Cooking with Shonte' - Brown Gravy Smothered Hamburger Steaks

Brown Gravy Smothered Hamburger Steaks

Ingredients:

• 1lb of ground beef (you also can use meatless options such as Impossible burger etc., you can also use ground turkey, chicken, or deer )
• 1 yellow onion (½ chopped ½ sliced)
• 1 chopped green pepper (you also can add chopped mushrooms as well)
• 1-2 raw eggs
• ½ cup of bread crumbs seasoned or unseasoned
• 1 packet of brown gravy (optional)- find this in the seasoning aisle near taco packets etc.
• 1 tablespoon of Salt and pepper to taste (I prefer to use himalayan salt as it has low sodium with common minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and iron that can support bone health especially to those of us with bone mets)
• 1 teaspoon of steak seasoning (Mccormick Montreal steak seasoning is my favorite brand)
• 1 teaspoon of Seasoning All ( Mccormick is my favorite brand, get low sodium or Tabitha Brown Mccormick  Salt free all purpose seasoning called Sunshine  option if available)
• 1 teaspoon of All Purpose Greek seasoning ( Cavenders all purpose greek seasoning is my favorite brand)
• ⅓ cup of flour Note: this will be used to make homemade gravy, if you bought the packet gravy this will not be needed
• 1-2 tablespoons /(1 cube) of beef flavored bouillon (my favorite brand is Knorr powder bouillon) Note: this will be used to make homemade gravy, if you bought packet gravy you will not need bouillon.
• 3 cloves of minced garlic or 1 teaspoon if using jar
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (you may use any cooking oil you prefer) Olive oil carries lots of antioxidants, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, Vitamin E & K, reduces inflammation )
• 1 cup of water

Tools:

1 large skillet pan preferably cast iron skillet

Cutting board

Chef knife

Large Spoon

1 small bowl

1 large cup or small bowl

Small Whisk or fork

Mincer tool

Gloves

Chopper

2 large plates

Directions:

1. Put the ground meat into a bowl to start the  mixture for patties (do not mix the meat together until all ingredients are added)
2. Chop ½ onion into small pieces, slice the other half of the onion
3. Chop ½  to 1 whole green pepper into small pieces
4. Mince garlic with mincer, chop 3 cloves of garlic into small pieces,  or use 1 teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar (set aside with sliced onions)
5. Add seasoning to ground meat 1 tablespoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon each of Seasoning All, Greek Seasoning, and steak seasoning
6. Add  ½ cup of bread crumbs to meat mixture (to make homemade bread crumbs just toast a slice of bread when its cooled off crush with fingers into small pieces)
7. Now add the  chopped onions and green peppers to meat mixture
8. Add 1-2 cracked raw eggs (you can beat the eggs  prior to adding to mixture if you desire)
9. Put on gloves its about to get messy and fun!!
10. Mix all ingredients together in the meat as evenly as possible with hands
11. Once thoroughly mixed, form small-medium patties by hand and place on a plate
12. Heat skillet on medium-high heat with olive oil, once heated, add meat patties and cook for 10minues 5 minutes sear on each side, may need longer, cook until there is no pink on the inside
13. Remove cooked patties from pan and place on a clean plate ( do not use the same plate that the raw patties were on, to reduce cross contamination)
14. Lower the heat on the pan to  low-medium, using the same skillet we are going to make the gravy from the cooked bits from the meat (this is called making a roux), add more olive oil to pan, add sliced onions and garlic and cook until translucent (its ok if it appears “burnt”, thats the goal were trying to achieve)
15. Add ½ cup of water to pan, along side 1-2 tablespoons (or 1 cube) of beef bouilon and stir together to get the crusted cooked bits off the bottom of pan
16. In a cup or bowl add the flour and slowly add water while stirring with whisk or fork, add water until all flour is mixed together without lumps (not too watery)
17. Once the flour cup water mixture is complete, add this to the pan and continuously  stir slowly on low heat, this should thicken into a nice gravy in about 6minutes. If your gravy is too thick add more water, if its too thin add a little more flour mixture until its too your liking (DO NOT add dry flour to the pan directly, as this will cause lumps)
18. Season gravy with salt, pepper,and greek seasoning to taste
19. An alternative to making your own gravy from scratch, you can just add 1 packet of powder brown gravy to  1 cup of water in the pan after cooking the garlic and onions and it should thicken as expected, you shouldnt have to season the gravy because the packet comes already seasoned.
20. Once the gravy is done, return the meat patties back into the pan and ensure its nicely covered by the gravy by spooning the gravy over top the patties  (this is why its called smothered)
21. Let the patties simmer in the gravy for another 5 minutes to incorporate all the flavors
22. Your done!! Enjoy, serve over rice, mashed potatoes or any grain of your choosing along side a vegetable. I also love to eat this with canned biscuits or cornbread.

*Look at you, now you know how to make gravy from scratch, this same procedure can be done with any meat bits, all you need is  flour,  water, and seasoning.