Marinate a chicken-fried steak? (beef, black pepper, potatoes, meat)

[Happy in Wyoming]

I love the taste of chicken-fried steal with the mandatory mashed potatoes and cream gravy and further accompanied with green beans or corn on the cob. But I hate tough meat; how can I give my chicken-fried steak the tenderness of Swiss steak without changing the flavor?

Some mixture of stock with wine or vinegar seems reasonable but I'm hoping for a recipe.

[Gypsyrhydyr]

Beat your meat! Seriously, there are two methods for tenderizing bottom round steak (which is what I use for CFS).

1) Place portion sized pieces of steak between two pieces of plastic wrap, then grab a heavy rolling pin and literally pound your steak into the desired thickness...usually 4 or 5 good whacks. This is my "in a hurry" way.

2) Take a couple of dinner forks - the sturdy kind, flimsy/delicate won't work. Stab your steak methodically until all parts have been pierced multiple times. They actually make handy little tenderizer kitchen gadgets that will do this, they run $18 - $30, but I've been doing it this way for many years. It's the way my grandma taught me and it just"feels" right.

Salt and pepper your steak, dip into buttermilk, dredge in seasoned (garlic, black pepper, salt and red or chiplote pepper) flour. Fry. I promise you your CFS will be tender without having to resort to those nasty "cubed" steaks that fall apart!

[B4U]

+1 what Gypsy said. Meat mallot/tenderizers run alot cheaper than that though.
You need something to breakdown the fibers in the meat and even out the thickness of each slice.
I double dip mine in flour, then egg, then flour again though, and NEVER cover the pan. You want the meat fried, not steamed.

[SATX56]

Deni meat tenderizer

[Happy in Wyoming]

Originally Posted by B4U

+1 what Gypsy said. Meat mallot/tenderizers run alot cheaper than that though.
You need something to breakdown the fibers in the meat and even out the thickness of each slice.
I double dip mine in flour, then egg, then flour again though, and NEVER cover the pan. You want the meat fried, not steamed.

When I fry chicken I initially turn the pan with the oil to high, then brown it uncovered. At that point I turn the heat way down and cover. It seems that the chicken-fried steak would be very dry without covering.

[B4U]

My electric stove goes from low, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, hi. I cook at about 6 - 6.25 for just enough to brown golden the coating, turn and repeat, remove to papertowel lined platter, until all meat is cooked.
The meat is so thin it doesn't need to be cooked to death, and if you kept it longer the meat would dry out and toughen.
Covering it just "rubberizes" it.
Besides, I thought you said you were cooking "chicken fried" STEAK, which is BEEF! Either way, when you pound meat, or poultry to a thin depth, you cooking for only a short time. You should be doing everything almost to completion before you start your steaks - they take minutes and there'd be no time for covering if done correct.

[Happy in Wyoming]

Originally Posted by B4U

My electric stove goes from low, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, hi. I cook at about 6 - 6.25 for just enough to brown golden the coating, turn and repeat, remove to papertowel lined platter, until all meat is cooked.
The meat is so thin it doesn't need to be cooked to death, and if you kept it longer the meat would dry out and toughen.
Covering it just "rubberizes" it.
Besides, I thought you said you were cooking "chicken fried" STEAK, which is BEEF! Either way, when you pound meat, or poultry to a thin depth, you cooking for only a short time. You should be doing everything almost to completion before you start your steaks - they take minutes and there'd be no time for covering if done correct.

I'll give it a try. But if I used my electric stove at that high a setting the steak would be burned. I want the meat to be well cooked to bring out the taste.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by B4U

My electric stove goes from low, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, hi. I cook at about 6 - 6.25 for just enough to brown golden the coating, turn and repeat, remove to papertowel lined platter, until all meat is cooked.
The meat is so thin it doesn't need to be cooked to death, and if you kept it longer the meat would dry out and toughen.
Covering it just "rubberizes" it.
Besides, I thought you said you were cooking "chicken fried" STEAK, which is BEEF! Either way, when you pound meat, or poultry to a thin depth, you cooking for only a short time. You should be doing everything almost to completion before you start your steaks - they take minutes and there'd be no time for covering if done correct.

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

I'll give it a try. But if I used my electric stove at that high a setting the steak would be burned. I want the meat to be well cooked to bring out the taste.

Beware..those numbers mean nothing on electric stoves. Unless it is a digital display of a thermostat control and you have matching stoves. If they're #'s on the knob they are simply reference points. 2 could be equal to 5 etc. on a different stove.

[B4U]

The #s were a reference point. Meaning not medium, but not high either. If you average out the #s I listed, 4 1/4 would be the middle. Just be aware the longer you cook the coated meat, the tougher, drier it will be.
Luck.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by SATX56

Deni meat tenderizer

Yup

I have the larger 45 blade model.