Chicken Fried "Steak" (Made With Hamburger)

Here's a recipe that came out of, literally, a want to have beef for dinner, but knowing that steak would cost the same price as a small car (I feel like the main character from "Trancers" these days, "Beef?!?  From a cow?!?").  I thought and thought of something other than tacos or hamburgers or the usual "stuff" to do with hamburger and I came up with this.

I really liked it, my husband thought I should have just made hamburgers I think (he's a big burger fan).  But, it was a different dinner anyway, and economical.  So, I thought I'd share.

If you are gluten free, by the way, just use your favorite gluten free AP flour for this or even brown rice flour (gives you a more light breading, but I've done it a lot myself).

Chicken Fried "Steak" (Made With Hamburger)

• 1 Cup AP Flour
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt (if using regular table salt, reduce to 1 TBS)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 Hamburger patties, pressed very thin if you can (I mix about 1 tsp salt and pepper into my hamburger meat before I form the patties too, so the seasoning goes throughout the meat).  For 4 hamburger patties I think I used about 1/4 pound of meat.

Procedure:

Mix flour (I honestly eyeball the amount, but I'd say 1 cup is pretty close) and seasonings in a container and then dump into a pie tin.  Dredge (carefully of course) both sides of the hamburger patties in the flour mixture.

Meanwhile heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a deep skillet (I use my 12 inch cast iron skillet for this) to about 375 degrees F (I just wait until I'm pretty sure it's nice and hot, honestly).

Place hamburgers carefully in the oil and cook until golden brown on both sides (the hamburgers are going to look dark, just as a warning, as the paprika browns dark) and hamburgers are done in the middle.  If you get your patties thin enough a couple of minutes per side will be enough, but if thicker it will take longer (obviously).  Either way, cook to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

Serve with your favorite sawmill gravy recipe, or a brown gravy will work in a pinch as well (what I served here).

I like to serve my chicken fried "steak" with mashed potatoes and a salad (in this case it was fruit salad).