My mom is an incredible cook, even though she will try and tell you I did not inherit my cooking skills from her. She is lying.
Where cooking southern food is concerned, my mom and Grandmama taught me everything I know. My mom made cube steak on the regular, and when I did eat meat, I thought she made the best fried chicken on the planet. My mom can fry the heck out of some food and make you want to weep with joy while you eat it.
Also, if you ever travel much in the south east, you quickly learn there is a Cracker Barrel at like every other interstate exit.
To say we ate out at Cracker Barrel weekly in my childhood would not be that much of a stretch. If my mom was in the mood to cook us dinner (she may be a good cook but she hates doing it) we were likely eating out somewhere that still served some variation of southern food.
My favorite thing to order for years at Cracker Barrel was the chicken fried steak, or country fried steak, depending on what you want to call it. It is basically just cube steak that has been extra tenderized, battered, and fried. Yes, in the south we even batter and fry steak.
So obviously once going vegan, country fried steak was off the menu for me. But once I learned to make basic seitan, and realized how wonderfully it fries up, I knew I had to make country fried seitan steak!!!
I have often said in the south you are born with hot oil coursing through your veins, because we fry everything.
Well y’all, it is flipping delicious. Basic seitan is so easy to make, too! I simmer mine for an hour but it only takes a few minutes to mix up! I often make a double batch because it freezes so well. On busy weeknights, all you have to do is thaw it, and you are ready to bread and fry it, or use it in any of the other gazillion ways you can use seitan.
I also love white sawmill gravy to top this vegan steak, but if you are not a fan you could always make a brown mushroom gravy to pour on top. It is basically blasphemy if you do, but I guess I will forgive it if you don’t know any better.
We always serve our vegan country fried steak with mashed potatoes, again slathered in the same vegan sawmill gravy, green beans, and fluffy southern biscuits, or cornbread. It is also good the next day, reheated and put on a biscuit for breakfast, just so you know!
Even if you have never heard of country fried steak, I can not urge you enough to try this vegan version. It is comfort food at its finest and if there is anything I have learned for many generations of fine southern women in my life, it is comfort food!
INGREDIENTS:
BASIC SEITAN WITH JACKFRUIT:
1 can jackfruit in brine
1/4 small white onion
1 and 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons Vegetable Better Than Bouillon
2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoons of your favorite all purpose seasoning
boiling liquid: 5 cups water plus 2 teaspoons butter than bouillon, 1 - 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
STEAK BREADING:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 sleeve vegan round. “butter” crackers
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning
1 cup unsweetened plant milk
1/4 cup plain vegan yogurt or sour cream
Oil for frying
SAWMILL GRAVY:
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened plant milk (I use almond)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Add 1/4 peeled onion to a food processor and pulse until the onion is finely minced. If you do not have a food processor use a blender.
Drain the jackfruit and rinse. Place jackfruit in a food processor ( or blender) and pulse until it is finely minced. Add the remaining ingredients (minus the boiling liquid or breading ingredients) and process for a few minutes, allowing a dough to form and giving it enough time to knead. (watch the posted video for the basic idea of making setian, the video recipe does not include jackfruit but can be found on the site, Basic Seitan)
If you do not have a food processor, add the minced ingredients to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix until all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Once a dough has formed, turn it out onto a clean, flour dusted surface, and knead by hand for 2 to 3 minutes. The dough should look like the pictures above.
Bring a large pot with the boiling liquid to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling reduce the heat to low.
Flatten the seitan dough ball into a disk shape. Cut the disc into quarters and press flat once again. Place the dough quarters into the boiling liquid. Allow the seitan to simmer for 30 minutes. Gently flip each piece using tongs, and continue to simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove the seitan from the pot and place on a paper towel lined plate. Let the seitan cool to room temperate.
Once the pieces are cool, you want to slice them in half lengthwise creating 8 steaks.
To coat the steaks begin by finely crushing the sleeve of butter crackers. I normally just use my hands and crush them right in the package. You can also pop them in the food processor or blender to crush them, or dump them into a zip lock had and crush them using the heel of your hand or a rolling pin.
In a medium shallow bowl or pie plate, mix the crushed crackers, flour, salt, pepper, and seasoning. In another medium bowl, whisk the plant milk and yogurt together.
Dip each steak into the milk and yogurt mixture then press them into the cracker flour mix, making sure the steaks are totally coated in the mixture.
Heat a large deep skillet with a few inches of oil over medium heat until nice and hot. You can poke a wooden chopstick or skewer into the oil and if tiny bubbles form around it, the oil is ready. Place 3 or 4 steaks in at a time, allow each side to fry for a few minutes until crisp and golden brown. Place finished steaks on a cooking rack placed on top of a paper towel lined baking sheet. This allows the excess oil to drip off but keeps them crisp. Repeat with remaining steaks.
To make the gravy, heat another deep skillet over medium heat, add the vegan butter once the pan is hot, then whisk the four into the melted butter. Let the flour cook for few minutes then whisk in the milk. Add the salt and pepper and continue whisking until the gravy has thickened.
Serve the steaks with the sawmill gravy and your favorite sides.
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