A Little Bit of Chicken-Fried

Tomorrow morning Eric leaves to head over to Hawaii for his new job! It's exciting, I know. We have stocked up on Sunscreen and already promised to use FaceTime on a daily basis. To celebrate his new job and to make sure that he has at least one proper meal to last him for the next several days, we made chicken-fried steak for dinner and finished up with strawberry shortcake.

We are celebrating the new job with fat and cholesterol some delicious food. It's going to be an extremely difficult transition and seeing him for only one day a week is going to be so tough, but I'm really excited for this new phase in his career! Plus, if we have to put up with scant visits, at least I know that he'll be somewhere beautiful, and we'll both be working like crazy. At this point, I'm ready for the time to fly by in between visits.

Anyhow, I wanted to share this recipe with you. It has taken me many different tries to finally find a recipe that was delicious, simple, and didn't fall apart in the pan. Be warned-- you will probably gain 2 pounds just looking at the ingredients, but you'll also die having lived a fulfilled life.

For this recipe you'll need:

Cubed steak (enough for every person)

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp seasoning of your choice

½ cup crushed buttery crackers

1 egg

1 cup milk

vegetable oil

First, pour enough oil into a wide skillet to come up about 1 inch in depth. As it starts to heat up, set out two bowls or plates. In the first one, combine your egg and the milk for dipping the steaks. In the second, combine the flour, seasonings and crushed crackers. 

(If you want, cut your steaks into smaller portions before starting to bread.)

Start by dipping your steaks in your egg wash, then covering in the flour mixture. Then, dip AGAIN, and bread again. Then place the steak in the oil and watch it start to sizzle and fry! Repeat with your steaks, making sure NOT to crowd the skillet.

Also, be ready for a messy kitchen. We did our steaks in batches of two or three.

Let them sizzle and cook until the breading is golden-brown, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Set them on a paper-towel to dry.

We also used a store-bought packet of country gravy mix (I'm good, but I haven't mastered homemade gravy yet) to go with our steaks, as well as some mac 'n' cheese and fresh broccoli.

Last, we rounded out our meal with a big ol' glass of red wine! I hear it's good for ya. I didn't check my sources, but I'm pretty comfortable with this conclusion.

It was such a great night, and this down-home comfort food was good for our taste buds and good for our souls. It's going to be a tough summer. Sometimes I'm not sure how I'm going to get through it. But I do know that I'm going through it with my very best friend, a man who has completely stolen my heart. And when I remember that, I know that everything is going to be okay.