{45 by 45} chicken fried steak with pan gravy

growing up i disliked chicken fried steak with a passion.. i now regret all those times i wouldn't eat my grandma's :( we would go to her house once a week for lunch and she would make chicken fried steak usually once a month.. she also would make roast once a month and if you read my previous post i really hate roast.. so i must gone for the company because i remember bringing my own lunch on those days.. ha ha well after years of refusing to eat  the chicken fried steak she one time put it on a peppridge farm sour dough roll with a little miracle whip (she loved her miracle whip) and actually i really liked that and for years that's how i ate it.. probably about 15 years ago (sadly when she stopped making our lunches) i discovered i truly liked chicken fried steak.. for breakfast with an egg and country potatoes or for dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans.. i truly do love me some chicken fried steak *now*.. unfortunately up until now i have never been able to make it.. i did give it the ole' college try about 25 years ago.. it was a disaster and i never tried again.. now this isn't my grandma's recipe, however i do believe she would have been proud of me for this dish.. i plan on making hers one weekend real soon, well hopefully.. i found this one here.. at eating well.. it's a little on the less fat side.. and i know what your thinking chicken fried steak low in fat?? well not really but this recipe is a lot less calories than your standard recipe.. i did discover why mine never worked before.. i used to much oil in my pan and my oil was way to hot!!! a small amount of oil, about 1 tbls. spoon and at medium heat is the ticket!! i followed this recipe pretty darn close since i had never made it successfully before, but now that i know how boy oh boy will i be adventurous with this dish!!

(someone asked why i put a black background on some of my photos.. i don't its my black granite counter tops!)

chicken fried steak with pan gravy

prep time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 35 minutes

servings:  4

1/4 cup ap flour

2 large eggs whites, lightly beaten

1/4 cup corn meal

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup plus 1 tbls. cornstarch, divided

2 tsp. smokey paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 lb. cube steak cut into 4 portions

salt and pepper

2 tbls. canola oil

1 14 oz. can of reduced sodium beef broth

1 tbls. water

1/4 cup half and half

preheat oven to 350 degrees (f).. coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.. place ap flour on a large plate.. place egg whites in a shallow dish.. whisk cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup corn starch paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in another shallow dish.. season both steaks with a little salt and pepper.. dredge the steak in the flour, shake off any excess.. dip steak in egg whites, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture..heat 1 tbls. oil in a large nonstick skillet (another thing i was doing wrong i used an iron skillet and burned mine) over medium-high heat.. reduce heat to medium (key super important ha) and add 2 pieces of the steak.. cook until browned on both sides, turning once, 3-5 minutes total.  transfer steak to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining 1 tbls. of oil and 2 other pieces of steak.. transfer the baking sheet with your 4 steaks to the oven and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.  while its cooking add broth to the pan you just cooked your steaks in and boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.. getting up all those yummy bits and pieces that stuck to the pan from frying the steaks.. cook until reduced to about 1 cup.. 3-5 minutes.. whisk water and remaining tbls. of corn starch until smooth..remove pan from heat and stir corn starch mixture.. return pan to heat and cook, stirring until thickened, 1-2 minutes.. stir in half and half and season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.. serve the steak topped with the gravy..