Instructions: Today, the ever-expanding boundaries of comfort food include a dish that in recent years has been more talked about than eaten, except at truck stops: the chicken-fried steak, an inexpensive cut of beef, coated in flour and fried until brown.

Quick to cook and economical, it can be a treat. Or it can be tough, tired and weighed down by a pan gravy that has the texture and taste of wallpaper paste.

If your steak is inexpensive - and it should be - its going to be tough.

Use cube steak, which has been tenderized some by the butcher. Take time to work the flour into the meat evenly, and dont cook it beyond medium.

A little corn bread, a friendly vegetable, something cold to wash it down and a taste of something sweet to finish is the recipe for a "satisfrying"

meal.

Alternate choice: If your comfort zone includes a side of creamy mashed potatoes with your meat, but you are counting calories, toss shredded, steamed zucchini with a little tomato sauce or leave the zucchini plain and make it into a bed for the steak and gravy.

Shred the zucchini first and steam it while preparing the steaks. Heat some tomato sauce in a saucepan while the steaks are cooking and toss the zucchini in the hot sauce to warm it up.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.