Thursday, January 13, 2011

Pantry Cooking

At this time of year - it seems the Crock Pot and I are old friends. But some times I'm just not in the mood for something soupy - or shredded.

But I still don't make the time to meal plan (or grocery shop), so I love having recipes that use mostly pantry items - things that I always have on hand.

This is one of my favorites. I usually have frozen hamburger, but even when I don't remember to let it thaw - I can always run to the store and pick up just that one item. Or better yet - have hubby pick it up on his way home. All the other ingredients are part of my Pantry Staples.

Warning: these photos are not pretty. The finished product is brown, covered with brown. I didn't even dress up the plate with a green garnish - because it was late - and we were hungry.

I tried to add some pretty yellow corn in the background for color - with a beautiful dob of butter melting on the top. But sweet hubby tried to help and mixed it all together before I got a photo.

But it tastes yummy - and that's what really counts (at least when you are pantry cooking).



Pantry Cooking

Ketchup. Lea and Perrin's (because I can't spell Worcestershire Sauce), Bread Crumbs (Italian Seasoned - of course), mustard (only the spicy brown kind will do for my tastes), and Canned French Onion Soup.

I use the canned Onion Soup almost as much as I use the dry packets. If it's not one of your Pantry Staples - you should give it a try. You will be amazed at what you can season with that lovely little can.

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Salt, pepper, eggs (had to check on that one since we used a ton with our holiday baking) and ground beef.

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Mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper and part of the can of soup. Form the mixture into patties. They have to be oval shaped - or else they will look like Hamburgers. Salisbury Steak patties are always oval. Don't know why - but I guarantee they won't taste the same if they are not oval.

The patties are browned in a saucepan (use a little oil if you hamburger meat is low fat) and removed from the pan. The remaining ingredients are then added to the pan to bring up all the lovely brown bits from the bottom and stirred together. Add the patties back in, cover and let simmer until cooked through.

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I added an extra can of soup in the meal shown in this photo - because we also had mashed potatoes and I like lots of gravy. The basic recipe creates less sauce and is usually served on a platter rather than in a bowl. The patties are always super moist and tasty because they have cooked in the sauce.


Salisbury Steak

1 10 1/2 oz. can condensed French Onion Soup
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/4 tsp. salt
dash pepper

1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tablespoon prepared mustard
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon flour

Mix together 1/3 of the can of soup, beef, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper. Shape into 6 oval patties. Brown patties in a saute pan using oil if necessary. Pour off any excess fat and remove patties from pan.
Add remaining soup, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Gently stir. In a small bowl, gradually blend flour into water until smooth and stir into soup mixture. Add patties back into pan, cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes or until done, stirring occasionally.

2 comments:

  1. I love our slow cooker, too. Makes things so much easier and right now all I want it something hot when I get home from work. Check out the blog 365 Crockpot. The woman cooked with her crockpot everyday for a whole year. She has 2 cookbooks out but tons and tons of recipes on her blog.

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  2. I love it when you post recipes. I've been eating lots of crockpot, warm comfort meals of late - and it's certainly showing on the scale! But that's what happens when we get these cold foggy days and don't see the sun for a week. Thanks for sharing!

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