Recipe for Country Fried Steak

Those of you that are following my blog know that I pinch pennies wherever I can to make tasty dishes from recipes I have created. Meat is one of the most expensive food purchases; I save money by buying the cheaper, or budget cuts of meat. As you might know the cheaper cuts of meat are very tough;some might say the budget cuts of meat could be used to put soles on the bottom of shoes, rather than to serve for dinner.

Here is what you do to make my country friend steak recipe:

Open up a package of round steak and put it in a large skillet filled with water salt and garlic powder. I let the meat parboil for about 45 minutes. It needs to be tender, but not so that it is falling apart. Once it is tender enough take the meat out of the water and set it on a plate to cool so you can handle it.

In the mean time pour about a cup and a half of buttermilk into a bowl and add an egg. Beat the egg into the buttermilk so that it is creamy and set aside. In a Ziploc bag put about one-half cup of flour and season it with salt and garlic powder. When the meat is cooled enough cut the meat into serving sizes and dip them into the buttermilk egg wash, and then shake each piece of steak in the flour mixture.

To make country friend steak, pour some extra virgin olive oil (about one-half inch) into a frying pan and let the pan get fairly hot on medium heat. Once the pan is hot place the pieces of floured steak into the hot oil. They will start cooking right away. They won't have to cook but a couple of minutes on each side because the steaks are already done. When the steaks are browned on each side, pour out most of the olive oil and place about a cup of seasoned flour (salt, pepper, and garlic) into the frying pan to make a rue for the gravy. Pour a cup of water into the rue and blend it as it is heating up on the stove. Slowly add buttermilk until you get the right consistency for the gravy. Serve the steak and gravy with some buttermilk biscuits and a side salad and macaroni and cheese and you have a great meal for the family with very little money spent.

Enjoy!