Recipe: The Stallion Grill’s Chicken-Fried Steak & Cream Gravy

Some of my friends in Austin have a completely different recollection of the Stallion. The wide-eyed nostalgia is replaced by something more akin to fear. The Stallion was famous for its $1 chicken-fried steak, and it attracted a rowdy collection of bikers, students, and longtime Austin residents. It was probably the bikers that instilled the most fear, but any place that offers chicken-fried steak leaves its customers' budgets more room for drinking and getting loud. Almost as famous as the CFS was the mysteriously colored gravy that is described as something between the hues of orange, green, and yellow depending on the day. No one seems to remember the color being the same and everyone has a different theory. Some attribute the mystery color to the tint of the lights inside the restaurant. My brother, Curtis, who was a line cook at the Stallion in 1974, was able to solve the mystery. He claims it was egg-shade food coloring that gave the gravy its unique hue. How the gravy could vacillate between green, yellow, and orange seemed to depend on the level of sobriety of the cook making it. Also, if you banged a metal spatula on the flat top griddle, it made a perfect C note.

Jack Allen’s Chicken-Fried Steak

Oil for frying, enough for 1 inch of oil in pan
1 cup milk
1 egg
8 tenderized eye of round steaks
2 cups seasoned flour (recipe below)
Gravy (recipe below)

• Pour oil to 1-inch depth in a pot or cast-iron skillet and heat to 375 F.

• In a bowl, whisk together milk and egg.

• Dredge steaks in flour. Shake off any excess.

• Dip steak into egg/milk bowl. Let excess liquid drain off.

• Dredge again in the flour.

• Cook steaks in oil for 3-5 minutes. Use a candy thermometer to keep oil at 375 F to ensure even cooking. The batter should be crispy and brown, but not too brown.

• Place some paper towels on a plate. Remove steaks from oil and place on the plate to soak up the excess oil.

• Repeat the process until all steaks are cooked.

• Place steaks on a plate and top with generous amounts of gravy.

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Seasoned Flour

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chile powder (ancho or guajillo)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon granulated onion

• In a bowl, use a fork to mix flour and seasonings together.

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Jack Gilmore’s Green Chile Gravy

1 quart milk
1 quart water
1 tablespoon chicken base
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon onion salt
1½ teaspoons white pepper
1½ teaspoons black pepper
¼ pound margarine
¼ cup bacon grease
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup green chiles, diced in ¼-inch pieces
A dash pepper sauce, to taste (optional)

• In a stock pot over medium heat, combine first seven ingredients (milk through black pepper) and heat to 170 F.

• In a separate pan, melt margarine and bacon grease over medium heat.

• Once margarine and bacon grease are melted, add flour and stir constantly for 15 minutes over medium heat to create a roux.

• Add roux to milk mixture and stir constantly until smooth, about 5 minutes.

• Add green chiles.

• Serve.