I found some "ground beef steaks" in my freezer and had no idea what that was. Was it a hamburger patty? Was it a steak with a weird texture? I asked David and he goes "oh! That's for Salisbury steak!"
So tonight I was able to cook them from frozen but then I realized they probably didn't have any seasoning in them because the company expects you to put gravy with it. I've never made gravy (not from inside a turkey) before so I was definitely intimidated. I didn't think it was hard, I understood the basic concept but it was still uncharted territory for me.
I had mushrooms and no beef broth (or stock) so I looked up recipes for "mushroom gravy". I found this recipe and tweaked it just a bit.
First (in my electric skillet), I cooked the steaks. I set them on a plate but left the grease in the pan. Then, I sauteed some mushrooms and onions in the grease, until well cooked (the onions even got this nice almost char on them). I added 2 tablespoons of flour (the original recipe calls for 3 but I didn't want a ton of gravy. I only had 3 steaks).
Next mix it up well and make sure there's no flour bits anywhere. Then, I didn't have any broth but I did have a spare packet of chicken ramen seasoning. I added 1 1/2 cups of water (instead of two) and half of the packet of seasoning. Then I added some garlic powder, onion powder, a splash of liquid smoke, thyme, and sage. I stirred frequently, letting it bubble so it grew thicker.
After a couple minutes, I added the steaks back in the gravy so they could absorb some of the flavor of the gravy too. I let everything heat throughout and let it cook until my desired consistency (just another minute or two). Then I served!
I made this with mac and cheese because that's what my kids requested, French bread to soak up the gravy, and raw snow peas because I ran out of time to make anything else and I happened to find those in the fridge.
I was (am) SO giddy that I was able to make gravy! And it was all absolutely delicious. I honestly rate this a 10/10!
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Skillet "Cheeseburger" With Cauliflower
My whole family is sick with a cold so I will have to make this recipe again when we feel better to see if it still tastes good! Ha!
This is my last week of fresh CSA veggies (but I have plenty frozen!). So this recipe was just about using up the fridge. I also had thawed a pound of ground beef for a different recipe, but with being sick I didn't want to go into all the effort of that one.
So here's what I did. I had 2 small heads of cauliflower that I chopped (pretty small, like kid bite size) and put in a bowl with a splash of water. I microwaved them for 10 minutes. While that cooked, I chopped an onion, the other half of a red pepper, and some baby bella mushrooms.
Because I can't use my electric skillet and my microwave at the same time, I had to wait til my microwave was done before I could start browning the beef. I threw in the onions at the same time too. Next, you should drain it. I ALWAYS forget this step and my gut pays for it later.
When the meat is mostly browned, add in your cauliflower. After that seems to be cooked up, add in your peppers and mushrooms. As those start to cook, season with garlic. I also added salt in at this point, not remembering I had planned to add a little salsa later.
So now everything is just about done. Add in a splash of salsa (third of a cup maybe? half a cup?) and stir to combine. I also added in some cheddar cheese (1/3 of a block but more definitely wouldn't be bad!). When the cheese is melted, it's ready!
My kids even ate this! They have been picking things out of my dinners for weeks now and this one was just gobbled up. They didn't even seem to notice the mushrooms or the cauliflower. The one thing my daughter did notice was the peppers, but not the ones I had added in, the ones from the salsa! How funny is that? Ha!
Ingredient list for ease of future use:
ground beef
onion
bell pepper
mushrooms
cauliflower
salsa
garlic powder
cheddar cheese
You could very easily omit the salsa and add in whatever seasoning you want. Even the veggies could probably be swapped out. I would leave the cauliflower though, because it's kind of like rice (although my pieces weren't that fine) but your choice! I love use-up-the-fridge recipes!
This is my last week of fresh CSA veggies (but I have plenty frozen!). So this recipe was just about using up the fridge. I also had thawed a pound of ground beef for a different recipe, but with being sick I didn't want to go into all the effort of that one.
So here's what I did. I had 2 small heads of cauliflower that I chopped (pretty small, like kid bite size) and put in a bowl with a splash of water. I microwaved them for 10 minutes. While that cooked, I chopped an onion, the other half of a red pepper, and some baby bella mushrooms.
Because I can't use my electric skillet and my microwave at the same time, I had to wait til my microwave was done before I could start browning the beef. I threw in the onions at the same time too. Next, you should drain it. I ALWAYS forget this step and my gut pays for it later.
When the meat is mostly browned, add in your cauliflower. After that seems to be cooked up, add in your peppers and mushrooms. As those start to cook, season with garlic. I also added salt in at this point, not remembering I had planned to add a little salsa later.
So now everything is just about done. Add in a splash of salsa (third of a cup maybe? half a cup?) and stir to combine. I also added in some cheddar cheese (1/3 of a block but more definitely wouldn't be bad!). When the cheese is melted, it's ready!
My kids even ate this! They have been picking things out of my dinners for weeks now and this one was just gobbled up. They didn't even seem to notice the mushrooms or the cauliflower. The one thing my daughter did notice was the peppers, but not the ones I had added in, the ones from the salsa! How funny is that? Ha!
Ingredient list for ease of future use:
ground beef
onion
bell pepper
mushrooms
cauliflower
salsa
garlic powder
cheddar cheese
You could very easily omit the salsa and add in whatever seasoning you want. Even the veggies could probably be swapped out. I would leave the cauliflower though, because it's kind of like rice (although my pieces weren't that fine) but your choice! I love use-up-the-fridge recipes!
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