Famous Breaded Steaks!

                                                                                  
     We used to eat these all the time when I was a kid. La Milanese on 32nd and May in Bridgeport had the best! They were made by two old Italian ladies, fried to order, smothered in red sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoncini's and put Ricobene's and all others to shame!! Mine are just as good or better!!
     What you will need:        Thin cut sandwich steaks
                                        High quality bread crumbs 
                                        Flour and eggs for breading
                                        Good crusty french bread or sandwich rolls
                                        Pot of red sauce for dipping and topping
                                        Grated Mozzarella cheese
                                        Your favorite peppers

I cut the steaks in equal size pieces before I pound them out, a little piece becomes much bigger!

     Start with the steaks.  Buy the thin cut sandwich steaks or ask your butcher to cut them for you, they are usually sirloin, rib eye work great too.  Cut the steaks in equal size pieces.  Next place them in a plastic bag or cover them with wax paper or wrap and pound them even thinner.  I like to start in the center and work my way to the ends, try to get them even thickness.

Princapessa loves to work the breading station!

Flour, egg, bread crumb, egg, bread crumb.

Season the steaks with salt a pepper and bread them in the typical flour, egg, bread crumb manner.  Obviously it is really important to use good quality bread crumbs.  You can use Italian style seasoned or unseasoned and add your own spices, just use good, fresh bread crumbs.  For these I made my own using day old French bread, cut it up, put in food processor then toasted them, came out great.  You can add salt, pepper, grated parmigiana, onion and garlic powder, fresh parsley, what ever you want.  I added salt, pepper and grated cheese.  I watched the lady at La Milanese (the place I used to get them) make them one time and she did flour, egg, breadcrumb, egg, and breadcrumb again...she double dipped, so I did that with these as well, if you like a thinner crust skip the second dip!

Pan fried in olive oil or vegetable oil.

When they are golden brown they are done.

       Next you have to fry them.  Personally, I like to deep fry them in vegetable oil or olive oil.  They go really quick this way and seam to get an even doneness.  This time I was in a hurry and the deep fryer was in need of  an oil change and cleaning so I just pan fried them in olive oil!  Came out just as good, put enough oil in the pan so that it will at least partially cover the steaks when you add them.  Be sure your oil is hot enough, you can drop in a few bread crumbs to test it, if they bubble, it is ready.  If you add them to the pan and the oil is not hot enough they will just sit and soak up the oil, not good, too hot and they will burn, also not good.  Cook them on both sides till they are golden brown, when they are brown, they are done.  Remove them to a cookie sheet to drain a little oil and rest, salt them as soon as they come out!

Dip them all the way in!

Dip them in the tomato sauce.  I usually make a quick simple marinara.  If you are making a lot of steaks, you need to make a lot of sauce, they really soak it up!  Completely submerge them in the sauce using a pair of tongs.  After pulling the breaded steak out of the sauce, place it on a crispy french roll.  I like to use the French loaves or Italian loaves and cut them to the desired size.  I can't stress enough how important it is to have a good crusty piece of bread that will stand up to the sauce and steak.  A soft roll will just melt!

Wow so good, add any peppers you like.

After you put the steak on the bun, add some mozzarella and some more sauce on top to melt the cheese.  You can add any peppers you like, roasted green or red are great, giardinnara, or pepperoncini's.  I always eat them with some pepperoncini's on the side because that is how I got them at La Milanese!!  Enjoy!! Almost forgot, and this may sound strange, but I always ate them with a can of Fanta red creme soda, so if you can get your hands on one give it a try!!!