- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup yellow corn meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ½ cup milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
- Vegetable oil
One at a time, put chicken breasts on a cutting sheet and cover with a heavy duty plastic bag. Pound with a rolling pin or mallet until the breasts are about a half inch thick. Combine flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, and both peppers in a pie plate. Whisk together milk and eggs in a second pie plate. Dredge a breast in seasoned flour, shake off excess, dip in egg/milk mixture, and dredge again in seasoned flour. Transfer to a wire rack over a sheet pan. Repeat with second breast. Allow breasts to rest 5 minutes.
Add enough vegetable oil to a 12-inch cast iron frying pan to bring to a depth of ½ inch. Heat to 350°. Add chicken breasts. Cook until downward facing side is golden brown (it took me about 7 minutes). Flip over and continue cooking until other side is also golden brown (it took me about 5 minutes). Transfer breasts to a wire rack over a sheet pan and tent loosely with foil. Allow to rest while you make pan gravy.
Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat from the frying pan. Add 2 and ½ tablespoons seasoned flour mix. You're making a roux. Cook until it just begins to color, stirring constantly. Blonde is good, but brown is too far and means you have to start over with fresh fat. Add ¾ cup chicken stock. Allow to thicken slightly. Add ½ cup whole milk. Cook until gravy coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste. (I like it very peppery, but YMMV.)
Plate breasts and pour gravy over. Mashed potatoes or corn on the cob would make a nice accompaniment, along with an obligatory green vegetable of some sort, but frankly sometimes (okay, most of the time) I'm content with just the chicken.
