Chicken-Fried Steak With Queso Gravy

Name: Chicken-Fried Steak With Queso Gravy
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: southwestern
Ingredients: 2 pounds beef top round, cut into 8 equal-size pieces; Neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed, for frying.; 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 3 large eggs; 1/2 cup whole milk

By Sam Sifton

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(308)
Comments: Read comments

Here’s an Americanized taste of the schnitzel brought to Texas by German immigrants in the 19th century, with a Tex-Mexified twist. Instead of serving the fried steaks with a peppery cream gravy, I’ve followed the teachings of Lisa Fain, who writes the "Homesick Texan" blog and is the author of "Queso! Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip," and applied a queso gravy instead – the cheese cut with milk, infused with onion, jalapeño and cumin, and stabilized with a little cornstarch. It’s rich eating, to be sure, but as a result I’ve cut the portion size of the meat down to a mere quarter-pound per person. I like some pico de gallo on top, so there are some raw vegetables above the cheese, and mashed potatoes on the side because that’s how chicken-fried steak is served in Texas, whatever’s on top of the meat.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 8

2pounds beef top round, cut into 8 equal-size pieces
Neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed, for frying.
1tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
2teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1tablespoon ground cumin
½teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
3cups all-purpose flour
3large eggs
½cup whole milk

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Place the pieces of steak under plastic wrap or parchment paper, and use a meat hammer or the back of a small pan to pound each to a uniform ¼-inch thickness, roughly doubling its surface size. Heat oven to 200. Pour ½ inch to ¾ inch of oil into a cast-iron or other large, heavy skillet, and place over medium-high heat.
Step 2
Combine salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper in a small bowl, then use the mixture to season the meat aggressively, massaging the spices into the meat.
Step 3
Put the flour into a large zip-top bag or baking dish. Beat eggs and milk together in a bowl. Shake each piece of steak in the bag of flour or press into the dish of flour, making sure both sides are well coated. Shake off excess flour, dip steak into milk mixture, and then again into the flour. Shake off excess, and place steak on a large plate or sheet pan. Repeat with remaining steaks.
Step 4
When the oil has reached 300 degrees, or a flick of flour sizzles in it furiously, work in batches to cook the steaks in the pan, so that they have room around them, probably just two steaks per batch. They will pop and hiss. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until juices start to bubble out of the top of the coating, then use tongs to turn the pieces over gently, and cook the other side 3 to 4 minutes longer, until they are crisp and golden brown. Transfer cooked steaks to a sheet pan, and keep warm in the oven.
Step 5
Remove steaks from oven and serve, topping each steak with queso gravy and, if you like, some pico de gallo or favorite salsa.

Ratings

4 out of 5

308 user ratings

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Comments

Chuck in the Adirondacks7 years ago

I made this tonight, following the recipe in meticulous detail. My wife is a Texan, born and bred, so she is a good judge of authentic chicken-fried steak. This is a good recipe, with one glaring exception -- way, way too much cumin! A whole tablespoon of cumin in the seasoning overwhelms other flavors. Plus, there's also cumin in the gravy, magnifying the problem! I'd cut the cumin down by one sixth, and use only 1/2 t of cumin in the seasoning, and less in the sauce as well.

Lorielle7 years ago

I grew up eating what we called "country fried steak" cooked by my dad. After I grew up, he brought it to my house when he visited, because he knew I loved it so much. We served ours with mashed potatoes or rice and with a brown gravy, not cream gravy. It was a treat in our house to have it for breakfast, with biscuits and grits. Even now, at 58, if I'm feeling a little homey, I'll cook up a batch and enjoy.

H Sisco7 years ago

Wow. Pretty delicious, though definitely not a meal you'd want to get into the habit of eating. Still- wow. Belly full & soul happy.

Valerie7 months ago

Having lived in the heart of Texas for a few years recently.....we ate a lot of chicken fried steaks..........but I've never had one with cumin in the batter or in the gravy.....and as a purist, not sure I would like that. When I've made them, I've kind of cheated and used a very thin cut...milanesa they call it in Mexican grocery stores... ....and I like the idea of cheese gravy.....I like many of the recipes on the Lonesome Texan site.

MyKidsAreMyToughestFoodCritics3 years ago

Make sure to use a wire rack set inside your baking sheet when keeping steaks warm in the oven. Otherwise, they’ll get soggy.

LS Gourmet4 years ago

Missed this when you first published it so thank you for mentioning it again. I checked the comments section before cooking and cut down on the cumin as suggested by Chuck and used Velveeta because of the melt factor. We had extra gravy after the meal so we opened a bag of tortilla chips and used the chips to finish off the gravy. Nothing wasted! I know this is not a dish to add on a routine cycle, but for those days when comfort is required - this will be what I'll cook from now on.

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