Sweet and Sour in Boston

Chicken fried steak is one of my all time favorite dishes. It's probably not the healthiest meals around, seeing as nothing that is fried is considered healthy or good for you, but who cares...it tastes good. Doing a random search of chicken fried steak, I found out that it's part of the official state meal for Oklahoma. (Again, my Oklahoma roots come through.) The history of this dish is quite interesting. After watching the Good Eats episode on cube steak, Alton Brown explains that chicken fried steak came from German immigrants in Texas. It evolved from the German dish weiner schnitzel, which I always just assumed was some sort of sausage or hot dog, but I guess not. (I probably thought this because of the fast food chain of the same name that serves hot dogs.)

Anyway, here's the recipe taken from AB himself, with my own twists:

1 pounds cube steak
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Place the flour and egg into separate pie pans or serving platter

2. Season both sides of the cube steak with salt and pepper

3. Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour

4. Dredge the meat in the egg

5. Dredge the meat in the flour again

6. Let the meat sit for 10-15 mins before cooking

7. In a large fryer, or skillet with high sides (I like to use my cast iron skillet) cover the bottom with vegetable oil and set over medium-high heat

8. Once the oil begins to shimmer, carefully place the meat into the skillet, but don't over crowd the skillet if doing multiple steaks (Another way to tell if the oil is hot enough is to flick a little water over it...if it pops up quickly, then the oil is ready. You could also use a thermometer, but I don't know how hot it should be since AB's recipe doesn't say...probably 350 or so degrees)

9. Cook until golden brown and delicious on both sides (about 4 minutes per side)

10. Let it rest on a wire rack for a couple of minutes

Serve it with mashed potatoes and gravy and enjoy!

Ya'll come back know, ya hear!!!