Chicken Fried Steak with Sawmill Gravy

I have started watching Sandra Lee’s Money Saving Meals. I love how she makes delicious looking food and she tells you how to save money doing it. When Justin visited a few weeks ago, I decided to try out her chicken fried steak with sawmill gravy. Now I’m not a big gravy fan and I would prefer not to slather my food in anything, but THIS GRAVY IS TO DIE FOR. The gravy recipe is true keeper in my book. I also tried her round 2 recipe, cheddar biscuits and gravy, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. The biscuits seemed a little dry. Of course, I cheated and heated up the gravy in the microwave so maybe that made a difference.

Chicken Fried Steak with Sawmill Gravy

Chicken Fried Steak

Source: Sandra Lee

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cayenne pepper
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 cube steaks, about 1 to 1.25 pounds
• 1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:

In a pie pan, whisk together the egg and milk. In a second pie pan, combine the flour, cornmeal, paprika, and cayenne, salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste.

Season the beef with salt and pepper and dredge the steaks in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess, then submerge them in the milk and egg. Dredge them again in the flour mixture. Make sure both sides are well coated with the egg mixture before dredging them for the second time. Dust off the excess flour and set aside.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet (I used my cast-iron skillet) over medium high heat. Add the steaks and fry until their coatings become golden brown and crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove them to a plate lined with a brown paper bag or paper towels to drain. Arrange them on servings plates and serve with the Sawmill Gravy.

Yield: 4

Sawmill Gravy

Source: Sandra Lee

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces breakfast sausage, small diced (patties maybe used and broken into small pieces) – I used 16 ounces ground sausage and would recommend using only 12 ounces but I didn’t know what else I would do with the 1/4 pound of sausage leftover from the package.
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

Brown the sausage in a cast iron or heavy-bottomed skillet, over medium heat. When fully cooked, remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, over low heat, add the canola oil. Whisk in the flour and cook, constantly stirring, until the flour turns a pale golden color, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the gravy has thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Return the reserved sausage to the skillet and season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Serve alongside the Chicken Fried Steak.

Yield: 4 + (I reserved 1 cup for the Cheddar Biscuits and Gravy)