I Can Cooking! #5: Country Fried Stuff!

 Country-fried chicken.  Chicken-fried steak.  Chicken-fried chicken even, despite how redundant it sounds.  Even... country-fried liver and onions?!  The latter is the one I'm covering in this edition of I Can Cooking, but even for those non-lovers of liver out there, don't fret!  This exact recipe can be used to make any meat that can possibly be fried into this classic of Southern cuisine.  I'll also show you how to make the best mashed potatoes you've ever had!

Be envious of my dinner, but perhaps not my arteries.  Ah well, YOLO!

 Let's begin!

The Ingredients

 This is a surprisingly simple recipe; more about technique than fancy ingredients.  You will need:

• meat of your choosing
• 1 egg
• flour
• milk
• 1 smallish onion
• small can of mushrooms
• cooking oil
• potatoes
• your standard salt, pepper, and other seasonings.
• butter (for the potatoes)
• 4 cloves of garlic (ditto)

It's a small team, but a right powerful one.

Step One:  Prep Work!

 First and foremost, since they'll take the longest to cook, go ahead and start the potatoes.  They don't need to be peeled; just make sure to clean them and remove and of the eyes before chopping them up.  Just toss some salt in the water and get them started toward a boil.

It's like a hot tub... albeit a rather starchy one.

Next, prepare the dry ingredients for your breading.  You can add pretty much any mixture of seasonings into the flour as you want, but here's the mixture I've found works best, especially for all things beefy:

• salt (just a small amount)
• black pepper (A LOT of it!)
• ginger
• garlic powder
• onion flakes
• paprika
• celery salt

No measurements, but this is about the proportion of everything you'll want.

 Whisk the dry ingredients together, and in another dish, mix your egg with a splash of milk.  As for the egg:  for many purposes, one could easily get by with liquid eggs from a carton.  This is not one of them!  The liquid eggs just don't "stick" anywhere near as well as fresh ones.  Besides, fresh eggs are cheap and will often last longer than the carton stuff as they're "individually sealed," so to speak.

There'll be plenty of time to play in these once you're done cooking, don't worry.

 Go ahead and start heating up the oil.  For things like steaks, tenderloins, liver and most cuts of fish, it won't take much; just about 1/2cm or so in the bottom of the skillet.  For chicken however, you'll want to use a deeper frying apparatus with plenty more oil.

About this much, give or take.

 IF YOU'RE USING LIVER, THIS IS IMPORTANT (for other meats too, but to nowhere near the extent)!  Make sure to pat the meat dry before you start breading it!  If you don't, the breading won't adhere to the meat as well, and you won't be able to get as much out of your dry ingredients due to the extra moisture.

Until it's got no more blood to bleed.

 For a good layer of breading, start each piece in the egg mixture, then coat in the flour mixture.  Do this about 3 times for each piece.

I know you want to, but no, you can't eat them just yet.

Step 2:  Fryguy

 Once the oil reaches a decent temperature, just take the battered pieces of meat, shake off the excess flour, and get to frying those bad boys up!

Just look at the great time they're having, just swimming there...

While that's starting, go ahead and wash your breading tools.  The stuff's so much easier to get off of them while it's fresh, and besides we'll be needing the tongs again in a couple of minutes.

A sanitary kitchen is a happy kitchen.

By the time you've washed those things, the meat pieces should be about ready to flip.  Turn them and let them continue frying for another few minutes.

These are the smells dreams are made of.

 And done!  Let the slabs of deliciousness drain on a wire rack or paper towels.

You done good.

Step 3:  Gravy and potatoes

 Since this example uses liver as the meat, I'll be making an onion-rich gravy (it's also amazing on steaks, by the by).  Let's start by cutting the onion into wedges.  Also, at this point go ahead and drain the can of mushrooms, and pour them onto the cutting board too (we'll need the can in a moment).

No more tears.

 After cooking the meat, the oil probably looks something about like this.  There is a decent bit of goodness we can obtain from it.

Eeeewwww....

 First, drain the excess oil into a suitable container (like the mushroom can!).  BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL ON THIS STEP!  Also, if any of the oil dribbles down the outside of the skillet while you're pouring it, go ahead and wipe it off with a damp towel (especially if you've got a gas stove... I don't want any of you to be going and setting your kitchens on fire, now!).

Seriously, BE CAREFUL.

 Now, take the drippings you're left with, and a bit at a time, whisk some flour into it to form a roux.

The beginnings of any good creamy sauce.

 Next, once the roux is formed, transfer your roux into a saucepan and add milk.  Stir these together, then pour in the onion and mushrooms.  Cover and let this cook over medium heat.

It shouldn't look like much yet.  That's okay.

 By about now, your potatoes should be done cooking.  Drain them, then add some butter, milk, and 2-4 cloves of crushed garlic.  Mash these together.

THEY DID THE--  oh wait, I already made that reference.

 And voila!  That's really all it takes.  Just add some salt and pepper to taste, and prepare to be amazed at what you've just made.

Why buy the boxed stuff, when you could have THIS?

 Now that everything else is done, all that's left is to wait for the gravy to get done.  Once the onions are nice and tender, and the "broth" of the gravy is nice and thick, season it with some salt and plenty of black pepper and it's done!

It's basically liquid sex.

Step Whatever:  Dinner's Served!

 Pile it on your plate and enjoy.  I don't really need to say anything more; just look at it!

My dinner's better than yours.  Neener-neener!  (but now you know how I made it; SCORE!)

Alternate serving suggestions!

 If the amount of fats and/or fried food particulates in the main recipe bother you, there is always another option for a topping!  Instead of making a roux or anything like that, just pour a Tbsp or so of the oil into a saucepan (you know, like you were originally reserving for the gravy?  Yeah, that one.), then sautee the onion and mushrooms until they're nicely caramelized (or Maillarded, whichever you prefer).  Then just pour this atop your fried stuff, as seen here in this example from the last time I made this dish (okay, so I used shallots, but whatever).  Also check out that awesome celery root puree.  Subject of a future Aliens in the Supermarket, perhaps?  Maybe!

The breading on that one was a bit of a failure, but it was delicious all the same.

Enjoy!