Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey

[George K]

The meat was "chicken-fried chicken."

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Oil for frying
Cream gravy, for serving for serving

Pound the breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick.

Mix together the flour with the salt, black pepper, and cayenne and place on a plate. Whisk together the eggs with the buttermilk. Lightly sprinkle the breasts with salt and pepper then dredge each into the flour. Dip the flour-coated breasts into the eggs and then dredge in the flour again. Place the breaded chicken breasts on a sheet pan.

Heat up the oven to 200°F. In a large heavy skillet, such as a cast-iron skillet, on medium-high heat up an inch of oil to 350°F, about 5 minutes. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the temperature by sticking a wooden spoon into the oil. If it bubbles around the spoon, it should be ready for frying.

Working in batches, gently lower each breast into the oil and cook for 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned, turning once. Drain on a paper towel and place in the oven while you fry the remaining breasts.

Serve with cream gravy.

Came out pretty good....

But...the gravy.

2 tablespoons pan drippings, bacon grease, or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the fat with flour in a hot skillet, continuously stirring, cook on medium for a couple of minutes until a roux is formed.

Add milk slowly to the skillet, and mix with roux using either a whisk or wooden spoon (be sure and press out any lumps). Turn heat to low and continue stirring until mixture is thickened, a couple more minutes. Add the pepper and salt then taste and adjust seasonings.

If the gravy is too thick, you can thin it by adding either more milk or water a tablespoon at a time.

First of all, it was really quite bland. Needed a LOT more salt than the recipe says.

I had bacon grease, so...bacon.

However, when I made it, it tasted very "flour-ey." When it says "a roux is formed, I assumed a typical peanut-butter consistency. Adding the milk just caused the milk to boil away.

When put onto the chicken, it was okay, and had a slight bacon flavor, but overall, the sauce was a disappointment.

Mrs. George approved of the chicken, so there's that.

[Mik]

Sounds delicious. Chicken fried pretty much anything is good.

[Jolly]

You're making a white roux, then a milk gravy. I use butter for my oil. I also tend to use self-rising flour, which has salt.

I don't measure anything.

Melt butter, add flour and mix so as to take up the melted butter. Add milk, increase heat and stir with a fork or whisk the entire time, while adding in a copius amount of black pepper and some salt to taste. Stop and turn off the fire when you get the consistency you want, but remember, it'll set up. If it gets too thick, add a little water, heat and stir. A good gravy maker can make it without lumps.

You can make a gravy with bacon drippings, but I tend to use the drippings to build a brown roux, then add my milk and work it just like a white gravy.

Alternatively, fry your cutlets, drain off most the grease and use that little bit of oil and the scrapings from the pan to build a brown roux, then add milk and work it like a white gravy. We'd probably eat that over rice or mashed taters.

All it takes is practice.

[George K]

@Jolly said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

Alternatively, fry your cutlets, drain off most the grease and use that little bit of oil and the scrapings from the pan to build a brown roux, then add milk and work it like a white gravy.

That sounds intriguing.

Mrs. George's favorite dish is "chicken schnitzel", which is basically breaded thin chicken breasts that are pan-fried. I imagine I could do your suggestion with that, but not sure if I'd have enough grease. I suppose adding a little butter to the skillet would make up the difference.

Gonna try it.

[Jolly]

@George-K said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

@Jolly said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

Alternatively, fry your cutlets, drain off most the grease and use that little bit of oil and the scrapings from the pan to build a brown roux, then add milk and work it like a white gravy.

That sounds intriguing.

Mrs. George's favorite dish is "chicken schnitzel", which is basically breaded thin chicken breasts that are pan-fried. I imagine I could do your suggestion with that, but not sure if I'd have enough grease. I suppose adding a little butter to the skillet would make up the difference.

Gonna try it.

Or just a wee bit more oil.

I use butter on white gravy for a richer "mouth feel". Use what you like.

Here's an old video of Kent in the kitchen making a white gravy with bacon drippings. Notice how carefully he measures things.

Link to video

[George K]

@Jolly thanks for that.

I think my mistake(s) were using cold milk, unsifted flour (though it wasn't lumpy), and having the heat too high, so the milk boiled off, leaving nothing but the roux.

I'll try again, avoiding those errors. I still have some bacon grease left over, so, perhaps I'll try it tonight with the leftover chicken.

[Jolly]

Speaking of chicken...For pan-frying a breast cut, we'll pound that sucker out fairly thin (for chicken) and use panko bread crumbs. After that, you can take it a bunch of different ways with gravy, marinara sauce over pasta, vidalia onion sauce, you name it.

I betch you Mik has a gazillion good sauces that will work.

[George K]

Here's a backward approach to it:

https://www.food.com/recipe/basic-milk-gravy-201545

1cup whole milk
2 tablespoons margarine or 2 tablespoons butter
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper or 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1⁄2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Place milk, butter, salt and pepper in a small sauce pan , bring to a simmer over medium heat.
As milk starts to simmer whisk cornstarch and water into a slurry.
Add this to milk, it should thicken almost immediately.
Serve over biscuits, fries, or potato pancakes.

[Mik]

Butter definitely makes a better roux. It never ceases to amaze me how few places make a good cream gravy. So easy and mostly done through an abundance of black pepper.

I have a foolproof formula for making quick pan sauces, which can be about anything. Deglaze with a little wine or juice, add a little stock or other liquid, any seasoning or mushrooms or anything you want, reduce and finish with a little butter.

[Larry]

"Pound the breasts until they are a quarter inch thick"..........

[George K]

@Larry said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

"Pound the breasts until they are a quarter inch thick"..........

Sometimes, to get it just right, you gotta beat the meat.

[Larry]

@George-K said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

@Larry said in Tonight's Dinner was a bit flour-ey:

"Pound the breasts until they are a quarter inch thick"..........

Sometimes, to get it just right, you gotta beat the meat.

[Larry]

Joe's BBQ .., "You can beat our beans and you can beat our corn... but you can't beat our meat!"

Porkys" "we like our butts rubbed and our pork pulled"

[Mik]

I made chicken mole tonight with Frontera’s red mole. It was delicious. I love mole, just don’t have the patience to make it. My step grandfather, who was from Oaxaca, made it for me when I was living in LA. Fantastic.