Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy…

We love chicken fried steak, but it is difficult to find a recipe where the recipe calls for round steak and not cube steak.

 Is there is difference between the two? No, it is the same piece of meat from the hindquarter of the cow.

So what is the difference? Cube steak has been mechanically tenderized and usually from the top of the round.

Round steak is not tenderized; if you want a good chicken fried steak, ask the butcher for the inside or bottom round. Tenderize it yourself; it is a great way to relieve your stress, frustration and anger.

Ingredients:

2 pounds inside round steak, at least ½ inch thick

Flour

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Crock-Pot Shepherd’s Pie…

For this recipe, I took two recipes and combined them. I wanted something simple, quick and tasteful that would be warm and savoring to come home after the kids bowling practice.

A traditional shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb. I used ground beef, since it was what was in my freezer.

I also cheated a bit, for the gravy; I used a jar Heinz beef gravy. I made instant mashed potatoes. You could cheat there too and use pre-packaged ones, for me it was a cost over convenience.

When I made the mashed potatoes, after pouring in the milk, I added a handful of finely grated cheddar cheese and half a sleeve of crush Ritz crackers. Again, you can use breadcrumbs, I used what I had on hand.

I did not add in any spices besides garlic and dried Rosemary. I was worried about how salty the dish would come out using the canned soup and gravy. My family thought it was missing something and added salt. They said it was missing… I thought it was fine. You could add a 2 tablespoons of red wine (if you have it on hand) to increase the flavor a bit.

1 lbs lean ground beef or lamb

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (I used PicSweet Brand 12-16-ounce bag of frozen carrots, peas, corn and green beans)

Half of a small onion, diced

2 Tablespoons of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of dried rosemary

2 cups hot cooked mashed potatoes

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers crushed

1 cup of Kraft Cheddar Cheese, finely grated

1 10 ounce can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup

1 12ounce jar of Heinz Beef Gravy

Optional 2 Tablespoons of red wine

Directions:

Brown ground meat, drain

In crock-pot on low heat, combine meat, vegetables, soup, gravy, 1 tablespoon of rosemary, 1 tablespoon of garlic. Wine if you chose

Mix ½ cup of cheese, remaining rosemary and garlic with half of the crushed crackers into the mashed potatoes.

Pour and spread potatoes evenly on top of meat mixture.

Top with remaining cheese, cover cook for 4-6 hours.

Biscuits and gravy…

A true Southern American breakfast is biscuits and gravy. My Grandmother would make fried apples, grits and scrambled eggs to complete the entire rib sticking meal.

The gravy is not just any gravy. This is sausage gravy, or what some people consider white gravy. The mystery to good sausage gravy is the sausage. Do not use sausage, which you do not like the taste of. Also do not use a maple flavored sausage, unless you want maple flavored gravy.  I use a spicy sausage which gives a little heat to gravy and extra seasoning. I would also suggest not using link sausage, you will get more flavor from patty or ground sausage.

To make the gravy you need to cook 1 pound of sausage. I prefer to cook ours in small patties, others like to cook it like browning ground beef. Since I use a pan that has raised slots in it, I will remove the cooked sausage from the pan and reserve for later. I then pour the remaining contents (make sure you scrape all the little bits from the bottom) to a big sauce pan/skillet. Warm grease and add ¼ cup of white flour. Stir until flour dissolved and there are no clumps of flour; bring your grease and flour mix to a boil. Slowly, dribble in 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste, gravy will thicken as it cools.

Biscuits and rolls are not the same thing. Rolls are yeast based and are meant to rise, and be light weight. Biscuits have no yeast and are suppose to be fluffy, filling (heavy) and great for sopping up liquids on your plate.

I like to use club soda in my biscuits, so they will pop up and rise a bit. The recipe I use should have buttermilk in it; most of us do not have buttermilk in our homes. Instead of going out to buy some for this recipe add ¼ teaspoon of white vinegar to your regular white milk.

This recipe will make about 18 biscuits, since there are only four of us. I will cut out all biscuits and cook what I need. I will then place the remaining uncooked biscuits on a sheet of wax paper, before placing in a freezer safe bag. When I need or want biscuits, I will cook what I need. Place biscuit on  greased pan, frozen and cook for 18-20 minutes.

You will need the following ingredients:

5 cups of Bisquick

¼ cup club soda

½ cup of butter

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, knead dough by until smooth

Flour a cutting board and roll dough out until ¾ inch thick.

Cut dough into 18 circles. I use a doughnut cutter with the center hole removed; a drinking glass makes a great cutter as well.

Place on greased baking pan and cook for 15-18 minutes.