Salisbury Steak
Sep 22nd, 2011 | By Peter Minakis | Category: American, Beef, Beef Stock, Canadiana, Featured, Herbs, Main, Onions, Pub, Recipes
Just in case you thought I may still be in Greece, allow me to ensure you I am back on the American side of the Atlantic, here in Toronto, Canada…feels good to be back! I left for Greece on August 2nd and spent 48 days there and traveled using planes, trains, automobiles, vespas, on foot, boat. Over 5,000 photos were taken, made some new friends, met with family and old friends and enjoyed some wonderful food along the way. Each and everytime I go to Greece I am surprised by the dishes Greeks come up with and yes, there are still some traditional dishes still to be discovered in this small but very rich and diverse country.
There will be plenty of time to share my experiences in Greece this past summer but today’s post focuses on one of the food memories I had as a child living here in Canada – Salisbury Steak. Salisbury steak was (and still is) found at supermarkets in the frozen section of your supermarket. Look for “TV Dinners”, something created in the flurry of convenient foods created in the 50′s for the busy American (and Canadian) who were glued to their TV sets. TV dinners were the answer to the many who were glued to 50′s television and thus being ensured to not miss a program.
Back then TV dinners were simply warmed up in the oven and later the microwave took over the task of warming up these mediocre (at best) meals. My memory of the Salisbury steak comes from eating at my Dad’s restaurant which catered then (70′s & 80′s) to a mainly WASP population here in east Toronto. Salisbury steak was one of the regular offerings at my Dad’s restaurant and it one I enjoyed very much: a seasoned hamburger that was grilled or fried then served with a deep brown gravy, mashed potatoes and some sort of vegetable side (mixed vegetables, green beans or corn).
This is the Salisbury steak I remember and boy I did love it! People back then could eat meals made from scratch and at this restaurant one could get some of the best Prime Rib along with jus and a gravy made from a stock of roasted beef bones. How about some fries with real gravy or…Salisbury steak? My version of Salisbury steak is quick, ideal for prepping on a weeknight and as usual, I add my own touches to this retro-dish. I’ve added some wine to give the sauce some more body, there’s mushrooms in the mix and I’ve added some crispy fried onions for garnish. Maybe I’m craving those onion rings my Dad’s restaurant???
Salisbury Steak
(serves 4)
For the Salisbury Steak
1lb. lean ground beef
1 clove of garlic
2-3 Tbsp. of French Onion Soup mix
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2-3 slices of white (or wholewheat) bread, soaked lightly in milk or water
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. of ketchup
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
flour for dredging
oil for frying
For the Mushroom Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 cups of Cremini (or button) mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste
crispy onions for garnish
- In a large bowl, add your slice bread plus 2 Tbsp. of the soup mix, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Mix the ingredients with your hands until they are amalgamated.
- Now add your ground beef, minced garlic and large egg and mix well with your hands. Form into a small meatball, cook it off and taste. Adjust seasoning, add more soup mix if needed. Form into uniform, round patties or use a round mold to form into the perfect patty.
- Place a large skillet on your stove-top over medium-high heat and add a couple of turns of olive oil then place the patties in the skillet and brown on both sides then reserve on a plate ( fry in batches if the skillet isn’t big enough). In the same skillet, add the remaining olive oil, the diced onions, garlic and mushroom and stir with a wooden spoon.
- Simmer until veggies have softened while stirring for 4-5 minutes then add the flour and stir in for about a minute then add the wine, stock and thyme leaves and gently bring back to a boil. Add the beef patties back into the pan, cover and simmer (medium heat) for about 15 minutes. Take cover off and taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Continue to simmer uncovered until your sauce has thickened to your desired consistency then take off the heat. Serve your Salisbury steaks with mashed potatoes, choice of vegetables and spoon some gravy on the patties and the mashed potatoes and some of the crispy onions for garnish.
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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
[...] Heat some oil in your fryer (about 2 inches in the pot) and place the onions in the hot oil and fry until golden and crisp. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and place on paper-lined plate. Sprinkle a bit of salt and toss and allow to cool. Serve as garnish with any meat and potatoes dish (like Salisbury Steak). [...]
Peter this looks great and plan to try it this weekend! Hope to see some more of your dad’s restaurant/catering recipes!
I remember those TV dinners — Salisbury Steak was always a favorite in our house. But it surely didn’t look anything like your wonderful version!
Welcome Home Peter – what a terrific, long vacation you took. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about it. But the salisbury steak is a great diversion from the Greek food and nothing at all like those yucky tv dinners.
Although it is wonderful to travel it is always nice to come home to some comfort foods. Salisbury Steak is a blast from the past. I remember ordering it from the diner at Woolworths, minus the crispy onions. Of course they would have been wonderful too they just didn’t have them with the Hot Salisbury Steak Sandwich!
I loved tv dinners as a kid, my favorite was the turkey and dressing. This looks amazing, especially those onions!
looks delicious!
Welcome back! I’d love this for dinner :)
Peter ελπίζω να πέρασες όμορφα στις διακοπές σου, κρίμα που δεν καταφέραμε να βρεθούμε αυτήν την φορά!
Τι γευστικό που φαίνεται το σημερινό σου πιάτο!!!!
Φιλιά!
Welcome home! Salisbury steak was my favorite tv dinner as a kid, I’ve never thought to make it from scratch!
What a comforting, hearty and deliciosu looking dish!
Cheers,
Rosa
Welcome back, Peter kai kalo heimwna!! Very flavourful dish, can’t wait to try it! Looking forward to the photos from Greece!
hah! i love it you come back from greece and first thing you do is make a north american dish! i didnt know your dad had a rest either? very cool. i always wished my parents were in the dinner biz! i, too, love salisbury steak – it’s my tb dinner secret crush. i am curious to try this one out….must get some of that canadian onion mix ;-) ps. i cant wait for all your greek posts. totally living vicariously through you.
Welcome back Pete! And what a meal to have on your return! I’m not familiar with Salisbury steak (although I’d hear dof it I thought it was something else!). Yum! This takes bifteki to a whole different level! Love the “retro-ness” of this dish!
Welcome back! Cheers to planes trains and automobiles! What a fantastic dish to welcome us all back with too.
I remember Salisbury steaks – the real ones, from restaurants. They were great (The TV dinners not so much)
What a wonderful trip you had!
I noticed the onion rings right away. Although I haven’t had a Salisbury Steak dinner in ages, I got an immediate craving looking at your photo.
P.S. I don’t think I ever read before that you’re the son of a restauranteur…proving, once again, the old adage that the apple doesn’t fall far from the treee.
What a great picture of a classic.
I love Salisbury Steak with mushroom gravy. Pure “Diner” food.
Ann
Ok, so your blog has changed since I last visited, but the recipes are still real, good food! True Peter style. I am sorry for my absence, my blog has kind of taken me on a different career path and time for blogging and visiting is so limited. I miss it though!