Hello fellow eaters,
I like it all....from crowded Mom'n'Pop diners and one-off truck stops, to
Chrome and Plastic franchises, but my favorite is building my own supper in
the 'Stream.
My '62 Tradewind has kitchen along one wall, with a gaucho-coucho directly
across. There's a half-high wall next to the entry, and it was a cinch to lay
a hollow core closet door from it to a shelf on the other end (closet wall) to
gain a whole lot of extra counter space. Nobody ever sat there anyway...
Below that counter is where live the nuke, the toaster oven, food processor,
blender, milkshake maker, and a few other sundry old appliances and
necessaries, most of which get used, eventually. They ride under the counter,
and I set them on top when I want to put them to work for a meal.
Often as not, I'll make extra big batches, so I can freeze my own home-made TV
dinners on tan restaurant china plates, then nuke 'em when I don't want to
bother with a big production. One of my favorite freeze-up foods is chicken
fried steak. Here's how my grandma did it, and nobody doesn't like it very
much:
Round steak, pounded with a hammer to tenderize.
Saltine crackers
Eggs
Salt and pepper
A lot more butter than your cardiologist would approve of.
Smash the Saltines real good, a little more coarse than cornmeal...a few
flakes is fine.
Cut the meat into triangles (looks steaklike, fits the plate) and dredge in
cracker crumbs to dry (helps the egg stick).
Dip the dusty meat into the beaten, salted eggs, then immediately back into
the crumbs, spooning crumbs on the top, flipping it over, patting more crumbs
in place until the whole piece has a nice, thick coat of crumbs. It will be
dry to the touch.
Do them all while your (cast iron) frying pan is heating on the burner. Give
the pan plenty of time to get thoroughly hot while you clean up the mess, and
prep your side dishes (it does make a difference). You'll know it's hot if
you put a little drop of butter about halfway from the middle...when it starts
to smoke, the pan is hot enough.
Drop a big ol' glob of butter in the pan, and encourage it to melt and foam.
The bottom of the pan should be well covered with melted heart attack, all
sizzling and foamy, then add the steaks. Keep the flame up pretty high, and
cook for 7 minutes on one side.
When the dinger goes off, be ready with the flipper in one hand, and the salt
(more heart attack) in the other. Flip the first one...it should be golden
brown and sizzling...add salt immediately, then do the next one in line.
Seven minutes later, remove from the pan and eat 'em up!
Hints:
The seven minutes is not carved in stone. If you pound your meat thinner than
I do, it will take less time.
You don't want the pan so hot that it burns the oil or butter (you'll see
smoke when it burns) but, if you only put a tiny dab of it in the pan, and
heat it until IT smokes, when you add a lot more, it will cool the pan to the
ideal temperature for the oil/butter you're using, yet still be hot enough to
cook the meat without major cooling, which makes the oil go into the food,
rather than seal it.
If you have a lot of egg and cracker crumbs left after coating process, you
can double-dip the meat...back into the egg, then back into the crumbs, for a
thicker coat (goood!).
I hope somebody tries and enjoys Grandma's Chicken Fried Steak as much as I
do.
Mark in Modesto