"chicken fried steak" news and stories

Two venerated Texas culinary traditions – oversized food and chicken-fried steak – have come together on a 10,000-calorie plate at a new Fort Worth restaurant.

Cowtown Diner's ten-pound chicken-fried steak, recently certified as the world's biggest by the Guinness World Records crew, sells for $69.95. But diners can sidestep the fee by polishing off the gravy-laden plate, which includes six pounds of mashed potatoes and a loaf of Texas Toast. "I did research, and no one else was doing this," owner Scott Jones explains. "I wanted to have the bragging rights."

Jones may be the only person involved with the chicken-fried challenge who has reason to brag: While successful eaters get a free meal and an "I Left Full of Bull" T-shirt, every competitor thus far has ended up with a bill and a bellyache.

This year, we say a tremendous number of fried food items served at county fairs (and theme parks) all over, including waffle sticks, deep fried snickers, deep fried Oreos, deep fried coke and even deep fried strawberries. The biggest trend this year was to put the food on sticks, which made it easier for people to eat while they strolled around the fair looking for more foods to indulge in. Next year, we might be seeing a new change, though.

A restaurant in Snook Texas has Chicken Friend Bacon Strips on the menu. These crispy cholesterol sticks are nothing more than extra-large bacon strips, dipped in chicken fried steak batter and, like any real chicken fried steak, they are served with thick gravy. Now, the gravy might not translate well to the fair environment, but since everything else is already being friend on a regular basis, we would not be at all surprised to see chicken fried bacon popping up on fair menus this summer.

[Thanks, Anna!]

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If chicken fried steak ice cream sounds like a bad idea to you, rest assured that it sounds bad to me, too. If it actually sounds like a good idea to you, I am sorry to be the one to tell you that you are mistaken. In either case, the rather unusual combination doesn't live up to the promise, whatever small amount there is, of its name. The concoction was dreamed up and skillfully put together at Dallas Food, who reported that "Flavorwise, this was hands down the most disgusting ice cream I've ever had the misfortune to taste."

They were going for something that would approximate the flavor of cream gravy, with a thick and rich consistency, but in a frozen form. After all, similar things haven been done with bacon (not necessarily to general success, however). Flavor issues aside, I really think that Dallas Food did a fantastic job putting this together, frying the steak and carefully putting together the ice cream, which was flavored with pepper, thyme and CFS drippings. It's too bad that it didn't turn out to be a winner, but as DF points out, it will be on hand to serve to that "one deserving guest" at the next barbecue.

[Thanks, Slow Crow!]

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When I was growing up in California, I noticed that chicken-fried steak seemed to be a popular item on school lunch menus and in dormitory dining halls. I never actually knew what it was, so I never ordered it. Was it really chicken? Was it steak? Every time I came across it, it was round, flat and breaded, with what appeared to be dark-colored meat inside. The "steak" also never looked appetizing.

As it turns out, chicken-fried steak is a variant of schnitzel. It is popular in the Southern US, perhaps especially in Texas. The dish is a cut of beef that is pounded until very thin, breaded and fried. The cheapest, least tender pieces of beef are usually the ones that are used for this dish, since the pounding softens the meat and the majority of the flavor comes from the fried coating and the cream-based gravy that the dish is inevitably smothered in.  And even afficianados will tell you that the best parts are often the coating and the gravy.

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