Can't remember where I got this, but it's really good! I add a dash of crushed red pepper flakes to the breading for the steaks AND to the cream gravy, along with a dash of paprika to both Chicken-Fried Steak Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds of top-round steak 2 cups of flour 3 eggs 1/2 cup of milk or buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper (can also add cayenne to add more heat). Lard or vegetable oil Method: Cut your top-round steak into four pieces. Pound beef with a meat tenderizer until flattened and almost doubled in size. Place flour in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix eggs in another large bowl with milk. Take piece of tenderized beef and coat in flour. Dip coated beef into egg mixture and then dip back into flour again. Heat on medium enough oil or lard to fill halfway up the sides of a cast-iron skillet. When a drop of water makes the oil sizzle, it's ready for frying. Take the coated beef and place it in the skillet. When the blood (er, red-meat juice) starts bubbling out of the top of the steak (about three to four minutes) gently turn it over with a long fork (using a spatula can cause the oil to splash out of the skillet). Cook another five minutes and then take the chicken-fried steak out of the pan and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat process for remaining cutlets. And while you're frying the others, you can keep the cooked steaks warm in the oven. Cream gravy Ingredients: Two tablespoons of pan drippings, bacon grease or vegetable oil Two tablespoons of flour 1 1/2 cups of milk 1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper Salt to taste. Method: Combine fat with flour in a hot skillet, continuously stirring, cook on medium for a couple of minutes until a dark roux is formed. Add milk slowly to skillet, and mix with roux using either a whisk or wooden spoon (be sure and press out any lumps). Turn heat to low and continue stirring until mixture is thickened, a couple more minutes. Add pepper and salt to taste. If gravy is too thick for your taste, you can thin it by adding either more milk or water a tablespoon at a time. Goes great with mashed potatoes, fried chicken, biscuits, chicken fried steak, grits, vegetables, rice or anything else you can imagine.

Since I first posted that, I've made that recipe a few dozen times. Observations: 1. I find I hardly ever bother with the sauce. The thighs are plenty good on their own. 2. While it's tasty with just salt & pepper, you can use whatever herb or spice you want. Chipotle powder is good, as is the Penzey spice mixture 'Arizona Dreaming'. 3. If after 18 minutes the flesh side doesn't look quite done, it's okay to flip the thighs and cook the flesh side for a minute or two. 4. What's really nice is that if you haven't planned for a dinner, you can stop on the way home from work and pick up as many chicken thighs as you want, and have 'fried' chicken in under a half hour. I wouldn't try it with any other cut but a thigh; the thigh flattens out nicely in the pan when you make those flesh cuts parallel to the bone. What you're doing, from a food-science-geek perspective, is rendering the skin fat and frying the skin side in that fat, while the vapors in the covered skillet are steaming the flesh side.

i can't believe i chopped off the original poster's name and i apologize for that--i think it belongs to "dances in garden". if not, please step forward and correct me! but this was a good dish that was kind of fun to prepare and eat: Barbecued Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps 2 cups, 4 handfuls, fresh shiitake mushrooms 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 pounds thin cut chicken breast or chicken tenders 2 tablespoons light colored oil, such as vegetable oil or peanut oil Coarse salt and coarse black pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 inch ginger root, finely chopped or grated, optional 1 orange, zested 1/2 red bell pepper, diced small 1 small tin, 6 to 8 ounces, sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped 3 scallions, chopped 3 tablespoons hoisin, Chinese barbecue sauce, available on Asian foods aisle of market 1/2 large head iceberg lettuce, core removed, head quartered Wedges of navel orange -- platter garnish Remove tough stems from mushrooms and brush with damp towel to clean, Slice mushrooms. Chop chicken into small pieces. Preheat a large skillet or wok to high. Add oil to hot pan. Add chicken to the pan and sear meat by stir frying a minute or 2. Add mushrooms and cook another minute or two. Add salt and pepper to season, then garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more. Grate zest into pan, add bell pepper bits, chopped water chestnuts and scallions. Cook another minute, continuing to stir fry mixture. Add hoisin Chinese barbecue sauce and toss to coat the mixture evenly. Transfer the hot chopped barbecued chicken to serving platter and pile the quartered wedges of crisp iceberg lettuce along side. Add wedged oranges to platter to garnish. To eat, pile spoonfuls into lettuce leaves, wrapping lettuce around fillings and squeeze an orange wedge over. I was trying to replicate my favorite lettuce wraps from PF Chang's, so I changed a few things. I used ground turkey instead of chicken tenders, skipped the orange, added more complexity to the sauce, and had cilantro, basil and lime wedges on the plate for people to add to the wraps. This is what I added to the hoisin sauce: 5 tsp sweet chili sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 TBSP sherry, 2 TBSP rice vinegar, 3 TBSP oyster sauce, and juice from half a lime. I think this made them much tastier. They were unbelievably delicious!! A keeper for company. i really enjoyed this but my husband didn't so i've only made it once. i certainly would be happy to make it for lunch with the girlfriends though! Braised Greek Chicken and Artichokes 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 chicken breast halves with skin and bones 2 6-ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained 2 tablespoons marinade reserved 3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and sautchicken until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons reserved marinade, broth, lemon juice, peel, and crushed pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until chicken is almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. Uncover; stir in artichokes and 2 tablespoons oregano. Simmer until liquid is slightly reduced and chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon oregano. Season with salt and pepper; serve. Makes 4 servings. Bon Appétit December 2001 and we both liked this one really well: ORANGE HONEY-BAKED CHICKEN -- Daisy 1 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons honey 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange rind 1/2 teaspoon ginger 4 boned chicken breast fillets (about 500g) 2 tablespoons orange marmalade (1/8 tsp red pepper flakes) (2 T peanut butter added into the sauce to be reduced) Preheat oven to 200C. In baking dish, mix together orange juice, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons honey, orange peel and ginger. Add chicken pieces, turning to coat all sides. If time permits, let chicken marinate for 10 minutes. Bake, uncovered, for 8 minutes, baste with pan juices. Bake an additional 8 minutes, baste again. Glaze chicken with a mixture of marmalade and remaining 1 tablespoon honey, continue to bake 8-10 minutes or until done. Transfer chicken to serving plate. Reduce pan juices until thickened and pour over chicken, garnish with orange slices.

Banana Cream Pie 2 cups milk 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch pinch of salt Mix together and cook in microwave for 6 or 8 minutes stirring every 2 minutes. Each microwave is different. When it is thick stir in 4 egg yolks. Add 3 or 4 sliced bananas that have been put in orange or lemon juice or I use 7-up so they dont turn black. Put in either a baked pie crust or a graham cracker crust. You can make a meringue for on the pie with the egg yolks. I have never put the meringue on the graham cracker crust though. I like whip cream on it better. Coconut cream pie use the same recipe as above but add a 1/2 cup of toasted coconut instead of bananas. I toast the coconut in the microwave starting out a minute at a time and then stirring it and then less time each time. If you dont stir it around it will burn in some places and it will burn very quickly so watch it closely