If you've been reading other posts in this blog, you know that I grew up with a mother who lovingly and adoringly made us homemade Korean food. I'm so sorry to say I never appreciated it as a kid, but now as an adult, I can't get enough of my mom's cooking. Growing up in the late 70's in suburban America, I was always drawn to soda pop and chocolate bars. I wanted to eat what the other kids in my school were eating. I was always too embarrassed to pull out my rolls of kimbap, sautéed oden cakes and rice, or fried mandoo.
I was always more inclined to want "American" food. On very rare occasions, my mom let us have TV dinners. And the choir sings: Hallelujah!!! These were my favorite! Of course, TV dinners are a lot different today than they were in the 70's. Now they come in black plastic microwaveable containers and can be zapped in your microwave in less than 5 minutes. Yuck! Back in the day, when the Hungry Man Dinner was king, they came in metallic foil containers and you had to heat them in an oven and wait FORTY-FIVE minutes to eat. Then, when they were ready, you peeled the foil top off and got to eat them in front of the TV! Mmmmmm. America at it's best (at least to a 7 year old kid who couldn't get enough Brady Bunch and Little House on the Prairie)!
The Hungry Man TV dinner that always got my vote was the Salisbury Steak one. Some days, when I'm feeling a bit blue and need a bit of comfort, this dish brings me back to my childhood. There's something about the gravy and mashed potatoes that just makes me happy. Except now, instead of buying a frozen dinner, I just make it at home.
Like this:
So easy to make and probably a lot better than a frozen TV dinner. Just grab these items:
for patties:
1 to 1.5 lb lean ground beef
1/2 med onion, fine diced
1 egg
1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
1 squeeze ketchup (I don't know...like 1 tablespoon...just give it a squeeze.)
1squeeze mustard
seasoning salt and pepper to taste
for gravy:
1 tbsp butter
2-3 cups of sliced mushrooms (I like Crimini mushrooms, but any regular common variety is good)
1 packet of McCormick Brown Gravy or Au Jus mix
dash of Worcestershire sauce (This is optional and I still can't pronounce it)
fine diced onion (optional)
4 cups of water or broth
I start with about a pound of ground beef. I throw it and the onions, egg, bread crumbs and mustard and ketchup into a large bowl.
You can add as much or as little seasoning salt and black pepper as you like.
Boom.
Look. It's a ground beef boat with ketchup and mustard just hanging out...
There's my egg.
I mix all the ingredients together using clean, washed hands. You can use a large spoon if you'd like. I find it's easier to mix using my hands and since you end up forming them into patties anyway, why dirty up a spoon? Then I form into five balls and gently form into patties. Keep in mind to pat the edges to "seal" them or they will break apart during cooking.
I like to use my cast iron skillet, but you can use a large frying pan for this. Over medium high heat, I add some olive oil and when the pan is hot, I put my patties down for about 5 minutes and then flip them to cook the other side. We just want a nice brown on the patties. Don't worry about cooking them all the way through because they will spend some time simmering in the gravy. Mmmmmm. Gravy bath.
Sometimes, I add chopped green onion too (which is why you see green below and a different pan).
Then I remove from the pan or not, but you can.
Gravy time! Yes, you could make a homemade gravy using butter and flour and making a roux, but I LIKE the packaged gravy because it tastes more like the TV dinners I grew up on so you decide which you'd prefer.
In the same pan, I add a pat of butter and sauté the onions (optional) and sliced mushrooms. Sometimes, I don't even take patties out since my frying pan is huge...I just sauté all the butter and mushrooms in the center until the mushrooms and onions are nice and soft. Trust me when I say use BUTTER to sauté them in. It will give your gravy a nice velvety texture.
Then I take this packaged gravy mix:
Add it to about 4 cups of water and add just a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Then I pour it into the pan and let it simmer. Notice I did NOT use any additional salt. The gravy mix is pretty salty so no need to add more salt.
Turn your heat down to medium low and let it simmer. If you took your patties out, add them back in and let them finish cooking in the gravy. I simmer down until the gravy is about half the volume you started with ~ about 15 minutes.
Then serve over mashed potatoes or even rice or pasta (go with mashed potatoes....trust me). I wish I had those nifty metal trays with compartments to eat this on. That would be divine!
