Top Chef Challenge: Dale Talde Tweaks Chicken-Fried Steak
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.
In this Article
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.
Groceries: The F&W Market Basket
Top-round beef
Photo © Getty. 
Ginger
Photo © Stephanie Foley. 
Coconut milk
Photo © Antonis Achilleos. 
Curry powder
Photo © Antonis Achilleos. 
Coffee
Photo © Antonis Achilleos.
From the Pantry
Egg, milk, all-purpose flour, salt and pepper, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, sugar
Extra Ingredients
Video: Top Chef Moments