Chicken Fried Chicken!!

You'll need: 4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (less depending on the size of your appetite)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ( I used table pepper)
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
oil

I had never fried chicken at home. Until now. It was so good, but way more than we could eat. :)

Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper. Set aside.

 Combine cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, remaining salt and pepper. Whisk together milk and eggs. Dredge chicken in cracker crumb mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge in cracker mixture again.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a 12-inch skillet. Over medium high heat (more on the high side) fry chicken, in batches, 10 minutes. Turn and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack in a cookie sheet.

Final product. I did make the gravy per the the recipe, but it wasn't really flavorful. Because I didn't cook the chicken in a skillet and I didn't want to drain the oil until it had cooled. I have made this recipe twice now. The first time is as shown with whole chicken breasts. But just two days ago, I cut the breasts into strips. They were much better. Easy finger food for my kids. :) The recipe was not altered if you choose to do strips instead.

 

 Country Gravy
1/3 - cup flour
2 - 3 tablespoons pan drippings
3 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste

Carefully drain the hot drippings, reserving cooked bits and 2 -3 tablespoons of the drippings in skillet. Add 1/3 cup flour to the skillet with the drippings. Cook over medium high heat. Using a whisk mix the flour into the drippings until it starts to brown and become a paste. Whisk constantly until the paste becomes nice and brown.

Slowly add the milk whisking constantly and blending the liquid with the flour mixture until combined. Let the gravy come to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the gravy thickens up. If the mixture thickens too much add more milk as needed until the gravy is the consistency that you want. This could end up being more then the required 3 cups. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve over the chicken fried steak.