Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, one of my Q&E (Quick and Easy) home cooking entrees is Hamburger Gravy. Yeah, yeah, I know. Very pedestrian. But on a cold rainy night, I enjoy it. I grew up with it served on plain white bread, one of my father's go to recipes. So I've tried to spruce it up a bit and my version follows:

My HG recipe:

1/2 lb Ground Beef (up to 1 lb, amount varies depending on personal preference and what is in the refrigerator/freezer)
1/2 cup Onion diced
3/4 cup Mushrooms chopped (crimini or whatever you have that are fresh and tasty)
1 - 2 Tbs Bacon Fat
1-2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs Roasted Garlic Paste
2 Cups Milk (warmed)
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)
1/2 tsp Star Anise (Optional)
To Taste Salt
To Taste Pepper
1 Tbs` White Wine, Dry (Optional)

I saute the diced onions until translucent, sometimes until caramelized. I add Star Anise (broken into bits) in a bag to the onions as they saute to enhance the "meat flavor" of the onions and remove the bag after the onions are done. Remove onions from the pan and reserve. I saute the chopped mushrooms until they give up their water. Then remove from the pan and reserved. If the pan has built up a significant fond, I will deglaze with a very small amount of dry white wine (lately I use vermouth) and pour on to the onions and mushrooms. (Sometimes I delay deglazing until I've browned the ground beef, particularly if the beef has a low fat content.)

I brown the ground beef and remove from the pan. I drain off excess grease if any, keeping 1 Tbs. I add Bacon Fat so that a total of 2 Tbs remain in the pan. Add 2 Tbs flour to make a roux and cook until light brown (a roux blond?). At this point I add 2 Tbs of my homemade Roasted Garlic Paste, made simply of Roasted Garlic that has a small amount of olive oil added and then mashed/ground to a paste.

Add warm (or hot) milk 1/3 to 1/2 cup at a time and incorporate. At 1 1/2 cups, I return the browned hamburger, the sauteed onions and mushrooms to the pan. I add the rest of the milk, adjusting quantity to achieve the thickness of gravy desired, adding more milk if necessary. (I have, due to a lack of sufficient milk, finished with heavy cream, which seems to work okay too!)

I season at this point, adding red pepper flakes, salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste.

The flavor is good and actually improves with storage overnight in the refrigerator. This is comfort food and I'm pretty happy with it at this point.

Now I am after some sort of mash potato "bowl" to serve the gravy on, for a party. I am envisioning potato cakes, with somewhat crispy exterior but mashed potato-esque interior, formed with a depression in the top to hold the hamburger gravy. Not large portions, but rather a small preliminary course, more than an appetizer though.

I've looked at various recipes for potato cakes, most call for the addition of eggs and flour. I will give that a try, but I don't want to thicken the mashed potato too much. I'm open to suggestions for a better way to make them or an alternative presentation.

This may be too much trouble, but how about Pommes Dauphine? You could pipe it into bowls or at least disks on which to rest the hamburger gravy (to which, in my parents' house, we added sour cream and called "Poor Man's Stroganoff"):

POMMES DAUPHINE
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 dash black pepper
Salad oil for deep frying

PREPARATION:
In small saucepan cook potatoes in water to cover with salt until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, reserving 2/3 cup potato water. Dry out potatoes over low heat to rid excess moisture. Mash potatoes. Do not add milk.

In medium saucepan combine reserved water (or 1/2 cup water) and butter or margarine. Heat over medium heat until water is boiling and butter has completely melted. Reduce heat. Add flour all at once. Stir briskly with wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in potatoes and pepper.

In deep-fat fryer or deep saucepot, heat 1 1/2 - 2" oil to 375 F on deep fat thermometer. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls or by #20 ice cream scoop into hot oil. (Puffs double in bulk, so fry only a few ata time.) Fry 8 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels. Keep warm in 200 F oven.

Recipe from CD Kitchen

Wow, what an interesting potato dish and one I've never run across before. It sounds like a lot of fun and the process is quite similar to how we make French Crullers using pate a choux.

I have foregone the use of sour cream for the last few years due to my family's dislike of it. But it is time to reintroduce it. My wife and her siblings grew up without regularly eating vegetables, with an extreme distaste for mushrooms, and little exposure to cheese except during the Christmas season when Queso de Bolla is popular here, similar to a somewhat bland Gouda. However since we have been together, her distaste for vegetables has disappeared for the most part, she has recently become fond of mushrooms and regularly eats some cheeses, though not ones with much tang to them. Still, that might change.

What is the texture of the Pommes Dauphine? Crispy, I am guessing. Sounds quite tasty and my wife loves crunchy potatoes, so I am sure they will be a hit with her whether formed into a bowl, disk or cooked in the round.

Thank you for the idea, Darcie!

We also called this poor mans Stroganoff. The dauphinoise logistics can be baked as well as fried. Pipe them into mounds, hollow the mound with a spoon and bake at about 400F until brown and crispy. If they don't brown for some reason brush them with a little melted butter and put back in the hot oven.
This is a grand idea and I will have to try it out sometime.

All I can say is YUM!

Laurie

Growing up, we had a live-in. Her name was Lacy Leaming and she was a wonderful cook. She used to make hamburger gravy and it was one of our favorites. If there was leftover gravy and no potatoes, we would put in on slices of white bread. Boy does this bring back memories of growing up.

Your recipe sounds excellent and I might just have to give it a try.

I see this in my future when it chills down a bit.

...lou

Wow, I haven't been on the board in ages and ages, but I stopped by and I will have to make this tonight. My Dad made this all the time for me as well. He called it SOS.

I thought SOS was creamed chipped beef on toast

I have been thinking about your yummy hamburger gravy and had a thought. My wonderful butcher sometimes sells rösti cups that are just wonderful. I haven't tried to make them myself but imagine you could take cold grated potatoes (cooked the day before) and mold them into a greased muffin tin and and brush with a bit of oil before baking. I get them prebaked. then pop them into the oven to crisp. The are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Not mashed potato soft but pretty close.

Your recipe looks great. I might try it with the minced beef we can get here (little thin bits that aren't ground but cook up quickly). I love the idea of the star anise and roasted garlic in it.

Mary