Simple Salisbury Steak

Both Kevin and I have always liked eating Salisbury Steak. In fact, it's one of my favorite dishes to order whenever we go to a diner. However, I have never gotten around to making it at home (should have tried it a long time ago!). I had some minced meat sitting around in my fridge a while ago, so I decided to search for it's recipe online. To my surprise, it turned out to be so easy to make! I changed the recipe around a bit (based on what I had in my pantry at that moment) and it turned out to be awesome! Here's how I make my version of the Salisbury Steak.

Start off by adding one extra large egg to a lbs of ground beef. Stir in the egg with the meat until it's evenly mixed.
Then, add in about 1/4 cups of milk. You can add in a little bit more, depending on how wet/dry the mixture is. I would usually just eyeball, when it comes to stuff like that.
After that, add in some Worcestershire sauce. I just love the taste of Worcestershire sauce. I pretty much use it for everything...burgers, steaks, chicken....etc :P Mix all the ingredients together.
Now, it's time to add in the dry ingredients. Mix in a packet of onion soup mix followed by some Italian breadcrumbs. If you do not have Italian breadcrumbs, regular ones will work too.
Once you have mixed all the ingredients together, it's time to get your hands dirty. Using your hands, just make sure that all the ingredients are nicely and evenly mixed. Then, separate the minced meat into 6 portions and form 6 large patties (there are only 4 patties in the picture cos I can't fit 6 into a plate :P). Remember to compact the meat together tightly, so that it doesn't break apart during cooking. You can sprinkle some breadcrumbs at the bottom of the plate to prevent the meat from sticking, if you like. Cover it with some plastic wrap and allow it to sit in the fridge for about an hour.
Now it's time to give our Salisbury Steak some color. Heat some oil in a pan on high heat. Then, add in the patties. I only cooked two (since it's only the two of us) patties and saved the other 4 patties for another day. I just had to put them between some wax paper, place them into a freezer bag and pop them into the freezer. So, you can pretty much make a large batch and keep the patties in the freezer for quite a long time. The purpose of pan frying the patties is just to give it color. You do not have to cook the meat all the way through. Once it's nicely browned on both sides, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Using the same pan, we shall now make the sauce. Add in some chopped portobello mushrooms into the pan. Mix it around and make sure that you scrap off all the nice leftover brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Once the mushrooms have soften a little, add in some brown gravy. I made the gravy by mixing some water with a packet of instant brown gravy mix. You can also use brown gravy that comes in a bottle or if you really really want to, you can make it from scratch. Mix it all together and all ow it to simmer.
Once the sauce have reduced a little, it is done. Arrange the meat patties on a lightly greased baking pan and then pour the sauce over. Cover it with aluminium foil and it's ready for baking.
Pop the baking pan into a preheated 375F oven and allow it to cook for about 35-45 minutes (depending on your oven). As you can see, I also had some baked potatoes in the oven. I placed the potatoes in the oven when I started making the sauce earlier. This way, both the Salisbury Steak and Baked Potatoes will be done at almost the same time. After about 40 minutes or so, the Salisbury Steak is done! I then sprinkled some fried onions on top and served it with a side of baked potato and some sweet corn. Another simple and uber yummy dinner!! :D

Stuffed Green Peppers

I have never been a big fan of bell peppers, be it green, red or yellow! The only time I would eat bell peppers is when it's grilled up together with onions on a Philly Cheese Steak or when it's cooked in pasta sauce. I remember visiting Kevin's parents house many years ago (I believe it was one of the first few times he brought me home) and horror upon horrors, they made stuffed green peppers for dinner! Now, I have never tried stuffed peppers before but since I knew I didn't like bell peppers, I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it. Anyways, I didn't want to be rude so I gave it a try and guess what? I loved it! It's been a while since Kevin and I had stuffed green peppers, so we decided to make some for dinner last weekend. Here's how we make our version of stuffed green peppers.

First, you would need to prep the green peppers. Cut off the tops of the green pepper and save the tops. We will use the edible part of it later on.

Using a spoon, scrape off the insides of the pepper. Wash the peppers under cool running water, dry them off and set them aside.

Now, it's time to make the filling. Start off by browning some minced beef in a large pan. Once it's done, drain away all the excess grease and set aside.

Using the same pan, melt about 1/4 stick of butter and saute some chopped onions.

Then, add in the green pepper that we saved from the tops earlier. Just cut off the edible part of the top and chop into tiny pieces.

Next goes in the minced beef. Mix everything together.

Season the filling with a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, some paprika powder and garlic powder.

Give it a quick stir and add in some cooked rice. We used one packet of Lipton's Instant Spanish Rice. Just cook it according to the directions of the packet and you are set to go. You can pretty much use any type of long grain rice, it doesn't even have to be flavored. Of course it taste so much better if it is. Uncle Ben's is pretty good too.

After you have mixed the rice in with the filling, add in some tomato sauce. We used Ragu's 7 Herb Pasta Sauce in a bottle, since that's what we had in our pantry. Any type of tomato/pasta sauce will do. Mix it all up and set aside.

Using the same sauce, pour some of it into a baking dish and spread it evenly to cover the whole bottom of the dish.

Now, it's time to fill the peppers! Using a small teaspoon, just scoop the filling and start to fill the peppers til the top. Remember not to over stuff them.

Place them onto the baking dish. Use a spoon to press the filling into the peppers. Make sure that its packed in tight.

Then, top each of the peppers with some tomato/pasta sauce.

Pop it into a 350F oven and allow it to bake for about 50mins to an hour.

Remove the baking dish from the oven just about 5 minutes before it's done and sprinkle on some shredded cheese. Pop it back into the oven and allow the cheese to melt. Once the cheese is fully melted, the stuffed green peppers are done! I must say that it's really yummy to eat. Try it (even if you don't like peppers). How knows, you might learn to love them too!!