The Enabler
I have been married to the same lovely man for over 27 years and have him pegged. I was over weight when I met him and continued to grow like the Sta-Puffed Marshmallow man in Ghost Busters. Thanks to modern medicine I lost 110 pounds and after about 5-6 years while grieving the death of my father from Luekemia, I packed on 40 pounds again. I have a constant battle with weight and some days I win, others I lose. Having an Enabler in the house is not helping me to keep from gaining more of the weight I once lost.

The prime example of how much my loving husband is a thoughtful enabler happened the other night. He had gone to the grocery store to buy a few things to tide us over until we can get to the commissary. I guess he lingered a bit too long at the check out stand and become a victim of impluse buying. He came home with this... This man knows how much I love good 'ole Southern cooking. Let's see who has who pegged.

Being raised by totally Southern parents, I ate some of the best Southern food I can remember. My most favorite food was and still is Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Country Gravy. I could care less about anything green or yellow or any other color on that plate. Meat and taters it is!

I am from Texas and every time I head for home I know that I will be packing on at least 5-7 pounds from my trip. Know why??? I eat Chicken Fried Steak at every place we go eat. I can eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner and I sure do try for all three. Since it's going to be a while before I go home to eat my favorite food, I made it for dinner from that magazine. I was thumbing through it, and there it was; my dream food.

Chicken Fried Steak
Makes 4 servings (ya buddy!)
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 TBS seasoned salt, such as The Lady's Seasoned SAlt
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 1/4 pounds cubed steak
Vegetable oil for frying

Preheat oven to 225.
In a shallow dish, combine crackers, flour and seasoned salt. In a wide bowl, whisk together buttermilk and eggs.
Dredge steaks in cracker mixture; dip in buttermilk mixture; and dredge again in cracker mixture. Place prepared steaks on a wire rack set in a jellyroll pan to set crust for 5 minutes.

Picture disclaimer: I did not have buttermilk so I used two eggs and it worked perfectly.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large heavy skillet; heat oil to 360 degrees. Fry steaks 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden, turning only once. Remove steaks to a clean wire rack set in a jellyroll pan. Keep steaks warm in oven.



Carelly drain hot oil into a heat-proof container, leaving 1-2 tablespoons oil and browned bits in skillet to make tMilk (or as many call it) Country Gravy.

Picture disclaimer. The gravy on the meat looks really thick and almost solid. It pretty much was by the time I stopped sticking my spoon into the pot of mashed potatoes on the stove to test them for creaminess. It required several tastings. Then of course you have to test the gravy...well you get the gest of it...really...testing is most important...really...

I have to say that this is the MOST unhealthy meal I could eat, but the most satifying for the soul. I added green beans out of guilt, but it sure was worth it.