Salisbury Steak

Salisbury steak was the invention of James Salisbury in the 1800s. Salisbury believed that many human afflictions were the result of poor diet. He theorized that ground beef was better for a person than large chunks of meat, as it didn't require as much digestive effort. Salisbury was from New York (state), but he lived in Cleveland, Ohio for a number of years after the Civil War; and indeed, he and his wife are buried in Cleveland at Lake View Cemetery, where President James Garfield, federal law officer Eliot Ness and John D. Rockefeller, the super wealthy founder of Standard Oil, are also buried.

Salisbury Steak has long been one of the selections of frozen meals, including the well known "TV Dinners," and that continues right up to the present. The gravy that goes along with Salisbury Steak makes mashed potatoes a common side dish in Mom & Pop diners, as well as in frozen dinners. 

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

For the beef patties:

 

1 pound ground beef (85/15 meat to fat)

1/4 cup very finely chopped onion

1/4 cup panko (coarse and somewhat chunky) breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon seasoned salt 

1 tablespoon oil (I use sunflower oil) for frying

 

Put the ingredients into a bowl and then mix them (I use my hands) until everything is mixed together well. Form the meat mixture into 4 patties (traditionalists would likely say the patties should be oval shaped). I use a 10 inch nonstick skillet to fry the "steaks." Add the oil to the skillet over medium heat. Place the patties around the skillet and let them cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove the patties to a plate and make the gravy (the patties will cook further, in just a bit).

For the gravy:

 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon ketchup

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

 

Set the heat to low, then melt the butter in the same skillet, add the minced garlic and the sliced mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are softened, then sprinkle the flour over the mushroom/garlic mixture, and mix it in. Add 1/2 cup of broth to the skillet, stirring constantly. When the mixture thickens, add another 1/2 cup of broth, and repeat the process until the beef broth is all mixed in and it has a thickened consistency. Stir in the ketchup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire and pepper. Now add the patties back into the skillet, cover the skillet with a lid or foil, and let the patties cook in the gravy on low heat for about 6 minutes. Check the patties after about 2 or 3 minutes and stir the gravy as best you can (you want to make sure nothing is sticking to the pan, but if it is, remove the skillet from the heat and turn the heat to very low; put the skillet back on the heat after about one minute). After the patties cook for 6 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, but keep the lid in place. Let sit for about 2 minutes before serving.   

  Salisbury Steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and cottage cheese ...

WORD HISTORY:

Adore-This verb, with derived noun "adoration," and adjectival forms: "adoring," "adorable," is related to "oral," "oration," "orator" and some others. The "ad" part of "adore" is related, through Indo European, to English "at," as they go back to Indo European "ad," meaning "near, at, toward, to," which gave Latin "ad," with the same basic meanings, with the spelling and pronunciation shortened at times in Latin's offspring to simply "a." The origin of the main base of "adore" is disputed. Dutch linguist Michiel de Vaan^ believes the origin is Indo European "os," which meant "mouth," and which gave Latin (via Old Italic) "os" (genitive case: "oris," dative case: "ori"), which then gave Latin "orare," which meant "to speak in public," with the secondary meaning of "to plead, to beg, to pray."^^ The two parts combined to form "adorare," with the meaning "to plead, to beg, to ask for, to pray," and then also, "to worship," which brought the broader meaning, "to honor, to revere," and this sense lessened somewhat in the 1800s to, "to like highly, to hold in high regard." The Latin form passed to Old French as "aorer," meaning "to worship, to give praise," which then became "adorer," which saw the Latin spelling influence. English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s as "aouren," which later became "adouren/adoren" (also with the restored 'd' from Latin spelling), with the French meaning, and with the later meaning "to like highly, to hold in high regard," being applied beyond religious deities or figures; as in, "The couple frequently dined at the seafood restaurant, as they adored Oysters Rockefeller." 

 

^ "Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages," Volume 7 of the Leiden Indo-European Etymological Series, by Michiel de Vaan, Brill (Publishing), Leiden (Netherlands), Boston (U.S.), 2008 

 

^^ Others believe the possible source of origin to be Indo European "or/er," which meant, "to speak a ritual, to speak solemnly," and some believe that this was the basis of the Latin verb "orare."