Food Friday - Country Fried Chicken w/Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Chicken Fried Chicken and Gravy
adapted from My Name is Snickerdoodle

We have a favorite "comfort food" recipe of Country Fried Steak (it is the second recipe on this post) so when I saw this recipe I thought that I would try it.  It was so good - so good, in fact, that my husband officially named this the best fried chicken recipe ever.  The flavor in the breading was great and it went so well with corn and potatoes.  I did use the gravy recipe from the Country Fried Steak recipe because the parsley adds some nice flavor and color but other wise it was perfect as it was written.  Do you want to know my secret for mashed potatoes???  I buy Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes in the "prepared food" aisle.  They are so good, taste better than what I make and are fast and easy :-0 

Ingredients
 4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (or thin sliced cutlets work GREAT!)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
oil



Instructions:
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 (do not use a nonstick skillet). Over medium high heat (more on the high side) fry chicken, in batches, 10 minutes, adding oil as needed. Turn and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack in a cookie sheet. Keep chicken warm in a 225° oven.

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. This is called a roux. If the roux looks too oily and runny you can add another tablespoon or so of flour and mix again. 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 and mashed potatoes