So, I did not create anything from my recipe books tonight. Wednesday is church night so I take myself out for dinner. Tonight, I ate chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy and seasoned green beans. I then had a roll to sop up all the gravy. I do not know how many of you have ever had chicken fried steak, but it is the bomb. It is a very Southern food treasure.
Chicken fried steak is a tenderized steak that has been breaded and deep fried. The steak is very tender, and the crust is very crunchy and deep fried to a golden brown. The sides are usually always mashed potatoes and green beans and white gravy. It is plated with the gravy covering the mashed potatoes and steak. The beans are usually in a bowl, so they do not get the crust on the steak soggy.
Chicken fried steak holds special memories for me. My mother worked the night shift as a nurse at the hospital and on Sundays my father was responsible for taking care of us while she slept. He would take us to church on Sunday mornings and then out to lunch. One of our favorite places to eat was the Lone Star Drive Inn. It was a restaurant and they had miniature jukeboxes at each table. We would often get chicken fried steak for lunch. That was a sweet memory.
Another memory of mine is eating chicken fried steak at a BBQ joint in East Texas. The name of the restaurant was The Drip Shed. The chicken fried steak would cover the entire plate. They made a special gravy that I was never able to duplicate. I made friends with the owner, and she shared her secret recipe with me. She told me to add a teaspoon of white sugar to the gravy. Since that day I have added a spoon full of sugar to my cream gravy. Everyone tells me they do not know how I make it taste so good. I tell them it takes lots of practice. LOL
My sister would always order a DQ Dude at the Dairy Queen. It is a steak sandwich which is made with a chicken fried steak. I would eat steak sandwiches at Griff’s Burger Bar when I worked there during my high school years. When I was pregnant with my third child, I would visit the local Sonic Drive Inn and order the steak sandwich that I had a pregnancy craving for.
So, you see, a good chicken fried steak is a wonderful southern comfort food for me. I totally enjoyed the night off from cooking.
Dinky on the Farm 