Tuesday Tip - Perfect Salisbury Steak

ETA: I'm cheating and using this recipe that I posted on Tuesday for Gayle's Friday Recipe Swap. Go check out her blog for great frugal ideas and more recipes!!

In all my 4.75 years of being married, I have never been able to make "pretty" Salisbury Steaks. I finally gave up and just mixed all the ingredients together in the gravy, and boy did that make a yucky looking, but yummy tasting, dinner. I finally had an idea, and decided to give it a try last night since Salisbury Steak was on the menu. I also wanted to photo-journal the process so that you, my faithful readers, could experience this yummy dish with success, too!

You will need:

Ground beef (or "deer-burger" as I'm using here), an onion, 1 carrot, an egg, a handful of crushed crackers (or finely cubed stale bread will work, too), salt, pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire Sauce, egg noodles, water, cornstarch and beef bouillon. Note: The "think-ahead" side of my brain did not tell me that I needed to put the water, cornstarch and bouillon in the FIRST picture!!

Into a mixing bowl, put 1 lb. ground beef. Add in the onion, chopped.
Grate up the carrot - I like to use the finer side on my grater when I'm making this recipe - and add it to the burger and onion.Add the bread, egg and 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce.Then the 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
Mix on low speed (I used #2 on my KitchenAid) until everything is well incorporated.
I would not recommend using "regular" electric mixers with this. If you don't have a KitchenAid, you could use a potato masher or your hands.Preheat oven to 400°. Spray the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray. Shape the meat mixture into 8 patties, place in baking dish. See how there's space between each "burger"? You don't want them touching or they won't brown all the way around.Once the oven is preheated, put the patties in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, dissolve 2 beef bouillon cubes in 2 cups warm water.
While bouillon is dissolving (you may stir is around and break up the cubes to speed it up), put a large pot of water on high to cook the noodles.
Once the bouillon is dissolved, pour it into a large skillet over med. heat, reserving 1/4 cup of the broth.Add 3 Tbsp. of cornstarch to the reserved broth, mix it up well.
Pour cornstarch/broth mixture into skillet. Whisk together and bring to a boil. Stir and cook until thickened and clear. Reduce heat to low.After the timer *dings* for the meat, remove the patties from the oven. See how they're nicely browned all over?Place patties into gravy. Cover and let simmer over low heat.
Stir 1 lb. of egg noodles into boiling water. Simmer uncovered at a "low boil" for 8 - 10 minutes.
When the pasta is done, drain.
Serve Salisbury Steaks over a bed of pasta with some gravy ladled over top!
Voila! Beautiful "steaks" that held together great and look delicious!

Salisbury Steak
1 lb. ground beef - $1.00
1 onion, chopped - $.25
1 sm. carrot, grated - $.14
1 handful crackers, crushed - Free, used leftover bread
1 egg - $.04
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce - $.04
1/2 tsp. garlic powder - $.02
1 tsp. salt - $.01
1/4 tsp. pepper - $.01
2 blocks beef bouillon - $.20
2 cups warm water - Free
3 Tbsp. cornstarch - $.10
1 lb. egg noodles - $1.50

Total cost - approx. $3.31, I was guessing at some of the prices, and some things I'd gotten on markdown or a major sale.

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix together beef, onion, carrot, crackers, egg, Worcestershire Sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Shape into 8 patties, place patties into a greased 9"x13" baking dish so that patties aren't touching each other. Bake for 10 minutes.

Heat a large stockpot of water to boiling. Meanwhile dissolve bouillon in 2 cups of warm water. Pour broth into large skillet over med. heat, reserving 1/4 cup of broth. Stir cornstarch into reserved broth. Add to skillet, simmer and stir until thickened and clear. Remove patties from oven and place into broth mixture. Cover and simmer over low heat.

Boil egg noodles in large stockpot, uncovered, for 8 - 10 minutes. Drain.

Serve patties over a bed of pasta, top with gravy.