Earl's Kitchen - Country Fried Steak with Gravy

Had me a jones for some Southern cookin' last night, so I decided to give some Country Fried Steak with Black Pepper Gravy a try.  Rounded up the dish with some wasabi mashed potatoes and no greens whatsoever.  Just meat and potatoes, ma'am.  Here's how we do:

Country Fried Steak and Gravy

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds sirloin tip roast (or whatever you like)
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups flour and spices (see below)
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
vegetable oil - for deep frying
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce
juice of two lemons or limes
2 tsp Tabasco sauce

First you want to take your roast (or whatever) and cut it into 1/2 thick slices.  Now pound your meat...with a meat tenderizer.  Bunch of sickos.  The resulting hunk of meat should look a little something like this:

Sooooo meaty!

Now, take all of your tenderized meat fillets and let them marinate in the red wine vinegar, soy sauce, lemon/lime juice and Tabasco sauce in the fridge for about 3 hours.  This is a variant on my own personal marinade that I make all the time.  Traditional recipes call for soaking the meat in cold water, white vinegar and salt.  But fuck that noise.  Mine is better.  The red wine vinegar gives it some tang, the soy sauce gives it the saltiness, the fresh citrus tenderizes the beef nicely and the Tabasco gives it a hint of heat.  I like that. But really, feel free to marinate the beef how you marinate beef.

Take your beef out of the fridge a good half-hour before you intend on cooking it and drain the marinade.  Get your oil going in a deep frying pan over medium heat.  You want the oil at around 350°, if you can.  Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and then dredge in a plastic bag with flour.  Now you can add whatever spices you want to the flower to make the coating taste however you want it to taste.  Salt, pepper, thyme, red pepper flakes, lemon-pepper, whatever.  I decided to give something I saw in the market a try.  Some Southern-flavored flour specifically to use for fried chicken, pork or steak.  This stuff:

I like how it says "Kernel" instead of Colonel

After the beef fillet is thoroughly coated  in your flour mixture, add it in batches to your heated oil.  But don't overcrowd.  Cook them two at a time if you have to.  Fry them up until they are a nice golden light brown.  Maybe a minute or so on each side.  Drain on paper towels when done and set aside on a heated platter covered with aluminum foil to keep them warm.

Now for the gravy, drain all but around 2tbsp of the oil from your skillet keeping all the yummy browned bits that fell off the beef while cooking.  Now add the two tbsps of flour and mix with a wisk or fork over medium heat for about 3 minutes.  Make sure to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Lower the heat and whisk in the milk and chicken broth slowly until the gravy is nice and thick.  Add your cracked black pepper around this time as well.  Adjust your milk to broth ratio however you see fit.  The amounts up top are just a guide.  And I used half and half instead of milk.  Made a very nice gravy.

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
3 lbs red baby potatoes
2 tsp wasabi powder (or more!)
3 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup sour cream

Clean and halve your baby potatoes and throw them in a pot.  I keep the skin on and just clean up the rough looking patches.  Fill your pot with cold water about an inch above the level of the top of the potatoes and sprinkle in some salt to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Use a fork and you will be able to tell.  Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the water just in case for later on.

Toss in your butter, and start mashing your taters in the pot off the stove.  I don't use a hand mixer or blender because I like my mashers a little chunky.  Use a few tbsps of the reserved water from the boil and mix in a cup with your wasabi powder until you have a not-too-thick paste.  Add some more water if it is too thick.  Add that to the potatoes along with the sour cream and keep mashing.  Return to the stove and keep mashing/stirring until you get to the consistency you like.  Add some of the reserved water if it looks too dry to you.  Also add some salt and pepper as you see fit.

Once you are all done, your plate should look a little something like this:

Make sure to include the Jim Beam

Enjoy!  I know I did.