{ perfect chicken fried steak with homemade cream gravy }

Looking for a fantastic Sunday (or Tuesday, or Friday, or ....) meal?

It's your lucky day: a beautiful, deliciously perfect chicken fried steak recipe has just fallen into your lap. I love how Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) describes this recipe: "There’s nothing special about this dish, except that it’s a total miracle."

I know, I know. Calories galore. But every once in a while, we all deserve to dive into a big ol' heaping helping of sin on a plate, no?

There are several keys to the success of this recipe. The first and foremost is the steak -- cube steak, to be exact -- which is round steak that's been extra, extra tenderized. Another key is the double-dredging process of the milk and flour coating -- it's done twice, making the results extra crispy. The final key ... the gravy. For Heaven's sake. If you make this recipe, you must make the gravy.

Anybody and everybody appreciates a homecooked meal. And this one epitomizes comfort and love. Added bonus: it's super affordable steak.

Do it. You know you want to.

Perfect Chicken Fried Steak with Homemade Cream Gravy
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

3 pounds cube steak (tenderized round steak)

1-1/2 cup whole milk; plus up to 2 cups for gravy

2 whole large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

ground black pepper. Lots.

canola oil, for frying

salt and pepper, for both meat and gravy

Process
Combine flour, seasoned salt, cayenne pepper and desired amount of ground black pepper.

In a separate bowl, add milk and eggs, beaten together with a fork.

Begin with an assembly line of seperate dishes for the meat-dredging process: milk mixed with egg; flour mixed with spices; then have one clean plate at the end to receive the breaded meat.

Work one piece of meat at a time. First season both sides of steak with salt and pepper, then dip in the milk/egg mixture.

Next, place the meat on the plate of seasoned flour. Turn to coat thoroughly. Place the meat back into the milk/egg mixture, turning to coat. Place back in the flour and turn to coat.

wet mixture + dry mixture + wet mixture + dry mixture

Place breaded meat on the clean plate, and repeat with remaining meat.

Heat oil in a large skillet (ideally, cast iron) over medium heat. Drop in a few sprinkles of flour to make sure it's sufficiently hot. Cook meat, three pieces at a time, until edges start to look golden brown; around 2 to 2 1/2 minutes each side, using tongs to gently flip.

Remove cooked steak to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. Repeat until all meat is cooked.

Gravy: Pour grease from finished meat-cooking pan into a glass or heatproof bowl. Without cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 cup grease back to the pan. Allow grease to heat up.

Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour evenly over the grease. Using a whisk, mix flour with grease, and continue cooking until mixture reaches a deep golden brown color. If paste seems more oily than pasty, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour and whisk.

Whisking constantly, pour in milk. Cook to thicken the gravy. Be prepared to add more milk if it becomes overly thick. Add salt and pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until gravy is smooth and thick. Be sure to taste to make sure gravy is sufficiently seasoned. I really prefer a great deal of freshly-ground black pepper in this gravy.

Serve meat with mashed potatoes, and cover both with gravy.

{ fried chicken, mashed potatoes & cream gravy }

Yeah, I said it. Fried chicken. And I cooked it. And I ate it.

Every once in a while, a soul needs some fried chicken -- some real, 'honest-to-goodness, deep fried in oil and accompanied by country gravy' fried chicken.

If I were the sort of individual who places blame for my dietary transgressions on others, I could probably point my finger at the folks from Bon Appétit magazine. My February issue arrived this past week, and there's a big ol' golden and gorgeous fried chicken leg on the cover, accompanied by the words 'BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER!' ... in all-caps and red ink. I mean, come on. What red-blooded American can resist such temptation?

So we made it (Ty actually fried the chicken) -- the Best Fried Chicken Ever, according to Bon Appétit magazine. We just used legs and thighs, and actually doubled the amount of the seasoning measurements, which, by the way, was my favorite part of the recipe. It had great kick and super flavor.

I added my favorite homemade country gravy recipe as a topper to a pot of fluffy mashed potatoes, and it was a super meal.

And now that I have it out of my system, I probably won't have to make it again for another year or two ... or until another magazine cover tempts me to do so. Because, really, it wasn't my fault to begin with.

Classic Cast Iron Skillet-Fried Chicken
(from Bon Appétit)

Special Equipment: a deep-fry thermometer and cast iron skillet

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons, plus 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 3-4 pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces, backbone and wing tips removed (I just used 4 thighs and 8 legs, pre-cut and packaged)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• peanut oil (for frying)

Process
Whisk 1 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder in a small bowl. Season chicken with spices. Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and chill overnight (I didn't ... just let it sit for a few hours in the fridge).

Let chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour. Whisk buttermilk, egg, and 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl. Whisk flour, cornstarch, remaining 1 tablespoon salt, and remaining 1 tablespoon pepper in a 9x13x2 baking dish.

Pour oil into a 10"-12" cast-iron skillet (or other heavy straight-sided skillet - not nonstick) to a depth of 3/4". Prop deep-fry thermometer in oil so bulb is submerged. Head over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°. Meanwhile, set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet.

Working with 1 piece at a time (use 1 hand for wet ingredients and the other for dry ingredients), dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Dredge in flour mixture; tap against bowl to shake off excess. Place 5 pieces of chicken in skillet. Fry chicken, turning with tongs every 1-2 minutes and adjusting heat to maintain a steady temperature of 300° to 325°, until skin is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165°, about 10 minutes for wings and 12 minutes for thighs, legs, and breasts.

Using tongs, remove chicken from skillet, allowing excess oil to drip back into skillet; transfer chicken to prepared rack.

Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Southern Style Country Gravy
(adapted from cbsop.com)

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons salted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk (skim won't work)
• approximately 1 tablespoon coursely-ground black pepper
• salt, to taste

Process
In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add flour and combine. Add about a teaspoon of coursely-ground pepper.

Stir butter mixture until the flour is about the color of creamy peanut butter and fragrant.

Add a cup of milk and increase heat to medium.

Allow gravy to come to a simmer, whisking constantly to avoid sticking. At this point, the gravy is likely to seize, so be ready with more milk.

Add the remainder of the milk, by quarter cups, until gravy has thickened considerably. Continue to add milk, as needed. Gravy will continue to thicken some, even after removed from heat.

Add remainder of pepper, as desired, and a pinch of salt, to taste.