Yesterday, I walked into a lunch room and there amongst the specials was chicken-fried steak.
When I was a kid, a visit to a restaurant was a pretty big deal and on those rare occasions, I always ordered chicken-friend steak, because it seemed the height of fine dining.
Reader, it still is. Yesterday’s accompanying mac and cheese was a little weird, but I had absolutely no argument with the steak. I did not, however, have the gravy, because the only gravy that’s worth eating is what we used to call peckerwood gravy, or milk gravy, and the gravy that was offered looked entirely too liquidy. I’m not whining. The chicken-fried steak was fine, as is.
May you find a meal today that really suits you.
Dating Jesus 
I loved chicken fried steak as a kid…but never came across a match for the taste…or texture…that came out of Grandmother’s kitchen. Something about the way she handled a meat mallet, I think. I have some of her recipes (grateful for those) but not for chicken fried steak. And who sees simple white gravy anymore? You have to make it yourself if you want it.
Today I think it’s going to be black beans and rice with some pastrami and some brown mustard and a hunk of sharp cheddar. A little lightly toasted sourdough.
That actually sounds pretty good — especially the sourdough.
I recently found a box mix for the beans and rice that I really like.
The sourdough is from a local baker in town.
A friend of mine moved out to SanFran and for gift, he sent back a box of sourdough bread. That sounds gross, I bet, considering the bread had to travel across country, but that was the best damn bread I’ve ever had.
Sourdough has better staying power than normal bread. It’s the lactic acid from the “starter.”
San Francisco sourdough is a type in and of itself. It’s whiter and has a looser crumb…more holes…than other sourdoughs. When I see it at the market, it’s usually in more of a baguette style than the round loaves we see here in most commercial brands and from the local baker.
Ever had a sourdough pancake? They’re really filling…like buckwheat cakes..with very pronounced flavor. Their’s only one restaurant that serves them here…and they are not cheap. It’s kind of a holiday treat for me. The size of a large plate, just one can fill up three or four willing to share. I rarely do. I’ll take half home.
I thought chicken-fried steak had chicken in it!