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days before baking.
13.  When you're ready, preheat the oven to 350, cover with foil, and bake for 25-30 minutes until warmed through.
14.  Serve piping hot!

Biscuits and Gravy

8 buttermilk biscuits
3/4 pound of sausage (fatty sausage works best for this)
4 cups of milk
4-6 tablespoons of flour

Prepare biscuits as instructed on package. Brown sausage in skillet. As soon as sausage is completely brown, turn to medium heat. Add flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly. Let the flour turn BROWN before adding another tablespoon (if you don't, your gravy will taste like flour). After you have added enough flour to make the gravy as thick as you like, add milk and stir with whisk.

Serve over biscuits.

Chicken 'n Dumplins

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken, remove chicken and dice
1 box chicken stock
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 stalk of celery, diced
1 tsp. garlic (fresh minced or powdered)
1 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
flour (approx. 2 1/2 cups)
salt and pepper to taste
Lemon pepper
Seasoning salt

Can you believe I lived in Kentucky for 4 years and never had "Chicken 'n Dumplins."  A crime.  We really made an effort to dive into all of the good Southern cooking that is to be had there.  And believe me, there is a lot of good Southern cooking in KY!

But I digress, and I need to be very careful because when I talk about Kentucky I miss it so much and want to move back.  That place holds the dearest of memories for me.  Okay, really.  I need to stop.....

So back to the Chicken 'n Dumplins.

I found this one in the same recipe book as the Creme Brulee French Toast.  That's turning out to be quite a great cookbook.  And I just noticed that there is a Christmas edition of it out.

I was having a hard time picturing what it was supposed to look like, and regrettably this cookbook doesn't have but a few pictures, so I googled Chicken 'n Dumplins to see pictures.  I also looked at a bunch of other versions of the recipe, and incorporated some of the things into this recipe.  For example, this one didn't call for celery, but most of the others did so I added it.

Here's my version.

Fill pot with box of chicken stock (all but 1 cup which you will uses later to make dumplings) and cream of chicken soup.  Bring to a boil, then add diced celery, diced chicken, garlic.  Allow to continue boiling softly while you prepare dumplings.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of hot (not boiling) reserved broth, 1 tsp. salt, beaten egg, and enough flour to create the consistency of bread dough.  Flour a rolling pin, then countertop, and the top of the dough.  Roll the dough out until paper thin (I like mine a little thicker).  Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 1 inch by 2 inch pieces.  Drop the dumplings one by one into the softly boiling both.  Stir very gently. (If there isn't adequate broth to do this because you added a lot of chicken, just add more.)  Add salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and seasoning salt to taste.  Bring back to a full boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Cover the pot, turn the heat off, and don't peek until you are ready to serve.  Serve within 30 minutes.  (Note from cookbook:  if you keep the heat on, the dumplings tend to stick to the bottom of the pan.)

Comfort food on a cold day, for sure.

And it was cold here today!  Summer, I sure do miss you!  xoxo