On Tuesday I set about putting together the Sunday Dinner Box. A few family heirlooms and $50 bucks later I had it together. Everything matched beautifully. I put it all aside and waited to bring it out, oh so casually, on Sunday.
I only got one inquiry on the box. It was from my daughter. My explanation? "I needed a bit of storage."
Wednesday afternoon, in passing, I mentioned to the kids that I'd like them to pick whatever they wanted for dinner on Sunday and we'd cook it. Bastian enthusiastically led off with chicken fried steak, gravy and mashed potatoes to which Rose replied "ugh..." I observed that there may be some give and take necessary here.
Right off the bat, the "we" in "we'll cook" seemed to have gone unnoticed. I believe they thought I meant the royal we, as in me. It took my son about 2 days to process it, at which point he came back to me.
"Mom, do you mean we're all cooking this dinner on Sunday?"
"Well, yeah" I said
"Okay, never mind, I don't want a special dinner." he replied.
On Sunday my daughter was excited to start but my son, not so much. Rose chose an Orange Fruit Dip for an appetizer and we went with my son’s dream meal of Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Fried Okra. Our dessert was Angel Food Cake with strawberries and cream. We started at noon picking recipes and making a shopping list. I was busted by Rose before we’d even reached the supermarket.
“Are we going to do this every week?” she asked.
“I’d like to.” I said. With a huge grin she asked if it was a surprise.
"It’s a surprise for some and a 'stealth attack' for others" I replied… Bastian snorted.
Our trip to the grocery store did not start out well. Bastian was extremely resistant, refusing to look at the list or push the cart. He followed his sister and me around with a generally sullen teen look about him for the first 15 minutes. Later, as we were checking out, he informed me that he knew people there and couldn't just be following his mom around the store carting groceries and flowers… “I have an image to maintain.” Nice. And eye opening. I forget what it’s like to be 14 and embarrassed by the mere presence of an adult.
After he settled down (or the unknown peers left), they learned some things. The dip called for Orange Marmalade. Rose grabbed some Smuckers and announced she had the jam. I grabbed one from England and said “well let’s look at the ingredients. Mine has sugar, oranges and pectin… what does yours say?” Rose reads: “high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, orange peel, orange juice…” at that point, Bastian reached around me, grabbed the one I was holding and put it in the cart. Rose laughed and I called it a victory for informed, healthy eating.
At home the cooking went smoothly except for a slight hiccup when it came time to agree on the ambient music during our work. When he couldn’t stomach pop and she proclaimed hip hop utterly inappropriate, I turned on classical and declared myself the winner.
They worked so hard. This is a huge meal and very labor intensive but they really got into it. They followed the recipes. Bastian cooked the Fried Okra solo, Rose cooked the Chicken Fried Steak and we all had a hand in the potatoes, the dip, salad and dessert. When I brought out my box with all the special supplies, they oohed and aahed like small children and I was so warmed and so happy to see the little kids peeking out of the older ones eyes. Though the table was lovely, I was too tired and too eager to sit down to take a picture.
My husband, like my daughter, knows me too well. He sat down to dinner, looked at me with a smile and asked “darling, what are we up to here?” Sheepishly I explained my “plan.” He thought it was a great idea.
All my plotting was both ineffective and, apparently, unnecessary. He does love good food.
It took me two hours to clean but it was well worth it and I am excited for next week - which will be Rose’s pick…
Phở!
Signed,
Trying Momma
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Recipes and Cooking Notes Below
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Old-Fashioned Fried Okra
Source: www.texascooking.com
Trying Momma's Notes:
This can be prepared at the very start of the cooking and set aside to fry in the last 15 minutes. The batter is a light coating on the okra and not the thick bread found on fried okra in most Texas restaurants. It is a lighter version of this dish.
Fried okra is a southern staple, and now that frozen chopped okra is available in most supermarkets, it can be enjoyed year round. (Mind you, fresh is better than frozen, but good, fresh okra can be hard to find outside the southern states.)
•1 quart okra (4 cups)
•1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•1/2 cup cornmeal
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/8 teaspoon pepper
•1 egg, well beaten
•1 cup shortening
Wash okra well and drain. Cut off tip and stem ends. Cut in 1/2-inch pieces, and set aside in medium bowl.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Pour the beaten egg over the okra, and toss until okra is coated. Pour flour mixture over okra, and toss to coat.
Heat shortening in a large skillet over medium heat (oil should be hot, but not smoking hot). Add okra and fry until brown and crisp. Drain well on paper towels. Makes about 6 servings.
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Texas-Style Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy
Source: www.texascooking.com
Trying Momma's Notes:
Husband is a true Texan and felt this was the genuine article. However, we made the mistake of preparing these puppies first, cooking the rest of the meal and then frying them just before we sat down. In my opinion these bad boys need to prepared, fried and served all in one fell swoop with no delay. That should give a better crisp and yummy chicken fried steak coating. Otherwise this recipe, though hard work is virtually idiot proof.
It is hard to get much more Texan than Chicken Fried Steak. Quality of the beef really counts in this dish. This recipe calls for cube steaks, but good round steak that you have asked the butcher to run through the tenderizer or that you have tenderized yourself with a mallet (no big deal and can be a real stress reliever) can be even better.
•4 tenderized beef cutlets (known in supermarkets as "cube steak") OR 1 round steak, with fat removed, that you've tenderized yourself (see above)
•1 egg
•1/4 cup milk
•all-purpose flour
•cooking oil or melted Crisco®
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
•1/4 teaspoon paprika
•1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Beat together the egg and milk and set aside. Mix together the salt, black pepper, paprika and white pepper and sprinkle on both sides of beef cutlets.
Dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess. Then dip each cutlet in the egg/milk mixture, then back in the flour. (You're going to get your hands messy here, so take your rings off.) Set cutlets aside on a piece of waxed paper.
Heat the cooking oil in a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Oil should be about a half-inch deep in the pan. Check the temperature with a drop of water; if it pops and spits back at you, it's ready.
With a long-handled fork, carefully place each cutlet into the hot oil. Protect yourself (and your kitchen) from the popping grease that results. Fry cutlets on both sides, turning once, until golden brown. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 4 or 5 minutes until cutlets are done through. Drain cutlets on paper towels.
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Cream Gravy
Source: www.texascooking.com
Keep adding water and milk alternating until you get the consistancy you desire. This gravy should be thick but as it cooks up it will thicken even more so make it just a tad thinner than you'd like to make up for that.
After the cutlets are removed from the pan, pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of oil, keeping as many as possible of the browned bits in the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour (use the left-over flour from the chicken fried steak recipe) in the hot oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, quickly, to brown the flour.
Gradually stir in 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup water, mixed together, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon and mashing out any lumps. Lower heat, and gravy will begin to thicken. Continue cooking and stirring a few minutes until gravy reaches desired thickness. Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper according to your taste.
As for the cooking, for the most part, it was just Bastian and I. This is ironic since he's the one who didn’t want to cook. He’s getting into the rhythm of it though. Bastian enjoyed the cooking more this time. It was quite a bit less labor intensive and time consuming. We started with sauteed mushrooms with smoked mozzarella and had tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce for the main course, canollis for desert (of course).
