Crispy, Pasture Fed Chicken Fried Steak

After a long day in the sun, I serve up this quick and refreshing meal topped with a garnish that will soothe the soul...

People often express to me their frustration with putting together good meals in the summer months that don't require sweating in the kitchen for hours on end.  Let's face it, when you finally get through the hottest part of the day, the last thing you want to do is go into the sweat lodge to cook!

I hear you there, and because we appreciate you all so much, we wanted to offer one easy, delectable favorite we cook up here on the ranch! ...And, we did it all outdoors using the propane burner on our grill.  

We serve it with a side of organic spinach.  We top our side dish with a calming garnish that whispers "summertime".  Lavender grown right here on the ranch adds a unique and refreshing flavor when combined with spinach leaves.  

Crispy, Pasture Fed Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

For the chicken fried steak:

Yield 8 chicken fried steaks (serve at least 2 each) (these are so delicious that you might not want to stop there!

• 1 1/2 cups raw whole milk (I use pasture fed raw milk)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour (I use spelt flour because my family digests it better, but you can use any flour)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds pasture fed cube steaks
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (cold or expeller pressed)

Season both sides of your cube steak with sea salt and pepper.  Combine the milk and eggs and place in a dish fit for dipping.  Combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and cayenne and place in a separate shallow dish.  Now, dip cube steaks in flour mixture, then egg mixture, and back again in the flour mixture as shown below.

Next, heat coconut oil, in a shallow frying pan.  I like cast iron.   Cook 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on each side.  After all of the meat is fried, remove all but 1/4 cup oil.

Now for the gravy:

• 1/3 Cup of the flour mixture used for dipping the steaks
• 3 cups raw whole milk ( I use pasture fed raw milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Black pepper

Sprinkle flour mixture over surface and whisk until golden brown.  Pour in milk and whisk continually until thick and smooth. 

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Serve with a side of spinach sprinkled with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and garnished with fresh lavender flowers!

Other tweaks you could make:
If you prefer to soak your flour, you can soak flour mixture in raw milk yogurt for 12 to 24 hours prior to making your meal.  Add milk to desired thickness for dipping meat.  This greatly enhances digestibility of the grains.