Sh!t I'm Late & Salisbury Steak

Listen...


At the end of the day, I am a mother of a three year old, a wife, a student and extremely exhausted from the day to day motions and at times, I slip up.  Okay, so I slip up a lot.  I came home from a meeting with numerous school counselors about going back to school from my leave of absence and picked up my son 45 minutes earlier than usual.  


The kiddo, Mr. EJ as I affectionately call him, wanted an Ice Popsicle from the store and being that my 3 1/2 year old was pretty good today, I figured what the hell.  We walked into the sun:  my toasted almond ice cream with the sun dressed yellow wrapper and my son walking with his 2 minute melting fire engine and sky blue twisted ice pop.  Of course, he is extremely messy and we both took a bath as we talked about his day.  I pulled out some ground beef, not knowing what the hell I was going to make and after a few hours of lolligagging, I came across the "oh sh!t" moment.  It's 7pm...my son goes to sleep in two hours and my husband is walking in the door...what the hell can I make before it hits 8pm? Salisbury Steak of course!  


Tonight's special meal is my 1, 2, 3 Salisbury Steak w/ Caramelized Onions & Mushroom Pan Gravy.  Since I was short on time, I paired it with some sauteed red and green peppers, onions and fusilli, lightly dressed with oregano and basil.  Ideally, traditional mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives and some sort of steamed or blanched green veggie would have been perfect but I'm a woman on a mission.  Hope this recipe serves you well in your 30 minute pursuit to happiness...45 minutes tops.

1, 2, 3 Salisbury Steak with Onion & Mushroom Pan Gravy

• 2 1/2 lbs. ground beef (or turkey!)
• 1 medium onion, halved and julienned
• 1 small onion (or half med. onion), brunoise or small dice
• 4 cleaned mushrooms (I prefer baby portabella), bottom discarded and julienned
• up to 3 T of all purpose flour
• 1/3 c. pan drippings or vegetable/canola oil
• up to 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 T ketchup
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
• TT salt and pepper

Set oven to broil (500 - 525 degrees).  In the meantime, season thawed ground beef with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Incorporate eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs and diced/brunoise onion into ground beef.  Gather a chunk of meat, separating into 6 - 8 portions to create Salisbury Steaks.  Shape into a rectangle or oval shape and lay on either 1/2 sheet or full sheet pan.  Place steaks into oven for 10 minutes.  Flip over at 10 minute mark and leave in oven for five extra minutes.  Pull steaks off tray and set to side.  Hold grease drippings as gravy.


To create pan gravy, heat pan on medium fire.  Once pan reaches even heat, use grease drippings, approximately 1/3 c. with 90% beef, in pan and caramelize onions; add mushrooms and set vegetables to the side.  Using drippings, mix with all purpose flour, adding 1 T at a time.  Stir frequently and be patient for it to thicken.  Add soy sauce for color and season with salt, as needed.  For a little twist, add 1/3 c. white wine slowly and allow gravy to thicken.  It should be thick enough that it reaches the nappe stage (coat the back of a spoon and stay) but not too thick where it is gooey.  You can thin your gravy with oil, preferably a veggie oil.  Taste to see if it is seasoned enough and you can add onions and mushrooms in mixture.  To make it visually appealing, plate your Salisbury Steak with a coating gravy and place onion and mushrooms on top.  


Bon Appetit!