My mother would occasionally treat me to a stop at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. I would order Salisbury Steak. In retrospect, it was awful, a bland hunk of formed beef in gravy made out of powder. However, it is a fond memory.
Here is my version of a Salisbury Steak with some flavour added.
The ingredients are:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 175 ml (3/4 cup) dry breadcrumbs
- 175 ml (3/4 cup) onion fine chopped
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
- 3 ml (1/2 tsp) black pepper
- 700 g (1 3/4 pound) ground beef
- 25 ml (2 tbsp) butter or margarine
- 250 ml (1 cup) chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 onion, cut lengthwise and sliced thin
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 ml (1/4 tsp) dried thyme
- 25 ml (2 tbsp) flour
- 375 ml (1 1/2 cup) beef stock, room temperature
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) ketchup
Mix the beef, egg, bread crumbs, finely chopped onions, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper well. Form it into four oval shapes about 1/2 inch thick.
Preheat an oiled fry pan to high heat. Brown the steaks until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. Remove from the fry pan and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Add two tablespoons butter to melt. Add sliced onions, mushrooms and garlic. Stir occasionally until the onions just start to colour, 6 or 7 minutes. Sprinkle flour and thyme over the onion mixture and stir for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the flour starts to colour. Slowly stir in room temperature beef stock. If the stock is not at room temperature, the sauce may lump. Stir in 1 tablespoon of ketchup. Bring to a boil and add steak back into gravy.
Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Put the steaks on a platter and spoon gravy over the top.
This is a simple dish with a wonderful onion-mushroom gravy. It is comfort food which is perfect on a cold day. Even kids will love this.
If you would like to see it, here is a video of me making this dish.
The Old Fat Guy
