Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients

• 1 lb. )1/2'' thick) top round steak, trimmed and cut into 4 equal pieces.
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 Chipotle pepper, seeded,rinsed and finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Pound steaks with a mallet to tenderize them. Use flat side of the mallet to flatten steaks to 1/4'' thick.
3. Place a large wire rack (such as a cookie rack) over a jellyroll pan. In a deep heavy skillet or Dutch oven, heat 2-3'' of oil over high heat and heat to 375 degrees F.
4. In a shallow bowl, mix buttermilk and hot pepper sauce. In a separate bowl, combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and mix well. Dip each piece of steak in the buttermilk mixture, then the flour mixture. Set aside 1 1/2 tablespoons of the flour mixture.
5. Fry steaks, 2 at a time, turning once until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes total. Transfer to wire rack and keep warm in oven while making gravy.
6. Discard all but 1 1/2 tablespoons oil from skillet. Over low heat, whisk in reserved flour mixture and cook until it bubbles. Let mixture bubble for a minute.
7. Whisk in milk and Chipotle and bring to a simmer. Simmer until no trace of flour taste remains, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste and serve over steaks immediately.