Week #50: Wyoming: Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy Pizza

State: Wyoming

No surprise here, but I have never been to Wyoming.  From what I hear, it is beautiful if you are the outdoors type.  After doing research, I discovered that Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy is big in Wyoming.  Since this is my last pizza and I have never made chicken fried steak before, I wanted to use this for a pizza.  I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Steak:
1 pound cube steak
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
1 tsp. of onion powder
1 teaspoon or preferred amount of ground black pepper
Canola oil

Gravy:
3 heaping tablespoons flour
2 cups cold milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pizza crust
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese

Gravy:

After cooking the steaks, scoop out about 4 tablespoons of the drippings and oil from the pan.  Please make sure not to include the brown cooked bits, which will make the gravy taste burnt.  Add the flour, stirring until well mixed. Over medium heat, slowly add the milk while stirring constantly. Cook until the gravy comes to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meat:

Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with enough oil to reach about 1/4-inch up the pan. Heat pan over medium-high heat. 

Whisk together the milk and egg in a shallow bowl.  Set aside. Place the flour in a shallow dish with salt and pepper.   Coat the steaks in the egg mixture, then toss in the bowl of flour.  Repeat the step one more time and then add to the pan. Cook until the bottom of the steak is nice and brown or around 3-5 minutes.  Flip steak over and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Be careful to not overcook or the flour will burn.  Continue this process until all the steaks are cooked and place onto a paper towel-lined plate.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  Coat the entire base of the pizza with the gravy.  Next, add the pieces of the steak onto the pizza, spreading out so each slice will have an even share of meat.  Sprinkle meat with some more gravy and add the cheese along the pizza.  Put into oven for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to pizza cool before cutting or eating. 

Pairing:

For this pizza, you need something hoppy or something to bring out some richness into the dish.  I would choose an IPA or an Imperial Ale to bring out some flavor pairing with the two.  Cheers!

Learning Moments:

This is the first time I have ever made chicken fried steak and may not be the last.  This pizza was the final state inspired dish of this challenge and I have challenged myself along the way to get inspired by some of these local favorite dishes.  See blog section for a recap of all the pizzas and my top 5.  Enjoy! 

Week #49: Wisconsin - Brats & Beer Cheese Soup Pizza

State:  Wisconsin

When I think of Wisconsin, I think of cheese curds, beer, brats and the Packers.  From what I researched, beer cheese soup is a popular dish and bratwursts are very common as well. When making a pizza with bread flour, I had to do the beer cheese soup and brats pizza.  I hope you enjoy this, as it was very tasty. 

Ingredients:

4 ounces bock beer (I used Scotch ale)

1⁄2 cup onion - minced

1⁄2 cup carrot - minced

1⁄2 cup celery - minced

1⁄4 cup sweet red pepper - minced

1/2 (10 1/2 ounce) carton organic chicken broth

1⁄4 cup flour

1/2 cup half-and-half

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese - shredded

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to preference

Soup:

Open beer and let stand while mincing vegetables.  In a medium soup pot, sauté the vegetables with 1 tablespoons of butter until they become translucent.  Add flour and create a roux, stirring until golden brown.  Add chicken broth and stir.  Add half of the beer and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Pour remainder amount of beer into pot.  Stirring continuously, add half &half and cheese.  Heat until cheese melts.  Stir in sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and allow soup to cool. 

Brats:

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook brats on both sides until they get a nice sear.  Remove from oven once the Brats reach 170 degrees and are mostly gray in color. Allow to cool and cut into slices. 

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  Scoop out soup with a ladle and pour onto pizza.  Make sure to pour in small quantities, so that you do not go over the edges of the pizza crust.  Next, add the slices of bratwurst onto the pizza, spreading out so each slice will have an even share of meat.  Put into oven for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to pizza cool before cutting or eating. 

Pairing:

When pairing a beer with this pizza, I decided to use Scotch ale versus a bock beer just for the flavor that the Scotch ale brings.  So I would recommend a Scotch or Bourbon Ale, or even an Imperial Stout.   Cheers!

Learning Moments:

This was the first time I made beer cheese soup and it is so thick, I could not imagine myself to eat it without the pizza crust.  I did find the soup tasty, but by itself, it would be too much.  This challenge has had me learn how to make things I normally I would not make.  I love where this challenge is taking my cooking skills and will force me to learn how to cook better.  Hope you try and enjoy this pizza!

Week #48: West Virginia - Mountaineer Chicken & Dumplings Pizza

State:  West Virginia

I have only visited West Virginia once, which was Charles Town for a Lolapooloza concert in 1994.  Lalapalooza was an all day festival, hosting the Beastie Boys, Tribe Called Quest, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and many more well-known bands.  We were in High School and were pulled over by the police for throwing beer cans out of the window.  Luckily for us, we just had to dump the beer out and we were allowed to leave.  I was a much different person then, but the memory is clear as yesterday.  So when thinking about the state, I really did not have much to think about.  However, in my research, I found out that WV is known for Chicken & Dumplings.  Now my grandmother made killer C&D, which my mom has lived on with the recipe.  This is the first time I made it, which actually turned out really good.  This was my wife's first time eating chicken and dumplings, which she loved!  I hope you enjoy this pizza, because it was REALLY amazing!

Ingredients:

3 Chicken breast cutlets

1 12 oz. container of chicken broth

2 carrots - peeled and diced

1 small onion - diced

DUMPLINGS:

1 c flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tsp baking powder

1/3 c milk

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Pizza Crust

1 block of White Cheddar Cheese

Chicken & Dumplings:

Combine chicken, celery, carrots, onion, chicken broth, parsley, chicken bouillon granules, salt and pepper in a large pot.  Add enough water to cover chicken.  Bring chicken and water to a boil.  Then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove chicken and let stand until cool enough to handle.  Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Add meat back into the water and add salt and pepper.  Add peas, carrots, and onions, simmering on low. 

In a mixing bowl, combine dumpling ingredients and mix well to form a stiff dough texture.  Drop by tablespoonful’s into simmering soup.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  Scoop out chicken and dumplings, arranging onto the pizza and ensure all areas of the crust are covered evenly.  Next, freshly grate cheddar cheese onto the chicken and dumplings.  Do not grate too much, just enough to add some extra flavor.  I would do 1/3 cup of cheese, just to add a little flavor without overdoing it. 

Pairing:

This pizza, you can use something to balance out the comfort, so I would go with a hoppy IPA or something with malty tones.  Of course I went with an IPA with a strong hoppy finish.  Cheers!

Learning Moments:

Why did I not ever make this before?  Man, this dish is amazing.  I love some Chicken & Dumplings!  This dish definitely reminds me of my mother and grandmother’s cooking.  The homemade version of dumplings is much better than the Bisquick versions.  I will definitely utilize this dish more often in our house.  I hope you enjoy this recipe!