Willy Or Won't He

I don’t know about where you live but here autumn has more than a touch of winter to it. Flannel sheets are on the bed, heat is on during many of the waking hours, and snow has blanketed the landscape several times in the past week or two. Fortunately it hasn’t stayed but it definitely gives a taste of what’s to come.

Its time to thumb through the recipe box and find some old standby comfort foods. And what could be more comforting on a dreary, wet, cold evening than Salisbury Streak with Mushroom Gravy.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
from Nagi at RecipeTtin Eats
Serves: 5*
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
Salisbury Steak
1/2 onion (white, brown or yellow)
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or 1/3 cup ordinary breadcrumbs)
1 lb/500g ground beef (mince)
1 garlic clove , minced
1 egg
2 tbsp ketchup
1 beef bouillon cube , crumbled
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tsp Dijon mustard OR 2 tsp dry mustard powder
Gravy**
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves , minced
1/2 onion , finely chopped
5 oz/150g mushrooms , sliced
30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour (all purpose / plain)
2 cups beef broth / stock , low sodium
1/2 cup water
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Instructions
Place breadcrumbs in a bowl. Use a box grater and grate the onion over the breadcrumbs. Mix with fingers, leave to soak for a few minutes. 
Add remaining Salisbury Steak ingredients and use your hands to mix until just combined. Mix well for a couple of minutes until the mixture becomes a bit “pasty” which will ensure your patties hold together well.
Divide into 5 and pat very firmly into oval patties around 3/4″ / 1 2/3 cm thick.
Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the steaks and cook the first side for 1 minute or until browned, then gently flip and brown the other side (they will still be raw inside). Remove onto plate.
If skillet is looking dry, add a touch more oil. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook for 2 minute until onions are a bit translucent.
Add the mushrooms into the skillet and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until golden.
Turn heat down to medium. Add butter. Once melted, add flour and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Gradually add in beef broth, stirring as you go. Once mostly lump free, whisk in remaining Gravy ingredients.
Add steaks along with the juices on the plate. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes, or until gravy is thickened, stirring occasionally around the steaks. If the gravy thickens too quickly, add more water.
Remove steaks onto a plate. Taste gravy and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve Salisbury steaks topped with the mushroom gravy – over mashed potato is ideal! Sprinkle with a bit of parsley if desired.

* 5 is a rather odd number but size can be adjusted to number of dinners and these do work the next day for lunch.
**This is a great mushroom gravy recipe on its own.

Just as an FYI the name Salisbury has nothing to do with the town in England but refers to American Dr James Salisbury (1823-1905). The good doctor, an early health-food faddist, advocated a meat-centred diet and used the name in 1897 for a what he intended as a dietary treatment for digestive disorders. I think of it as soul-soothing treatment on a bleak evening.

The word for November 15th is:
Steak /stāk/: [noun]
^1.1 A slice of meat, typically beef, usually cut thick and across the muscle grain and served broiled or fried.
^1.2 A thick slice of a large fish cut across the body.
^1.3 A patty of ground meat broiled or fried.
Middle English steike, from Old Norse steik (roast).