Hamburger Gravy. This might not be the most attractive dish to look at. Most brown food isn't, but what it lacks for in looks, it more than makes up for in taste.
This classic old fashioned entree was a very common simple supper dish that was served up in many homes when I was growing up. Not only was it incredibly economical, but it was also and IS also very quick and easy to make!
Hamburger Gravy is a supper dish which has been pleasing families and their budgets for many years and still does to this day.
This week I decided to small batch my old recipe to am amount more fitting with the smaller family, and with great results.
If you are wanting to feed a larger family, you can certainly double up on everything! We are not talking rocket science here. Just multiply everything by two!
This is a very simple recipe, which is very quick to make and requires very simple, and humble ingredients.
WHAT WILL YOU NEED:
There is nothing really complicated here.
- ground beef
- flour
- milk
- stock
- seasoning
- dry onion soup mix, just a TBS (my secret ingredient)
I like to use extra lean ground beef, and in fact, more often than not, I use ground steak. When you are using a regular fatty type of ground beef, bear in mind that you are going to be pouring almost half of its weight down the drain.
You are actually paying for something which you won't be able to eat. All of that extra fat melted = waste. Nobody wants to eat grease and so, it simply gets drained off. You are then left with less than what you paid for!
Its quite simple really!
This is a supper option that goes together very quickly. That makes it perfect for those days when you are rushed off your feet.
We all want to feed our families delicious food, but sometimes we are so tired at the end of the day we just don't have the energy needed to put together something spectacular!
Those are the times when we need recipes just like this one! You can have it sitting on the table in front of your family within a very short period of time.
I am a person who loves to make a great use of convenience whenever I can. I make it a habit to have several ingredients in my freezer at all times which help to make things move more quickly in the kitchen.
I always keep bags of frozen mashed potatoes in the freezer. Not only are these very convenient and quick to use, but with a few added bits, you can't really tell the difference between them and old fashioned created from scratch mashed potatoes.
I usually will add a bit of seasoning and some sour cream or extra milk to add flavour and creaminess. You can also add cheese, or a mix of herbs and seasonings.
I like to keep bags of frozen chopped onions in the freezer. Not having to stop, peel and chop an onion makes things even more quicker, and in a dish like this, using frozen chopped onion really won't make much of a difference to the texture or the flavour.
I confess that when I was a child I was not overly fond of Hamburger Gravy. I have no warm, nostalgic, or fuzzy wuzzy feelings about it.
I think that is because my mother always used really cheap ground beef which was high in fat and gristle. I know she was trying to save money, but again, you end up draining half it it away.
Out of our five family members, I was always the one who got the gristle or . . . shudder . . . the odd piece of bone. I have a really strong gag reflex and this just totally turned me off. Tell me I am not alone here!
Lets just say, it was not my cup of tea. I do enjoy it very much now however. Using ground steak makes all the difference in the world.
You can actually (in most cases) get the butcher to grind it right in front of you. Did you know that when you are buying a package of ground beef at the grocery store, that package of meat may have come from more than just a few animals?
Its true. It all gets ground up en masse and then broken down into smaller packages. I would much rather know that what I am eating only came from one, very traceable animal.
I also try to get organic, grass fed if I can, but that is a personal preference. We don't eat red meat very often. and when we do, I want to know that its good and the best I can buy.
The gravy for this dish is really flavourful . . . thick and rich . . . and delicious. We enjoy it spooned over fluffy mashed potatoes.
But back home in Canada, it is also enjoyed served over hot chips with peas and cheese. They call it Hot Hamburger Poutine, or All Dressed Poutine.
Hot thick, crisp hand cut fries, with the hot beef and gravy ladled over top. Cheese gets scattered over top of that so that it melts, becoming all gooey and oozy. Sometimes there will be a scattering of peas on top as well.
I have never made it this way for Todd, but I am sure he would really love it! Who wouldn't??? Maybe next time I will.
In a way, this is somewhat like a deconstructed type of Cottage pie. It has many of the same elements, but put together in a simpler and different way. Equally as delicious I think, maybe even more so.
This is also a very adaptable. This version I am showing you today is at its very simplest. You can also add sliced mushrooms when you are browning the meat, which would sort of make it a kind of a Beef Burger Stroganoff.
A dollop of dairy sour cream can be added for an extra special rich touch to the dish. I have also added a dollop of cream cheese in the past. Very yummy indeed!
I suppose what I am really trying to say is that it truly is the extra simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure.
Things like doggie cuddles, golden sunsets, love of family, good friends, and . . . yes . . . Hamburger Gravy.
Hamburger Gravy
Yield: 3
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 25 Mtotal time: 30 M
I small batched one of our favourite meals. You can easily double the ingredients to feed more people. This might not be very attractive but it is delicious. We enjoy it spooned over mashed potatoes with a vegetable on the side.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and diced
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 1/2 TBS plain flour
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) beef broth
- 1 TBS dry onion soup mix or a beef boullion cube
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Heat a large skillet and brown the ground beef in it along with the onion until no more pink remains. Do not drain. If there is no fat in the bottom of the pan you may need to add a tablespoon of butter or oil. (I would always go with the butter.)
- Stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the flour and cook for several minutes to cook out the flour taste.
- Add the remaining ingredients, stirring everything together well. Cook over moderate heat until thickened and bubbly. If you think it is too thick you can more boullion or some water.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Serve hot, spooned over mashed potatoes.
- This freezes well if you want to double it and freeze the extras.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
One of my great loves is cornbread or corn muffins. There is something about their rustic qualities that really speaks to my heart and gets my tastebuds tingling.
This Blueberry & Vanilla Breakfast Corn Bread is one of my favourite ways to enjoy cornbread. It has all of the elements of a regular corn bread which I enjoy, but it has been amped up to a degree that will have everyone smacking their lips in anticipation!
I have enjoyed a life long love affair with cornbread. It wasn't something I actually grew up with in my family home, but something which I got to enjoy elsewhere.
My first Mother In Law used to make a Corncake, which was a simple Cornbread. You can find the recipe for that here. Mother In Law's Corncake.
Another favourite of mine is a Custard Filled Cornbread Recipe, which you can find here. This version actually had niblets of real corn in it and a creamy centre, which is really quite appealing, especially served warm with Maple Syrup.
I use blueberries, but you can also use cranberries, or raspberries if you wish. Blackberries would also be nice. Blueberries are perfect for this time of year however. Back home they are picking wild blueberries by the bucketload.
Oh how I miss the flavour of Nova Scotia Wild Blueberries. Their flavour cannot be beaten!
I like to bake this cornbread in a ceramic or square glass baking dish. This helps to hold in the warmth while you are waiting for everyone to come downstairs to the breakfast table.
The square dish also makes it very easy to cut into squares. You can also bake it in an 8 inch round cake tin if you want to. You can then cut it into wedges, like a cake or a pie. Also very attractive.
I think it is quite beautiful cut into squares and served warm. We like it spread with softened butter and drizzled with liquid honey. Especially pure clover honey.
Oh my but what a breakfast for the Gods this is. We just cannot get enough of it. We can easily make big pigs of ourselves when we are eating this.
The butter melts down into that moist and delicious cornbread. I love the texture of cornbread. Its almost cake like with a bit of a bite from the cornmeal that is quite appealing.
Its a tiny bit crunchy, but not obnoxiously so. Its quite pleasant.
Look at that drizzle of honey, sweet and lush, mingling with the butter and melting into that beautiful cornbread.
The honey . . . sweet and lush . . . the melting butter lightly salty . . . and again, soaking into that dense yet light vanilla corn bread.
Pure Heavenly bliss.
It could be really hard to restrain yourself when faced with something like this. It could easily make a big pig of yourself.
Especially when you spy all of those beautiful sweet berries studded here and there throughout. Like tasty little jewels waiting to pop into your mouth.
When I lived in Canada, we often used to cross the border into the US. I loved grocery shopping stateside. I would always pick up Thomas's Toaster Corn Cakes.
They were so good and so convenient. Ready to pop into the toaster for a quick and easy breakfast and quite delicious!
I did make my own version in the past. You can find my recipe for Cranberry and Corn Toaster Cakes here.
They are really quite amazing if I don't say so myself. Beautifully textured and studded with tart cranberries.
This fabulous Blueberry & Vanilla Breakfast Corn Bread blows them out of the ballpark however. Seriously.
I am now tempted to try the toaster cakes, replacing the cranberries with blueberries. What do you think? Should I go for it?
I just might do that. This Blueberry and Vanilla Breakfast Corn Bread makes for a great weekend breakfast, or a brunch dish.
Actually, I think it is pretty great anytime. I hope I have inspired you to want to give it a go! You've got nothing to lose here and everything to gain (and I'm not talking about hips here, although they most certainly could be in some danger!)
Blueberry & Vanilla Breakfast Corn Bread
Yield: Makes on 8-inch square bread
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 45 Mtotal time: 50 M
Sweet and moist and stuffed with blueberries. Wonderful served warm with butter and honey.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (170g) cornmeal (coarse polenta)
- 1 cup (140g) unbleached all purpose flour (plain flour)
- 3/4 cup (95g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 1/4 cups (295ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 TBS vanilla paste (alternately use 1 TBS Vanilla extract)
- 6 TBS butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups (250g) blueberries
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F. gas mark 3. (If using a regular pan 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.) Butter an 8-inch square pyrex baking dish and line with baking paper.
- Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, soda, and sugar in a bowl.
- Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet and mix just to combine. Fold in the berries and pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to sit in the pan for 15 minutes before cutting into squared to serve.
- This is delicious served warm with softened butter and liquid honey!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
Old Fashioned Prune Butter is one of my favourite things to enjoy for breakfast. I had not made any in quite some time. This week I found myself craving it. What's a girl to do but to scratch that itch!
Prune Butter is a sweet breakfast spread that our grandmother's might have enjoyed, and indeed it mostly likely would have been found on most breakfast tables. Its sweet and sticky and nicely spiced.
Breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day. I like to sit on my own and leisurely enjoy something in the quiet of the morning before anyone else is up. I know, it does sound a bit anti-social, but I really enjoy my quiet time early in the morning.
On a side note, can you see the bubbles in that cup of tea? My mother always called those bubbles money. She said that it meant you were going to enjoy a monetary boost. Perhaps my ship is about to come in!
Back to breakfast. I love prunes and absolutely anything that contains prunes. They call them the sunshine fruit and most of our prunes come from California where they have plenty of sunshine.
I have a delicious glass of prune juice every day, just a small one. It is loaded with fibre and lots of good things, including iron. It also goes a long way towards keeping things running smoothly, but we won't talk about that!
Prune butter is also something I really enjoy, even though I don't make it very often. Everytime I do make it, however I find myself wondering why!
It is incredibly delicious. It is at once sweet, with a slight tang and a tiny hint of warm baking spice which is quite, quite appealing.
It is really very simple to make. It is as simple as stewing some pitted prunes in water until soft and then draining them.
Once you have done that you simply add some honey and spices to them, along with lemon zest and
cook them for a tiny bit longer, stirring frequently.
They end up breaking down completely into a rich smooth, nicely spiced, sticky sweet spread. I imagine it is the stirring of the spoon which helps to make the magic happen.
You don't need to purree them, or mash them, or put them through a seive. It just happens. They break down beautifully.
Do make sure that you save the water that you drain off them. It is sweet and delicious to drink! Simply pour it into a jar, cover with a lid, and chill it in the refrigerator. You are in for a treat!
Oh but this prune butter is some tasty. This morning I enjoyed it on a toasted poppyseed brioche bread that I get from Ocado, which is an online grocer. They have been brilliant at doing home deliveries to me during the pandemic.
It is a bread that is soft and which toasts beautifully golden brown. There are swirls of a poppyseed paste throughout.
It is just wonderfully lightly buttered and then spread with the Prune Butter, which dips into all of those lovely poppy seed swirls.
The two together are quite simply perfection. There is no other word to describe this combination.
Have I ever told you about the beautiful poppyseed buns we used to get when we lived in South Eastern Alberta? Oh my but they were some good!
Those buns had a rich, thick poppyseed and cream filling. They were also iced with a sticky sweet glaze. I would buy a pack every time we went into Medicine Hat to shop for groceries.
I have never been able to find a recipe to replicate them, but I strongly suspect they were an Eastern European thing as that area was filled with Ukrainians. That's also where I learned how to make my own Pierogi from scratch.
But back to this Prune Butter. If you have never made this before you really absolutely must! It is well worth any effort taken!
Don't worry about being able to use it all up. That simply won't be a problem. You will find yourself spreading it all over your toast and bagels, muffins, tea breads, etc.
You can also cut the recipe easily in half if you think 2 cups of prune butter is more than you could ever possibly use. I did that today.
In order to cut the recipe in half you will need 1/2 pound of prunes, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 heaped TBS honey, 3 TBS cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp each allspice and cloves. I left the lemon zest the same, along wih the cook times.
As you can see it turned out perfectly. Sweet, sticky and thick. In short perfection when it comes to something you want to spread on your toast.
You could also use it to spread between layers of vanilla or butter cake. It would be beautiful. I have a certain fondness for filling my cake layers with jams and marmalades and the like.
What a lovely breakfast treat this was for me. I really felt very elegant sitting there with my nice hot cuppa, pinky poised in mid air. I was the Lady of the Manor.
This was the perfect breakfast. I dare say that bread will become a regular for me in my grocery order as will bags of prunes so I can make us this fabulous prune butter a little more often than I have done!
Old Fashioned Prune Butter
Yield: Makes 2 cups
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 42 Mtotal time: 47 M
This old fashioned spread is filled with lots of beautiful flavours. Rich sticky prunes, warm spices, honey. This is gorgeous spread on anything. Its also very simple to make.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups (about 1 pound) of pitted prunes
- 3 cups water (750 ml)
- 1/3 cup liquid honey (80ml)
- 1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar (60ml)
- the grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 tsp each ground cloves and ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions:
- Place the prunes in a large saucepan along with the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for half an hour, uncovered, until very soft. Drain the water from the prunes. (Keep the water to drink, its very delicious!) Return the prunes to the pan.
- Add the honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon zest and spices to the prunes in the saucepan. Cook over low heat for further 10 to 12 mius, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. The prunes will just above dissolve and the mixture will become very thick. Transfer to a covered container. Cool to room temperature and store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Delicious!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
One of my favourite things that I get to do as a food blogger is being able to try new things! And when those new things are brownies, count me in! I don't need to be asked twice! Brownies are some of my favourite things on earth.
And let me tell you, these Bad Brownies are so delicious they actually come with a warning! "These Brownies are dangerously good!" And you know what? They aren't kidding! These brownies are fabulously tasty! And at my ripe old age, I've tasted quite a few brownies in my life time, as well as baking some ludicrously tasty ones myself. I think I know a good brownie from a bad one, and these are incredibly edibly good.
So what makes a good brownie in your books? I'll tell you what makes a good one in mine. As its very basic, a good brownie should be fudgy and dense, never runny or loose. You should be able to pick them up with your fingers and eat them without worrying about ruining your favourite blouse. They should be rich and chocolatey and filled with lots of yummy flavour.
THESE BAD BROWNIES ARE ALL THAT AND MORE!
Inside were twelve beautifully cut, gorgeous looking brownies. Four each of three of their most popular flavours.
Salted Caramel - Composed of two fudgy and rich dark chocolate brownies sandwiched together with a liquid salted caramel centre and a shimmery gold finish on top
Ferrero Rocher - This hazelnut brownie includes praline, crunchy wafer and caramelised hazelnuts is more delicate than its decadent counterparts. There is a crispy topping, which gives way to a milder chocolate taste with the slightest hint of hazelnut coming through at the end.
Triple Chocolate - Their signature dark chocolate brownie packed full of white and milk chocolate chips and then coated with all three types of chocolate on top. A truly decadent take on a classic.
But would they live up to the hype? I needed to taste them. Yes . . . its a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
The Salted Caramel was rich, rich, rich and magnificently messy. There is the danger of something like this being a bit over the top, but these were not at all in the least over the top. Deliciously dangerously fudgy . . . the two layers almost meld together, but then there is that salty rich caramel layer running through the middle. If you are a fan of chocolate and salted caramel, then this has your name written all over it. The shimmer topping was a lovely finish. Incredibly rich. If you can eat more than one of these in one sitting, more power to you!
The Ferraro Rocher was a brilliant take on the infamous chocolate candy that people just love. These brownies are also quite lovable. I loved that crunchy topping and the dense fudginess of the brownie beneath it, with lots of little chunks of hazelnut scattered throughout. Incredibly moreish.
I saved the best for last.
Triple Chocolate. A fudgy dark chocolate brownie jam packed with little bits of milk and white chocolate chips, and drizzled with more of the same. Oh. My. Goodness!!! Just look at the deep chocolatey dense fudgy interior of that bite. I just died and went to heaven! I could eat one or two of these every day and never tire of them!
These are only three of the lush flavours they have on offer. There are other choices and boxes to choose from.
Try these on for size . . .
Red Velvet Cookie Dough . . . Strawberry Prosecco . . . Malteasers . . . Biscoff . . . Oreo Cookie Dough . . .
That is just the tip of the brownie bliss iceberg. There are Vegan and Gluten Free Options, Brownie in a Mug Kits, Sauces, 12 and 24 bite boxes, etc. You can subscribe and get one sent to you regularly if you wish. There are Coffee and Brownie Bundles. There are gift options. There is a bit of something for every brownie afficionado.
I have fallen in love. Dangerously, badly, totally in love.
BUT, that is not all!
I am really excited as well to be able to offer to one of my British Readers the opportunity to enter a special giveaway so that one of you can win one of their 12 Bite Brownie Boxes for yourself to enjoy in the comfort of your own home. The giveaway will run from the 24th of August (today) until the 24th of September.
theenglishkitchen.co - 12 Bite Best Seller Brownie Box
Just click the above link and it will take you to a widget where you can enter to win your very own box of Bad Brownies! A value of £14.50. (Unfortunately it is for UK residents only, but don't worry if you are outside of the country, I am planning another giveaway of something else for my other readers at another time!)
In the meantime I would like to thank Bad Brownies very much for affording me the opportunity to try these lush delights and for generously providing a Giveaway. I was sent this box free of charge but do want you to know that I was not required to give a positive review in exchange. Any and all opinions are quite simply my own and honest.
I mean . . . Brownies . . . they are pretty hard not to like, and when they are as tasty as these ones I would go so far as to say impossible not to like!
Bad Brownies
Follow them on Instagram
Follow them on Twitter
Follow them on Facebook
Good luck! One of you is in for an incredible treat!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons