Some days, weeks, and even months are harder than others and nothing
makes your soul feel better than a big dose of comfort food! Clearly I
have been on a hiatus but what better way to kick off some new posts
than a true South meets Southwest hearty and delicious, all time comfort
recipe?! This recipe was requested after I posted it in a recipe group
and I didn't take pictures along the way so I will just have to make it
again for preparation pictures...darn. Growing up in New Mexico I was lucky enough to have Red and Green Chile pretty much every day of my life. I am pretty sure my mom mixed it into our baby food, just like I did for my son! My mother gave me my love for New Mexican cuisine and I was lucky enough to have a grandmother that introduced me to Southern food in all of it's creamy, buttery, just plain decadent glory. They both had so much influence the way that I cook and taught me that layering flavors is probably the most important key to a delicious meal.
Red Chile Crusted Chicken Fried Steak:
4 Cube Steaks (pounded thin with a meat mallet)
3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Red Chile Powder
2 T. Dried Onion
2 Cups Milk
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable Oil (or bacon grease, or lard) <--- ;)
Three shallow baking dishes (pie pans also work great)
Meat Mallet (a meat cleaver or frying pan will work too)
Large Frying pan
Baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees
- Pound the steaks thin, but not too thin that they fall apart (I like to place them individually in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and use my meat mallet to get out any pent up aggression)
- Separate one cup of the flour into a shallow baking dish
- Combine the remaining 2 cups of flour, red chile powder, dried onion, salt and pepper in another shallow baking dish
- Pour the 2 cups of milk in the remaining baking dish
- Preheat a large frying pan on medium/a little over medium heat with enough oil to fill the bottom of the pan with about a half an inch of oil and test if it is hot enough by dropping a little bit of flour into it, if the oil sizzles/bubbles it is ready
- Dredge (dip and coat) the first steak in the plain flour, submerge it into the milk, then dredge it in the red chile flour
- Fry until brown on each side then transfer to the foil lined baking sheet and reserve the cooking oil and red chile flour for the gravy
- Repeat with the remaining steaks and transfer the baking sheet into the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes
Red and Green Chile Cream Gravy:
Oil Reserved from the Chicken Fried Steak (or equal parts oil to flour)
Red Chile Flour Reserved from the Chicken Fried Steak (or equal parts oil to flour)
1 Cup Beef Stock
1 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Cups Water
3 Green Chile's, diced
Reserved Oil from Chicken Fried Steak
Reserved Red Chile Flour from Chicken Fried Steak
Salt and Pepper
Wire Whisk
- In the large baking pan that the Chicken Fried Steak was prepared in, lower the heat to medium or medium/low
- Add the red chile flour to the oil and whisk to combine then allow it to brown for a couple of minutes watching carefully so that the flour does not burn
- Add Beef Stock and whisk vigorously so that the mixture does not clump
- Add a small amount of the hot liquid to the cream to temper it and add it into the mixture still whisking as you go to prevent those dreaded clumps
- Add water as needed to maintain a gravy-like consistency then add the green chile
- Allow the gravy to cook down and thicken for about 5-7 minutes stirring/whisking regularly, add water as needed to thin out if necessary
- Once the gravy has reached a desired thickness remove from heat and using an immersion blender, blend until the green chile is incorporated and the gravy is a smooth texture
Food is Love and I Love Food!
XOXO,
Aimee
