IN OR OUT CHICKEN FRIED STEAK

This recipe may look like a lot of work for a redneck chef, but really, it's not so bad once you get into it. You can even do this over the campfire at your hunting camp (just put the cold stuff in with the beer) or at a family picnic.

Ingredients:

4 cube steaks
2 cups flour
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tbsp paprika
2 cups peanut oil
1 pint buttermilk

How to:

Between two pieces of wax paper or inside a 1-gallon zipper lock bag beat the cube steaks with a meat tenderizer until each steak is about 1/3 inches thick. Remove the top piece of wax paper or take the steaks out of the bag and season the meat on both sides with salt, garlic powder and pepper. Place the meat in a plastic bag. Set aside in a cooler (a refrigerator if you’re cooking this indoors!) for about 2 hours.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a 5-quart Dutch oven in about ½-inch of oil. Check the oil by placing a drop of water in the middle of the oil, if it pops, the oil is ready.

While the oil is heating, mix 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp garlic salt, 2 tbsp paprika and flour in a large mixing bowl. Take the meat out of the cooler and remove from bag. Place the meat on wax paper (wax paper just keeps the meat from sticking and is pretty easy to work with outdoors). Fill the same bag with the flour mixture and fill the now empty bowl with the buttermilk. You basically just switched the flour and meat from bowl to bag. Dip the meat in the bowl of buttermilk, soaking the meat through, and then drop the meat into the flour bag. Shake the bag until all the meat is covered in the flour mixture.

Place meat in Dutch oven. You can put 2-3 steaks in at a time depending on the size of the steaks. Cook until nice and brown, then remove from oven, and place onto a paper towel to soak up the grease. Have a baker or mashed potato and gravy ready to go and serve it. (Corn on the cob really rounds this dish out!)

“DON’T DRINK ALL THE MARINADE, CHUCK” MARINADE

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of Crown Royal (or any other good whiskey, just in case you like to re-hydrate)
8 whole peppercorns
½ tsp of celery seeds
1/3 cup of finely minced garlic
12 ounce can of concentrated orange juice

How to:
First take a sip of whiskey to make sure it is all right. Then combine the marinade ingredients into a large zip lock 1-gallon plastic bag. You might want to check the whiskey again for quality (it can go bad fast!). Cut up the back straps in 1 to 1 ½ thick pieces. (This is the loin for all you non-hunters). Place the venison or elk back straps in the bag and shake well. Take another sip, all that shakin’ can work up a thirst. Refrigerate in a cooler or in the snow or anything that you can get to and turn it occasionally. Keep it cool for about 24 hours. YOU ARE DONE FOR ATHE DAY!! Better have a little snip to celebrate.

Next day, drink plenty of water and eat a big greasy hunting camp breakfast (like Dang Good Eggs and Ham) that will make you feel better. Heck, you already got your deer or elk so just kick back and… that’s right, take a sip.

Put a little oil in a Dutch oven and place the steaks in the oven. Pour the marinade over the steaks and cook over the coals for about 20 minutes or until the center of the steaks are pink and the outer has a nice crust. (If you like it well done, keep on cookin’)

Note: Here is how Chuck and I bake our tators at hunting camp.

Near the fire and out of the way (we’ve been sipping remember), we dig a hole about a 16” deep and just wide enough to fit the shovel in. Take hot coals from the fire and with the shovel put enough in the hole to raise the floor about 6 inches. Then put a little dirt over it (about 1 inch). Slice a small wedge out of the spuds and fill with butter. Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and place them on the dirt in the hole. Put about 1” of dirt on top of the spuds and fill with more hot coals to within 2 inches of the top. Cover with dirt and…take a sip. Let the spuds cook for about 30 to 45 minutes and you will have some really tasty potatoes.

One more sip before dinner. Enjoy