Retro Recipes: Salisbury Steak

March 3, 2012

Salisbury steak is a retro dinner that is making a comeback.  The dish was invented by Dr. J.H. Salisbury in the late 1800's as a way to promote eating a low carb diet.  Salisbury steak became popular with the introduction of the T.V. dinners. Until now,  the dish has all but disappeared except in the frozen food section of the grocery store.  Salisbury steak is not steak at all but a burger patty topped with a luscious brown gravy made with mushrooms and onions.  It is traditionally served alongside simple buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes and vegetables.  Revive this blast from the past dish and make it for dinner tonight!

Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef (makes 6 generous patties)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely chopped saltine crackers (does it get better than this?)
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 stick of butter
8 oz sliced mushrooms (more if your family will eat them. Chuck and I were the only takers)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons flour (plus you may need a little bit more to thicken the sauce)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Egg noodles, buttered
 
Directions:
 
In a mixing bowl, combine beef, egg, onion, cracker, sage, salt, and pepper
 
Evenly divide the beef mixture into 6 patties (no more than ½” to ¾” thick so they cook all the way through)
 
In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat
 
Brown the patties for 8-10 minutes per side
 
If you need to, add a little more butter to the pan (see, just like the 70’s completely not heart healthy)
 
Once the patties are browned, set aside on a platter
 
Add 4 tbsp butter to skillet and cook the mushrooms until nicely browned
 
Stir in Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper
 
Scrape up any brown bits
 
Sprinkle the mushrooms with 3 Tbsp of flour and add 2 ½ cups of hot water
 
Simmer until the sauce starts to thicken, for about 5 minutes
 
If your sauce is not getting thick enough yet, add a little flour to speed up the process
 
Add another Tbsp of butter, stirring to combine
 
Return the patties to the skillet to finish cooking and continue thickening sauce
 
In the meantime, prepare the egg noodles according to the directions, and butter (again we loved butter in the 70’s)
 
Place a serving of egg noodles on a dinner plate, along with a hamburger patty
 
Generously spoon gravy and mushrooms over the patty
 
Serve and enjoy
 
More nostalgia, more blast from the past dinners, more Salisbury steak…..

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Comments

CL Farley's picture

This is my hubbys favorite, sure not out of our menu rotation. I make mine a tad different but would be very similiar in taste. Yummy