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Mama's Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Source of Recipe

From "Basic to Brilliant, Y'all" by Virginia Willis


Recipe Introduction

"Salisbury steak, known on French bistro menus as bifteck haché, is made by mixing ground beef with minced or grated onion, shaping it into a patty, and frying or broiling it. It is often served with a rich gravy made from pan drippings. The preparation was named after a nineteenth-century American physician, Dr. J. H. Salisbury, who recommended that his patients eat plenty of beef for all manner of ailments. Oddly enough, when my mother was pregnant with my sister and me, her doctor told her to eat very rare beef. Can you imagine hearing that advice today? I remember having this meal often when I was young. Inexpensive, filling, quick, and easy, it's still a good meal for a family supper."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 teaspoon canola oil, plus more for the broiler pan
â—¦ ½ onion, preferably Vidalia, grated
â—¦ 2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
â—¦ 1 ½ pounds ground round beef
â—¦ 8 ounces ground pork
â—¦ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
â—¦ Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
â—¦ 1 pound mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, chanterelle, morel, shiitake, and white button), sliced
â—¦ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
â—¦ 2 cups pan drippings plus homemade beef stock or reduced-fat, low-sodium beef broth, or as needed


Recipe

Position an oven rack 4 inches below the broiler and preheat the broiler.

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Remove from the heat to cool slightly.

With clean hands, combine the ground beef, pork, parsley, and cooled onion mixture in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. (Sauté a spoonful of the mixture in a bit of oil to taste for seasoning.) Shape the mixture into 6 oval patties, about ½ inch thick. Place the patties on a broiler pan. Broil until the meat is no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 160° F, about 6 minutes per side. Remove to a warmed serving platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Reserve the pan drippings for the gravy.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in the same skillet until bubbling. Add the flour and cook until foamy. Pour the pan drippings into a 2-cup measure or fat separator. Remove the fat, then add enough beef stock to the drippings to make 2 cups. Whisking constantly, add the stock mixture to the butter-flour mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to simmer. Add the reserved cooked mushrooms with any accumulated liquid. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with the steaks.

Serves 6



• Brilliant Short Recipe
Stuffed with Roquefort:

Melted cheesy goodness takes Basic bifteck to chef-inspired Brilliant. Crumble 1 ¾ ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, to make about ½ cup. Take one-quarter of the meat mixture and shape into a flat patty; repeat to make 4 patties. Make a depression in the center of each patty and place 2 tablespoons blue cheese in the center. Form the meat around the cheese to enclose it, then shape into an oval patty about ½ inch thick. Refrigerate for up to 15 minutes. Proceed with the recipe as above.