Chicken Fried Steak

I was poking around on StumbleUpon on Sunday and ran across this recipe for Chicken Fried Steak and decided I would give it a whirl.  I think I had heard of the concept before, but never got around to trying it out.  And as you might have noticed reading this blog, I’m not afraid to fry things up.  I find I always end up cooking steak in the same fashion, so finding a new way of prepping a steak seemed like a great idea.

I’ve found I’ve always kinda enjoyed American Southern cooking.  Sure it might not be healthy for you, but damn if it isn’t really tasty.  This recipe definitely falls under that category.  I added a few additional spices and substituted the Crisco the original recipe called for.

Recipe for Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Start by tenderizing your steak with a meat tenderizer.  You might want to be wearing an apron for this step.  I typically put wax paper over and under the meat so as to limit flying meat.  In a frying pan heat margarine and vegetable oil to 375 degrees(medium/high on my stove).  Combine the milk and egg in a bowl and mix together.  On a plate or flat container combine flour, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and paprika.  With tongs, dip the meat into the egg/milk mixture, then into the flour mixture, then back into the wet mixture, then place on a plate until all the steaks are coated.  If you have a spatter guard for your frying pan, it’s probably a good idea to use it for this step.  Place steak onto the frying pan using the tongs and try to avoid getting splashed.  Cook each side for 3 – 4 minutes.  Once done, remove from oil and place on a plate covered with paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

Dispose of all but 3 tbsp of of the oil from the frying pan.  Turn element down to low/simmer.  Add the leftover flour from our previous step to the hot oil to brown the flour.  Gradually combine 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup water to the mixture, stirring continually.  Add Worcestershire sauce.  The mixture should be thick, but not too thick.  If too thick, add more water.  Check the taste, add salt and pepper to taste.

As this was the first time I tried this recipe I probably overdid the steak a little bit, but it definitely tasted so good.  The meat was tender and juicy, even if it wasn’t how I usually like my steak.  I will definitely be making this again.

Grilled Cheese Sloppy Joe

I’ve loved making Sloppy Joe’s ever since I was a kid.  My parents always used to let my sister and I cook dinner on Friday nights, which tended to mean either pizza or Sloppy Joe’s, so over time I have developed my own recipe for it.  Since I’ve been making this dish for so long recently I decided I would see if I could figure a way to reinvent it a little bit.

Sloppy Joe Ingredients

• 1 can of brown beans in tomato sauce
• 1 pound of lean ground beef
• 3 tbsp of ketchup (or whatever a decent squirt out of the squeeze bottle would be)
• 2 tbsp of mustard (a little less mustard then ketchup
• 1/2 cup of frozen corn
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp chili powder

Grilled Cheese Ingredients

• Sliced Bread
• cheese slice, or whatever cheese you might have kicking around the house
• Margarine or Butter

Brown the ground beef in a frying pan and drain off the excess fat.  Add the rest of the ingredients and heat at a medium temperature for about 10 – 15 minutes.  If while cooking it gets a little dry add some more water in.

If you happen to have a George Foreman Grill or something similar, get that pre-heated.  While the sloppy joe is cooking get out some slices of bread and butter both sides and add a cheese slice to one half of each pair.  On the other side put some sloppy joe on, then put the slice with the cheese on top.  Slap it together, then throw it onto the the foreman for 5 minutes.  Once that is done, put it on the plate and throw another layer of Sloppy Joe on top and you’re good to go.

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

It was my sisters birthday this weekend and I decided to do something nice and make her an ice cream cake.  What a kind and generous brother I am.  Now if there is one thing I know that people love on their birthdays, whether you’re 6 or 60, it’s ice cream cake.   Screw going to Dairy Queen.  I had attempted this once before a couple of years ago and it turned out quite well, so I thought I’d give it another go.  Now basically your options are wide open for what flavours you’d like to put together.  I went with Mocha Chocolate Almond and French Vanilla, as they were among the flavours that happened to be on sale at the grocery store.

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

• A silicone jello mould (I suppose any mould would work, but that’s what I’ve got)
• 2 different varieties of ice cream
• 2 cups of graham crumbs
• 4 tbsp semi-sweet cocoa
• chocolate syrup

This is something that take like a day to do, so definitely don’t wait to the last minute to start making your cake.  It’s best to leave the ice cream flavour you’re starting with out for at least a half hour before you start, just so the ice cream will be nice and soft.  Scoop out your first layer into the jello mould, filling it about 1/3 of the way.  Smooth out the layer of ice cream to be flat.  Mix up your graham crumbs and cocoa and spread a nice layer onto the ice cream, pressing it into the ice cream.  Then throw it into the freezer and leave it for 3 hours, or until the ice cream becomes a little more sturdy again.  Repeat the first few steps, only this time use the second ice cream flavour.  Then repeat a third time with the original ice cream flavour, though skip the graham part.  Once the mould is full, leave it set overnight to make sure it is good and solid before removing it from the mould.  Once you carefully remove it from the mould, coat with the graham mix and press it into the cake, then artistically cover the cake with some chocolate syrup.  Thow it back into the freezer to let the chocolate harden and then it will be ready to serve.

Homemade Tortillas and Salsa

This has become one of my favourite things to do up for parties mainly because it tends to blow people’s minds that you can make your own tortilla chips.  Now I haven’t gone to the point of grinding corn, but this definitely does take it back a step from cracking open a bag of Tostitos and calling it a day.

Tortillas

• 10 pack of tortilla wraps, any variety
• salt
• deep fryer
• pizza slicer

I normally pick up 2 different types of tortilla wrap, just to mix it up.  They come in all sorts of varieties nowadays, like sundried tomato, multigrain or roasted red pepper, so your options for diversity are pretty wide open.  Turn on your deep fryer to heat up, then begin to slice your wraps into somewhat uniform triangles.  I typically cut 3 wraps at a time with the slicer.  Once the deep fryer is ready, throw your little triangles in and cook until they are crispy and and darken up a bit.  Remove from deep fryer and onto a plate covered with paper towels.  De-oil them as best as possible, then add a little bit of salt.

This was my first go at making a salsa and I was quite pleasantly surprised with the results.  Most of the people I tend to cook for aren’t fond of hot stuff, so I kept this one tame, though I plan on experimenting a bit later.

Salsa

• 2 red tomatoes
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 1 sweet green pepper
• 1 sweet yellow pepper
• 1 whole bulb of garlic
• 1 lime
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 3 tbsp Cumin
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp Oregano
• 3 tbsp chili powder

Chop up the tomatoes, peppers(de-seed those) and garlic and chop them up using a food processor or chopper.  If you like chunky salsa, leave the pieces large, if you like smoother salsa, pulverize at will.  Once you’re done you’ll want to toss them into a pot.  Squeeze the juice from the lemon and lime and add the rest of the ingredients into the pot as well.  Cook on medium for about 10 minutes until things start bubbling, then reduce to low and let it simmer for about an hour, stirring periodically.

I was quite happy that I was able to score this domain name, as it was about the 3rd thing I searched for, so honestly I’m amazed it was even available.