Chicken Fried Steak with Brown Mushroom & Onion Gravy

This dish "seems" to have developed in Texas as a variant of German Schnitzel brought to the United States by German immigrants, a great number of whom settled in Texas in the 1800s. Schnitzel was often made with pork, but this Texas version was made with beef. Hey, this was Texas, mooooo! The name came from the fact that the beef was coated like fried chicken. Typically the dish is served with white pepper gravy/sauce, but brown gravy is used by some and I've used brown mushroom and onion gravy. The dish eventually spread from Texas to other parts of the U.S., where it was often found in diners in small towns and in little mom and pop eateries along rural stretches of America's highways where it might also be offered as "country fried steak." Mashed potatoes are the common accompaniment for this great dish, but you might see home fries offered in some restaurants, and that's something you might want to try at some point.  

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 cube steaks
1 teaspoon black pepper (divided use)
1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt (divided use)
2/3 to 1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flour (more if needed)
oil for frying (1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Gravy:

1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped (use whatever type you have on hand or like, or mix more than one type)
2/3 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
1 tablespoon oil

Heat 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable or olive) in a skillet (cast iron is good for this) over medium high heat. It is important to have the oil hot before frying the steaks. Use 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon celery salt to season both sides of each cube steak. Mix the remaining celery salt and black pepper with the flour on a plate. Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish. Dip the seasoned cube steaks into the buttermilk, then into the flour. Fry the steaks (likely two at a time) in the hot oil until they are browned on both sides ("about" 4 to 5 minutes per side). For the gravy: over medium heat, add the oil to a sauce pan. Add the chopped onion and sauté for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms and butter, stirring to mix and to help the butter to melt. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and mix it in well, cook for another minute. Gradually add about a third of the beef broth, stirring constantly. Scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the Worcestershire sauce, the ketchup, the dried thyme (I put the thyme in the palm of my hand and then crush it with the thumb of my other hand. It might be my imagination, but I think it helps to release more flavor), the rubbed sage, the sugar and the pepper; stir well, then gradually add the rest of the broth, as you stir the gravy further until it thickens.
 
With mashed potatoes and carrots....

WORD HISTORY:
Gravy-This word, related to "grain," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English, goes back to Indo European "ger," which had the notion, "to wear down;" thus also, "to grow older, to mature." This produced Indo European "gerhanom," which meant, "grain;" that is, "the matured part of a plant." This gave Latin "granum," also meaning, "grain, seed." This was passed to Latin-based French as "grain," with the same meaning, and also importantly, the idea of "grains or seeds of spice to season food." This produced French "grané," meaning, "grained (that is, 'spiced') stew," but as the term was passed along in writing, the "n" was mistaken for a "u," the Latin character for "v" in those times, so that the result became "grave." This was borrowed by English "gravey/gravy" in the 1300s, by which time it had come to mean, "seasoned, thickened sauce from meat juices."