Chicken fried steak is a popular dish in many parts of the Heartland. We used pork for this variation. It’s a great dish for an autumn or winter evening meal, but we know some folks who think it’s best for a Sunday after-church family dinner. We’ve spiced this one up a bit to give more flavor to the pork and the gravy.
Ingredients
4 boneless pork loin chops (1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches thick)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 medium eggs
3 ½ cups milk (whole milk preferable)
2 cups vegetable oil (Peanut or olive oil for distinctive flavor)
Directions
Using a meat pounder, hammer on the boneless loin chops until they are less than a ½ inch thick. Combine eggs, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and ¾ cup of milk in a bowl, whisk together and pour into a shallow dish. In a separate shallow dish combine 2 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Cut each pounded chop into three pieces, dip in egg mixture and dredge through flour on both sides. Set aside on wax paper for 10-15 minutes.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet or frying pan. You’ll want your oil fairly hot, but you should keep the heat low enough to prevent spatter. Cook pork pieces for about 4-5 minutes on each side taking care to keep pieces separated in the pan. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. You may keep the pork warm in a separate covered dish or keep warm in a 320 degree oven while you make the Heartland gravy.
Pour off excess oil from your frying pan into a heatproof container, leaving 2-3 tablespoons in the pan. Bring pan heat down to medium and add remaining flour stirring up the brown bits off the bottom and creating a roux. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes to allow mixture to blend. Bring up heat and add remaining 2 ¾ cups of milk to the pan. Whisking often, stir the mixture until it thickens to a gravy like consistency. Remove pork from oven; add gravy....and perhaps some corn bread and greens....and you have a great Heartland meal.
The Monsanto Company and the American Farm Bureau Federation make presentation of America's Heartland possible.
Additional production and promotion assistance is provided by the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, United Soybean Board, U.S. Grains Council, National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National FFA Organization.
