Roberta's Chicken Fried Steak

My aunt Roberta in Dalhart, TX made the best chicken fried steak I've ever had. It happened to be the first one I ever had and they were the first people I knew with a meat locker. Willie and I rode over with Uncle Bill one morning to pick up the meat for dinner. They also introduced us to corny dogs but that's another story.

I watched Roberta prepare the meal and it was quite a production with a flour dip, an egg dip, and another flour dip (those are required). It took me quite a while to capture the heat regulation for a perfect steak. I always cook them in a stainless steel skillet so add in that problem making sure they don't stick. (The secret, I learned on a cooking group, is to bring the dry skillet up to heat first, then add the oil and then the meat. Works every time.)

Kroger's little meat clearance bin last week yielded some tenderized steaks at a great price. Too bad I was already over budget with all the chuck and sirloin roasts I grabbed at a great price so I only got one pack.

Not a big fan of mashed potatoes but this called for them and I splurged using cream and lots of real butter (not that you could taste butter with my 40-weight cream gravy poured over all). On second thought, this is a once-a-quarter splurge so it's a good thing I only bought this much.