Damn You, Food Network

Saturday afternoon's line up on the Food Network channel was dedicated to fried foods. Of course this meant that Erik and I were inspired to have a fry fest the following day, especially after watching back-to-back "Throw Down with Bobby Flay" episodes in which the challenge was chicken fried steak.

The last time we tried making it was a few years ago and it didn't go so well. But lessons were learned and this time the oil was hotter, so everything turned out FANTASTIC!!!

I should have put the gravy on the peas, too.

- About a pound of round steak, tenderized (or just buy cube steak). It was easy since we live in South Texas where there is a section at the grocery store just for this cut of meat. Its always stocked on the weekends so us country folk can all get fat and stay fat together. That and ribs - the ribs section is always overflowing with selections, too.

- A cup of flour with a few shprinkles of garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, salt for the dry coat.

- A cup of buttermilk with 1 egg (plus salt and pepper) for the wet coat.

- Dredge in flour mixture, dredge in buttermilk mixture, dredge one more time in flour and then cook for a couple minutes each side in 360 degree oil.

Don't be too impressed: We cheated on the country gravy and bought a pre-made seasoning packet. Remember that whole thing about keeping ingredients simple and not dirtying extra pots and pans? McCormick helps me with that. Plus I have leftover gravy for some biscuits in the morning. The gluttony shall continue.

The fantastic hubby cleaned up everything after dinner. He can be quite the dish gnome himself at times. Aah, my hero! *Batting eyelashes.*