And it truly was.
I'm sorry, but maybe it's a Texas thing, and every now and again I need a serving of chicken-fried steak so that I am not completely bummed about by life, politics, work, work, and more work. Honestly, I think Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico may have America's best food. (Is it wrong to select a place to retire based on what you can get to eat?)
OK, California, too, I'll give you that (for fish tacos and every Asian cuisine imaginable), but the other states are more affordable. And under certain circumstances I will give North and South Carolina credit, but you can get grits in Texas and good seafood in Louisiana, so those states can just serve as your occasional culinary sidepiece.
Pandemic pantry shortcuts:
I didn't pat dry anything, as the recipe recommended, but probably should have as it might have made the batter and breading stick a little better. Although it did just fine.
I didn't have Tabasco sauce (because Canada) but did have Cholula hot sauce (because Canada?), which added a nice kick and really made the dish.
I did not make my own gravy (although I can), instead using my last packet of San Antonio Pioneer Flour Mills cream gravy mix, which I bought when I visited a while back. (I will accept charity. Just so you know, the mail still works reasonably well between the U.S. and Canada.)
I splurged and used some very nice, thin Angus beef steaks, about 1/4- to 1/3-inch thick.
Heart healthy? Please see yourself out. But it was damn fine eatin' at Rancho Santo Montag this week, y'all.
And some weeks, that's all that matters.
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Image credit (oh, Blogger, why did you change your format?): The mothership for packaged cream gravy - San Antonio's Pioneer Flour Mills. By Leaflet. CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
