The National dish of Texas
November 24, 2008 6:43 PM   Subscribe

Thanksgiving is a few days away and while most will be doing the turkey and trimmings thing and perhaps a ham, in my house we do that along with CFS and tamales. Sound strange? It is afterall, all about the gravy and gravy. YUM! Don't be afraid. Texas love & Happy Thanksgiving!
posted by shockingbluamp (23 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm totally on the Gravy Train. Yesterday I made stock per this NYT article in preparation for T-Day.

While this seems a bit chat-filtery, all objections drop in the face of GRAVY.
posted by donovan at 6:52 PM on November 24, 2008


The Dallas Food blog (of the Great Noka Chocolate Debunking of '06) also once ran a five-month series ranking chicken-fried steak places in Texas, counting down 50 spots from the worst to these two.

/helpful vegetarian
posted by mediareport at 6:59 PM on November 24, 2008


Um, I think those CFS reviews are the only thing that could get me back to Texas. Though my mama makes a mean CFS herself.
posted by sugarfish at 7:22 PM on November 24, 2008


mediareport links whipped my ass. Thanks. Wish I found that site and posted it in my post. I'm humbled.
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:28 PM on November 24, 2008


God, I love Chicken Fried Steak and cream gravy. I do, I do, I do, I do. Thank you for this.
posted by yhbc at 7:33 PM on November 24, 2008


Now that I know that CFS is essentially a beef schnitzel, I understand it much better. Hm, I would like to try a well-made one some day. I ordered a CFS at the Flying Pan in Hong Kong and was thoroughly disappointed. They used minced beef!
posted by awfurby at 7:53 PM on November 24, 2008


What's that you say? Delicious tamales? Run!
posted by TungstenChef at 8:00 PM on November 24, 2008


Though to be honest we have CFS on New Year's, which happens to be my birthday. I would have enchiladas for Christmas every year but I keep getting vetoed for ham. Abominable ham.
posted by sugarfish at 8:30 PM on November 24, 2008


I love me some turkey, but I had a Thanksgiving in graduate school that featured tamles and they were also awesome.

Food = good.
posted by bardic at 8:42 PM on November 24, 2008


Bizarre post if you think CFS stands for this.
posted by smackfu at 8:47 PM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


The tamales tag is good times.
posted by parudox at 8:57 PM on November 24, 2008


Awww, CFS is my Thanksgiving meal of choice, but I'll be staying with relatives this year, where the traditional turkey is on the menu. I may have to go to Threadgills on Wednesday night to make up for it.
posted by donajo at 9:01 PM on November 24, 2008


I've had enchiladas and tamales for Thanksgiving, but real stuffing with green chile is my favorite around here. Oh, and my cousin's red chile gravy is so good I want some right this minute, but I'll have to wait a few more days ...
posted by krinklyfig at 9:13 PM on November 24, 2008


GRAVY!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by shockingbluamp at 9:14 PM on November 24, 2008


krinklyfig, do you have a green chile stuffing recipe? Because I might die if I don't get that in my mouth this week.
posted by sugarfish at 9:26 PM on November 24, 2008


sugarfish, I don't, but if I had to make it right now I'd just add some chopped, roasted chiles to stuffing before putting it in the turkey. If I had to guess, maybe a few tablespoons. I'll check with my cousin to see how she makes it, but that won't be until Thursday ... But just adding it straight in to any stuffing recipe is probably how it's done. It's definitely better if the stuffing is good, like made from scratch.
posted by krinklyfig at 9:48 PM on November 24, 2008


Two local radio guys asked for listener opinion on what flavour chip they would like. Gravy [slightly NSFW] [57%] won hands down (Pork dumpling [26%]; Fruit salad [12%]; Kebab [2%]; Beer [2%]; Bacon and egg [1%]). Smith's Chips produced a 60,000 packet run of them. There was national cry of anguish at the limited availability.
posted by tellurian at 9:48 PM on November 24, 2008


I am SO going out to get some chicken fried steak for breakfast tomorrow.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:03 PM on November 24, 2008


sugarfish, this recipe is roughly how I've done green chile stuffing before (except that you should use frozen green chile instead of canned, if possible, because the canned stuff isn't as good). The recipe is for a casserole, but you can make the stuffing the same way and then just use it for the turkey instead. If you want to improve on the recipe, make cornbread stuffing from scratch instead of using the mix, then go from there. Note that cornbread stuffing goes much better with chile than the bread-based stuffing you might be used to in Chicago! If you try it, let me know what you think of it.
posted by vorfeed at 10:08 PM on November 24, 2008


GRAVY!!!!!!!!!!!
You rang?

I make my husband CFS about twice a month-- he loves it so, but we prefer a spicier cream gravy. My recipe is made with half and half, 1 TB sauce from chipotle chiles in adobe sauce, 2 tsp fresh thyme, and 1 tsp coriander.

We are having red and green peppercorn encrusted prime rib roast for Thanksgiving so I will be making a more elegant gravy for the creamed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. Sherried Gravy: Sauté 2 finely minced shallots in 3 TB of butter and then add 3 TB flour. After the roux is bubbly, slowly stir in 3 TB of good sherry and cook down until almost dry, then add 2 cups of the best concentrated beef stock available. (If you don't make your own, you can use a low sodium, good quality boxed beef broth that has been boiled down to double strength. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a dollop or two of cream if desired. <----pretty much the motto of my kitchen.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:33 AM on November 25, 2008 [1 favorite]


Awesome, vorfeed, thanks! I am more used to cornbread based stuffing -- I grew up in NM -- and I might be able to pull this off this week. I will have to used canned chile, though. The frozen stuff is so expensive and I haven't broken down to have ten pounds of it shipped yet. I tell myself I will every September.
posted by sugarfish at 6:07 AM on November 25, 2008


CFS says Texas to me, but the stuff I get at Cracker Barrel will do in a pinch.
posted by RussHy at 6:54 AM on November 25, 2008


Oh yeah. I am a Texan transplanted to California. I miss a really good CFS. Nice post. Thanks!

And daaaayum, Secret Life of Gravy, that is one tasty sounding recipe! My mouth is watering!
posted by Xoebe at 9:19 AM on November 25, 2008


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