Chicken Fried Steak with Peppered Cream Gravy
Cube steak breaded and pan-fried like fried chicken, then smothered in a black pepper cream gravy made from the drippings.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Written
Method
-
Season the cube steaks well with salt and pepper on both sides and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
-
Whisk 1 cup of the flour with the garlic powder, paprika, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper in a shallow dish.
-
Whisk the buttermilk and eggs together in a second shallow dish.
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Dredge each steak in the seasoned flour, then the buttermilk, then back into the flour, pressing so the coating sticks.
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Pour oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of ¼ inch and heat over medium-high until it shimmers.
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Fry the steaks two at a time until deep golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes per side, then drain on a wire rack.
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Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the drippings, keeping the browned bits in the pan.
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Whisk the remaining ¼ cup flour into the drippings and cook until golden and no raw flour smell remains, about 2 minutes.
-
Whisk in the milk gradually, then the coarsely ground black pepper, and simmer until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
-
Season the gravy with salt, then spoon it hot over the steaks.
Notes
The steaks fry in shallow oil, not a deep bath — enough to crisp the crust and render like fried chicken without turning it into a deep-fry project. Keep the heat at a true medium-high; too hot and the crust burns before the steak’s ready, too low and it turns soggy instead of shattering.
Don’t rinse the skillet after frying. Every dark speck stuck to the bottom is gravy that hasn’t happened yet — scrape it up with the whisk as the roux comes together.