Top Chef Challenge: Dale Talde Tweaks Chicken-Fried Steak

By Kate Krader

The Rules: Prepare a sensational dish with a five-ingredient market basket selected by F&W, a basic pantry, up to two extra ingredients of the chef’s choosing and only 30 minutes of prep time.

Chicken-Fried Steak with Redeye Curry Gravy

Top Chef contestant Dale Talde perfected his recipe for chicken-fried steak as a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. “I couldn’t believe I’d been enjoying such a poor version at my local diner,” says Talde, who has the terrific Asian-American spot Talde and a new tavern, Pork Slope, both in Brooklyn. “At culinary school, I learned that salt and a ton of black pepper are key.” He was thrilled to find top-round beef in his F&W market basket; he fried the steak and used the other ingredients—coffee, coconut milk, curry and ginger—to create an intense, Asian-style gravy.