Chef John's Salisbury Steak .- A blast from the past but flavor plus!

 

The images this evokes aren't exactly tantalizing, but we did like it, right? Now as a grown up (?) that just wouldn't do so I found a really great recipe from Chef John (he has amazing ones) for Salisbury Steak that measures up. It is sure to become a family favorite! I have to mention that I didn't have mushrooms at home when I made this so I just added double the onions and cooked them until they were dark golden brown... 

A very economical and easy preparation that comes together in a snap, it's also not complicated at all as anyone can prepare this...

To prepare you'll need the following ingredients:

Steaks:

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• ½ cup plain bread crumbs

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 2 tablespoons ketchup

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

• 2 tablespoons salted butter

Gravy:

• 2 tablespoons salted butter

• 12 large white button mushrooms, sliced

• 1 cup diced onion

• salt to taste

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 3 cups high-quality, low-sodium beef broth

• 2 tablespoons ketchup

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Prepare the steaks: Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, soy sauce, pepper, and cayenne together in a mixing bowl with a fork or your hands until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

2. When almost ready to cook the steaks, make the gravy: Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and salt; sauté until nicely browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add flour; cook and stir for 3 minutes.

3. Stir in broth, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy thickens slightly and reduces, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt as needed.

4. Transfer gravy to a liquid measure. Scrape the pan clean with a spatula.

5. Finish the steaks: Remove meat from the refrigerator and divide into four equal portions. Moisten hands and form each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick oval patty. Lightly season both sides of patties with salt.

6. Melt butter in the clean skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Pour in gravy and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook until gravy is piping hot and steaks are no longer pink in the center, about 5 more minutes. 

Chef's Note:

You can use the meat mixture immediately rather than wrapping and refrigerating.

My Notes: As I mentioned above, no mushrooms so used a double measure of onions and made sure they were dark golden brown before continuing... I wanted to get dinner on so I did prepare the meat in advance (that morning so the spices would do their magic) so got 2 pans, one for the patties and the other for the gravy. Shape the patties on the hot pan get the onions on the other hot pan so onions get done while you keep an eye on the patties. Once the onions are dark brown finish the gravy, lower the heat to let it bubble for a couple of minutes. Once patties are done transfer them over to the gravy pan, cover with gravy and allow them to warm together.