Since half of my heritage is southern, what better time to reminisce about home cooked southern food than on a cold day in New England?

It ain’t steak and it ain’t chicken. So what is it? Chicken fried steak is a slice of tenderized beef round that is dipped in egg and flour, then fried and smothered in a creamy, peppery pan gravy. Like grits, if it’s made right, it’s heaven. If it’s not, it’s awful. This is THE dish that cast iron skillets were invented for. No matter where my travels take me, I’m on a never ending quest for delicious chicken fried steak. Four out of five times I’ll order it somewhere, it’s not all that great. Three out of five, it’s downright awful. But that one in five, or sometimes, one in ten, it’s magical!!!

2 cups plus 3 tablespoons of flour
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 cup vegetable shortening
4 8-oz pieces trimmed beef top round, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
Pinch of ground cayenne pepper

Put 2 cups of flour into a wide, shallow dish and generously season with salt and pepper. Put eggs, cream and ½ cup of the milk into another wide, shallow dish and beat well.

Heat oven to 200°. Melt shortening in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot or about 360° on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, working with one piece of meat at a time, lightly season both sides with salt & pepper. Dredge beef in seasoned flour, shaking off excess, then dip each side into egg mixture, then dredge in flour again, shaking off excess. Fry meat, turning only once, until dark golden brown on each side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat seasoning and cooking process with remaining meat and flour and egg mixtures, transferring meat to oven to keep warm.

Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil from the skillet and heat over medium heat. Add remaining flour and cook, whisking constantly, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Season gravy with cayenne and ½ teaspoon of black pepper and cook, whisking constantly, until consistency is slightly thicker than that of heavy cream, about 1 minute. Season to your liking with salt. Divide chicken fried steak between four plates and spoon plenty of gravy over each.

Serve this with buttered corn, green beans, biscuits and mashed potatoes … wash it down with some lemonade or a Southern Cherry and you’ll be in heaven.