Oh Rhoda’s…I’ve done it now. I was playing the good wife and was out mowing the back forty and broke the darn mower. What I mean by that is I broke Ben’s precious baby, a John Deere riding mower. The one he wouldn’t let me drive for the first two years we had it. Yeah, that one. Oh C-WAP.

So now I find myself in my kitchen whipping up some of my famous chicken fried steak AKA…the stuff that gets me out of the dog house.

Ready? Here we go. You need enough meat to feed your people. I don’t care if you use minute steaks, tenderized round steaks or the loin out of a deer. It’s all good. Today, I’ll be using some beef minute steaks I bought from a local butcher…so as not to bring up the word deere.

I put my cast iron skillet on med-high heat with enough oil to come half way up on the meat. Then I throw at least a sleeve of saltine crackers in a gallon baggie and start smashing with a rolling pin. I take out all the aggression I have about breaking the mowing and not having enough duck tape to fix it, and I other wrongs in my life until they look like this.

Then I crack a couple eggs and some milk and give them a good beating.

It’s time to season the meat. I like to keep it simple. Who would have thought. Anyway, just salt and pepper the meat to taste. If I’m feeling like I’m in deep do do I will use season salt instead. Today, it’s season salt.

Then the fun starts. Dip your meat in egg. Press it into the crackers. And lay gently in the hot oil to fry. Rinse and repeat, Rhoda. Egg Cracker Fry. Until you get all your meat in hot water oil.

While that’s frying I check on the smashed taters and corn and build a nice garden salad.

Turn when they are golden brown, and drain well on paper towels. Then make milk gravy. Lots of it. I’m in trouble here.

Get caught while cooking…and say, “I’ve got good news and bad news honey…”

“How about the bad news first.”

“The good news is…I got most of the mowing done and we are having chicken fried steak. The bad news is I broke your mower. Gravy?”

“Did you say chicken fried steak? I love your chicken fried steak.”

“Don’t worry about the mower. I can fix it.”

I’m telling ya, Rhoda’s, it could bring peace to the Middle East.

It’s fresh cooked!

Simply,

Sis