Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

One of my favorite ways to have have steak is to have it cubed and battered, then fried up and covered in gravy. There are a couple different stories on how this dish was first brought to America, but generally it is believed to be from German and Austrian Immigrants in the early 1800's settling in Texas. They brought a recipe for Wiener Schnitzel, which I always thought was a hot dog, but it is a battered fried steak. One interesting note is that in the late 1930's the name was changed from Wiener Schnitzel to Chicken Fried Steak or Country Fried Steak depending on what part of America you live in, probably because of war with Germany, kind of like Freedom Fries, but more successful. Well any way history class is over, time for a recipe.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 (4-ounces each) cube steaks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups whole milk
Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Heat a medium-high skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Cook's Note: Oil is heated when you drop a little flour in and the oil spits.

Pound out the cube steaks with a meat mallet until they are 1/4 to 1/2-inches thick. Salt and pepper both sides. Mix the flour, cayenne and paprika together in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl. Dredge the steaks through the flour, then egg mixture, then through the flour again.

Place the steak carefully in the pan as the oil will splatter. Cook until golden brown, about 4 to 6 minutes on each side. When finished, place on a sheet tray lined with paper towels, hold in a warm oven and repeat the procedure with the other pieces of steak.

When all steaks have been cooked off, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil and lower heat. Add 3 tablespoons of the leftover flour mixture to the oil and whisk to create a paste. Cook until golden, about 1 minute. Gradually add the milk to the flour and oil mixture while whisking together. Season the gravy with salt and pepper, to taste. Let cook until thickened; about 10 minutes.Pour gravy over the steak to finish and garnish with parsley.
Well that is all for tonight, hope you all enjoy.