Chicken Fried Steak

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Copper Top)

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 22:50:46 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Sundancer7

quote:
Originally posted by Bushie

quote:
Originally posted by Copper Top

Nobody's mentioned Threadgills in Austin, Tx. Any comments on thier CFS?

In my opinion, they're overrated. They deep-fry their CFS, and their gravy always needs more salt.

Just my humble opinion, mind you. Many people love it.

If anybody knows chicken fried steak, it is Bushie. He knows Austin and if he does not rate it, I would not go.

Bushie rules

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Yikes! Thank Gawd I didn't bother to go and visit the place.

Gosh darn it! I just bought Threadgills cookbook to boot.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Sundancer7)

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:14:55 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Bushie

quote:
Originally posted by Copper Top

Nobody's mentioned Threadgills in Austin, Tx. Any comments on thier CFS?

In my opinion, they're overrated. They deep-fry their CFS, and their gravy always needs more salt.

Just my humble opinion, mind you. Many people love it.

If anybody knows chicken fried steak, it is Bushie. He knows Austin and if he does not rate it, I would not go.

Bushie rules

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Bushie)

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:00:03 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Copper Top

Nobody's mentioned Threadgills in Austin, Tx. Any comments on thier CFS?

In my opinion, they're overrated. They deep-fry their CFS, and their gravy always needs more salt.

Just my humble opinion, mind you. Many people love it.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Copper Top)

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 12:44:44 GMT

Nobody's mentioned Threadgills in Austin, Tx. Any comments on thier CFS?

For me, it's The Omelette House in Fairfield, Ca. that made the best CFS. That was years ago.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Maynerd)

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 14:36:58 GMT

TWODRM, thanks for the vote for the Grist Mill. I go to New Braunsfels every year to their Wurstfest in early November with a side trip to Gruene. I've been to the Gristmill, but don't think I've ever had the CFS. That will now change!

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Rusty246)

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 14:03:09 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Hillbilly

quote:
Originally posted by UncleVic

Sounds good if ya leave out them oysters... Thats just not right...

They are called "Lamb Fries" on the Cattlemen's menu. And they are mighty tasty. It is not just a novelty item at Cattlemen's, but a much ordered appetizer. But then, I have never had a taste of anything other than excellence at Cattlemen's. I do love their "Blue Ribbon Special" cut.

I SWEAR I thought eating those were only a joke!

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Hillbilly)

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 12:48:07 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by UncleVic

Sounds good if ya leave out them oysters... Thats just not right...

They are called "Lamb Fries" on the Cattlemen's menu. And they are mighty tasty. It is not just a novelty item at Cattlemen's, but a much ordered appetizer. But then, I have never had a taste of anything other than excellence at Cattlemen's. I do love their "Blue Ribbon Special" cut.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (TWODRM)

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 12:01:04 GMT

The absolute best that I have had was in Gruene, TX at the quaint and atmospheric Grist Mill restaurant, right on the river. Huge cut of meat, perfectly tenderized and lightly breaded with the perfect blend of seasoning and TONS of big chunks of pepper. The gravy was very creamy and again, nice and peppery. The mashed taters were excellent as well with chunks of the skin in them, plenty more gravy. Don't forget the best veggie accompaniment, green beans, country style slow cooked with pork & onion. Good stuff.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (pogophiles)

Mon, 23 Feb 2004 09:47:16 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by UncleVic

Sounds good if ya leave out them oysters... Thats just not right...

Agreed. You really ought to help out if you're gonna eat them. I've only ever eaten mountain oysters (pork, in my case) after helping my grandaddy "harvest" them (well somebody's gotta catch and hold the pig while he "operates")...

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (UncleVic)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 21:53:03 GMT

Sounds good if ya leave out them oysters... Thats just not right...

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (lleechef)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:25:54 GMT

Mr. Stern I'm drooling.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Michael Stern)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:51:07 GMT

Oh, I can't resist talking about one of the best chicken-fried steaks I ever had, in someone's home. We're including this story in a forthcoming book:

... we had another paradoxical cowboy-nutrition meal in Henryetta, Oklahoma, at the home of Jim and Sharron Shoulders. Jim is the Babe Ruth of rodeo, but even more distinguished in his field than the Bambino, for the number of World Champion belt buckles he won in the 1950s and into the 1960s for bronc and bull riding has never been equaled or even approached. When he retired, he was one of the several sports stars who was hired to promote Miller Lite (along with his trained Brahma bull); and when we paid a visit in the late 1990s, he and Sharron were enjoying a nice little cattle ranch outside of Henryetta. They invited us to their house for breakfast.

Before sitting down to eat, the Shoulders enthusiastically told us about the breed of cattle they were raising, especially aimed at the modern, nutrition-minded beef eater whose outlook demanded low-fat meals. It is called Salorn, a composite breed of 5/8 French Salers and 3/8 Texas Longhorn blood. They explained that Longhorn stock made for a hardy, adaptable breed; it also meant that Salorn meat was especially lean.

“That’s what we’ll be having for breakfast,” Sharron announced. We wondered if at that moment she could see our faces fall with disappointment. The night before we all had gone out for grand, extremely well-marbled sirloins at Oklahoma City’s premier beef palace, The Cattlemen’s in the old stockyards district. We preceded the steak orgy with a platter of deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters (testicles), and had plenty of fried potatoes alongside the main course. We were in no mood to start next morning with a slab of stringy, too-lean, no-juice health beef. Our crankiness about the goody-two-shoes meat was exacerbated because we were, quite frankly, disillusioned that our hero, Jim Shoulders, would go over to the other side and submit himself to wimpy beef.

Not to worry. Sharron took four filets of this oh-so-virtuous beef, dunked them in egg wash, dipped them in seasoned flour, then back into the egg, and slid them into a broad cast iron skillet full of bubbling hot lard. In doing so, she transformed the leanest cuts of cow she could find into the most opulent dish beef can be: chicken fried steak. When the steaks came out of the pan, she made thick gravy using pan drippin’s, pepper, and cream. With piles of buttermilk biscuits hot from the oven and plenty of butter and jelly to stuff into the biscuits’ steamy insides, this chicken fried steak was the most delicious diet meal we ever ate.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Michael Stern)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:46:06 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by spadoman

Ok, Ok, I just remembered a place that makes great Chicken Fried Steak.
It is the Durango Diner in Durango, Colorado.

The guy who used to be the main man there many years ago, Gary someting-or-other, dredged the hand pounded club steak in seasoned flour and fried them on the flat top grill in a puddle of oil, (some kind of stuff called Kayola Gold)

This was a great CFS. Wonderful w/ eggs for breakfast.

Anyone know if Durango Diner is still there?

Sheesh, thanks for that. I never had their CFS. Always went for the great, plate-wide pancakes. Far as I know, it's still there.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Adjudicator)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:32:25 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Bushie

Oh, my. Chicken-fried steak is REAL hard to pick a "best of". What to look for, in my opinion, is steak (tenderized, by pounding, round steak is really what I'm talking about) that is cooked just like good fried chicken is cooked; in an iron skillet or something that closely matches. Most of what you'll find is deep-fried, which is fine, but usually not "superb". This is a good topic; I'd love to hear Roadfooder recommendations on this one.

With Swamp Gravy, of course, I presume...

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (pogophiles)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 15:40:12 GMT

If the latter, then there are still some flying around smelling of Pad Thai, too...

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (frognot)

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 13:39:05 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Clothier: quality and texture of the steak. The worst CFS is so overprocessed that it's basically hamburger in a salty crust. (That's what you get in those perfectly round -- and perfectly nasty -- patties in the meat department of southern supermarkets.

Also, the best chicken-fried steak, like the best fried chicken, has a savory but not overseasoned, crisp and flaky crust. The worst has a gummy, soggy mass on it.

I agree with the above and gotta add the gravy should be white and thick and ya should always have some mashed taters & gravy with it. Wash it down with sweet tea and that's some dang good eatin'!

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (JimInKy)

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:01:57 GMT

We routinely ate chicken fried steak for breakfast and supper at our house, but called it country fried steak. Actually, Mom sometimes referred to it as Cubed Steak. The steak was manually tenderized and pan fried in a cast iron skillet. Mom floured it up good with flour, salt and pepper and that was it. Alone, her steak tasted great and was nicely tender. But she always made a cream gravy from the leavings and then it was Heavenly.

Once again, a forum has made me hungry for the subject at hand, and I'll surely have to have "country" fried steak over the upcoming weekend. I don't think I've made this before, but I can make good cream gravy from about anything.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (olphart)

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 19:01:41 GMT

If you ever go through Amarillo, make sure to stop at Big Texan for a great meal. If you don’t go for the 72 oz. steak, your next best bet would be the chicken fried steak. It was delicious. It was big. It was tender. And the gravy was first-rate.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (2005Equinox)

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 03:06:17 GMT

Around here the best country fried steak is at a local bar-restauraunt called Big Bellys Pit and Pourhouse. Some might not like it because they make it on the spicy side but I love it. The Machine Shed is really good too.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (spadoman)

Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:54:28 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by lvw

quote:
Originally posted by spadoman

Ok, Ok, I just remembered a place that makes great Chicken Fried Steak.
It is the Durango Diner in Durango, Colorado.

The guy who used to be the main man there many years ago, Gary someting-or-other, dredged the hand pounded club steak in seasoned flour and fried them on the flat top grill in a puddle of oil, (some kind of stuff called Kayola Gold)

This was a great CFS. Wonderful w/ eggs for breakfast.

Anyone know if Durango Diner is still there?

This is something I'd like to know, since I'll be in Colorado in a couple of weeks and have been dying for some CFS. I found this website: http://www.durangodiner.com/but on the menu, there is no mention of CFS. Was it a daily special or something?

Otherwise, does anyone have any suggestions for CFS in the greater-Denver area???

I wonder if they call it something else/ Many places call it country fried steak. I definately had one there one of the many times I ate there. I lived in Colorado 12 years agoi and made many trips through Durango. Glad to see you found the website, that answers my question about whether or not they're still there.
As for the CFS, I dunno, might have been a special, but the Durango Diner is a great place to eat if your down that way. thanks!

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (lvw)

Mon, 03 Nov 2003 16:21:22 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by spadoman

Ok, Ok, I just remembered a place that makes great Chicken Fried Steak.
It is the Durango Diner in Durango, Colorado.

The guy who used to be the main man there many years ago, Gary someting-or-other, dredged the hand pounded club steak in seasoned flour and fried them on the flat top grill in a puddle of oil, (some kind of stuff called Kayola Gold)

This was a great CFS. Wonderful w/ eggs for breakfast.

Anyone know if Durango Diner is still there?

This is something I'd like to know, since I'll be in Colorado in a couple of weeks and have been dying for some CFS. I found this website: http://www.durangodiner.com/but on the menu, there is no mention of CFS. Was it a daily special or something?

Otherwise, does anyone have any suggestions for CFS in the greater-Denver area???

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (peppertree)

Sat, 01 Nov 2003 11:49:43 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by owp123

Guys & Gals, I saw no mention of Zentners Daughters in San Angelo, Texas. For garlic type CFS, this is a real treat. My Sister once came out to visit & we ate there-we conned her into taking one "to go" on the plane with her back to Dallas-the other passengers drove the pilot nuts asking him to do a 180 back to Angelo so they could try one-Ohhh, the aroma of garlic when dun rite!!!

Once my wife and I did a trick like that. We brought Pastrami sandwiches from Pastrami King (when on Queens Blvd.) onto a plane flying out of LaGuardia to Minneapolis and it made the plane smell like a deli. It was strong stuff, that Pastrami King pastrami.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (spadoman)

Sat, 01 Nov 2003 06:35:58 GMT

Ok, Ok, I just remembered a place that makes great Chicken Fried Steak.
It is the Durango Diner in Durango, Colorado.

The guy who used to be the main man there many years ago, Gary someting-or-other, dredged the hand pounded club steak in seasoned flour and fried them on the flat top grill in a puddle of oil, (some kind of stuff called Kayola Gold)

This was a great CFS. Wonderful w/ eggs for breakfast.

Anyone know if Durango Diner is still there?

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (hermitt4d)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 18:41:42 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Lone Star

Just a stone's throw from downtown Houston, on Washington avenue, you can get a great CFS at The Pigstand #29.

I just love to go there for lunch. In addition to the famous "Pig sandwich" you can get a CFS sandwich too. It covers the plate.

You can either sit on the old twirly stools at the counter or in a booth. I think it has been in that location since the 20's.

When I was there for a meat and three lunch last week I noticed a plaque above one booth that dedicated the booth to Larry McMurty and Shirley McClain. Apparently they used that booth while filming in the move "Evening Star".

There are lots of great places to eat besides all the downtown chains, so let's get out there and eat!

I was going to go there today and try it but have been so under the weather I could not face the traffic to drive that far so I wound up at Avalon Diner in Stafford, which a co-worker has told me about. Very good CFS, perhaps the best I've had in Houston. The menu says 6 oz. I think but it was much bigger than that. Very tender cutlet, without the usual stringiness, and an appropriately crispy crust with tasty gravy. An excellent large pile of onion (st)rings and a cup of brocc-cheese soup. A very satisfactory meal. I like this location much better than the one at Greenway Plaza which is rather institutional, I think.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (hermitt4d)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 18:31:48 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Clothier: quality and texture of the steak. The worst CFS is so overprocessed that it's basically hamburger in a salty crust. (That's what you get in those perfectly round -- and perfectly nasty -- patties in the meat department of southern supermarkets.

There's been some discussion on another site recently of the CFS at BBQ Inn in Houston, long regarded by many as one of the best locally. I had it recently for the first time and thought it suspiciously fork-tender - I thought it well could have been Chicken Fried Hamburger patty (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that idea , so long as you know what you're getting). It was the right size and shape, comparable in thickness to a 1/2 lb. patty. I also found it and the gravy rather bland.

Others who've had it recently have commented that it's too tender to be tenderized round steak or 'cutlet.'

Those pre-fab breaded patties available in supermarkets are unredeemable, tho.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Lucky Bishop)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 16:05:11 GMT

Clothier: quality and texture of the steak. The worst CFS is so overprocessed that it's basically hamburger in a salty crust. (That's what you get in those perfectly round -- and perfectly nasty -- patties in the meat department of southern supermarkets.

Also, the best chicken-fried steak, like the best fried chicken, has a savory but not overseasoned, crisp and flaky crust. The worst has a gummy, soggy mass on it.

Hillbilly: "Chicken fried chicken" is almost always a boneless breast filet covered in gravy, which is different from "fried chicken," your basic dipped and fried pieces of carcass.

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Hillbilly)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 16:04:24 GMT

"Chicken Fried" is all you say in Oklahoma City (just about any restaurant serves it). AND they also have "Chicken Fried Chicken" on most menus. Can anybody tell me why they don't just call it fried chicken? Or maybe "Steak Fried Chicken". Is it really different, or is this just tongue in cheek redundancy?

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (spadoman)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:10:10 GMT

CFS...Chicken Fried Steak
Best I've had? Breakfast at the HHH Truck stop, Murdo, South Dakota, or, maybe it was because i was powerful hungry, anyway, it was big, great white sausage gravy, and a lot of meat in between the crunchy outer coating.

BTW, I live very close to Penzey's. I forget to go there for spices, thanks for the reminder!

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (owp123)

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 14:14:07 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

The original Zentners, also in San Angelo (it's a family feud thing) is even better. Both sides of my family are from San Angelo, I lived there myself for a while and my parents are buried there. I have many fond memories of San Angelo, many involving the CFS at Zentners.

--------------------------
I should have included this one, on Sherwood Way, I believe-isn't he the one that clangs the bell when the rolls come out of the oven? Isn't it great to have a fued goin' on who has the best food-is the owner her father or uncle????

RE: Chicken Fried Steak (Lucky Bishop)

Thu, 30 Oct 2003 22:23:32 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by owp123

Guys & Gals, I saw no mention of Zentners Daughters in San Angelo, Texas. For garlic type CFS, this is a real treat.

The original Zentners, also in San Angelo (it's a family feud thing) is even better. Both sides of my family are from San Angelo, I lived there myself for a while and my parents are buried there. I have many fond memories of San Angelo, many involving the CFS at Zentners.