gravy

Bangers and Mash

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

When I think about British cuisine the first thing that comes to my mind is Bangers and Mash. Don’t ask me why!

6 years ago I tried starting a Harry Potter book club with my friends and I remember making Bangers and Mash to serve everybody.

I was given The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook a while ago and I’ve enjoyed reading through it to discover more traditional British cuisine, but the first thing I made was the Bangers and Mash. I didn’t remember the onion gravy from my first experience with the meal, but it was probably my favorite part of our dinner!

The boys loved the sausages. Firecracker wouldn’t touch the mashed potatoes, though. If it’s not in French fry form – he won’t eat a potato… I served our bangers and mash with Brussels sprouts. We found a caterpillar on one of the sprouts and attempted to keep it as a pet. Yea, that lasted about a day – whether it died from lack of oxygen or being shaken by the toddler (picture Darla from Finding Nemo) I don’t know.

Bangers and Mash

Ingredients for bangers:

  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 C panko
  • 1 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • butter for frying

Ingredients for mash:

  • 3 russet potatoes, cubed
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3/4 C milk

Ingredients for gravy:

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 2 C vegetable broth

Steps:

  1. Make the onion gravy: Cook the onions in butter over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes until the onions are golden. Stir in the flour until combined. Add the broth and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring often. Season to taste with S+P.
  2. Make the mash: Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, and cook until potatoes are fork tender. Drain. Mash with butter and milk until creamy. Season to taste with S+P.
  3. Make the bangers: Combine meat, egg yolks, panko, seasonings, and zest. Form into sausages. Fry bangers in the butter over medium-high heat, searing on all sides, and cooking until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached.
  4. Serve the sausages atop the potatoes, finishing with the gravy.

*This recipe is adapted from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook*

Bangers and Mash | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

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A Breakfast Potluck

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Last week the gang got together for what has to be my favorite themed potluck yet – breakfast!

I was torn between making my cinnamon rolls (sans cranberries) and a new twist on my coffee cake. I decided on the latter simply because it’s a much easier dish to make, especially having just returned home from vacation.

I decided to try putting fresh cherries in the center of the coffee cake. Brilliant idea, if you ask me. I’ve really been on a cherry kick lately, and it’s a fruit my little man enjoys snacking on, too. (I was very close to adding blueberries to the filling as well – next time!) For the topping I decided to go with dark brown sugar and cocoa powder instead of my typical cinnamon. The subtle smokiness of the dark brown sugar and the hint of chocolate complimented the cherries beautifully. A perfect summer breakfast treat.

Be sure to scroll past my recipe to see what other creations joined the buffet line!

Cherry Coffee Cake

Ingredients for topping:

  • 3/8 C flour
  • 1/3 C dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 1/2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 C rolled oats

Ingredients for cake:

  • 2 C + 1 tbsp flour, divided use
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1 C sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla paste (I used Nielsen-Massey)
  • 1 C Greek yogurt (I used Stonyfield Organic)
  • 1 1/4 C pitted and chopped fresh cherries

Steps:

  1. Make the topping: whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Using your fingers, break the butter into small pieces and combine with the topping. After combined add the oats. Set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8″ square cake pan with foil and grease.
  3. Make the cake: In a large bowl whisk together 2 C flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla paste.
  5. Incorporate a third of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Once combined add 1/2 C of yogurt. Add another third of the dry ingredients. Once combined add the last 1/2 C of yogurt. Add in the final third of the dry ingredients.
  6. Toss cherries in remaining flour.
  7. Assemble the cake: Place half of the cake batter in the prepared cake pan. Evenly distribute the cherries and top with remaining batter. Top the cake with the topping from step 1.
  8. Bake for 65 minutes, or until a knife comes out cleanly.
  9. Allow cake to cool for at least 5 minutes and remove the cake from the pan by the foil. I found this flavor of coffee cake to be best served warm.

cherry coffee cake Sew You Think You Can Cook

Here’s a sampling of the other dishes brought to the breakfast potluck:

Turkey Salisbury Steaks

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I have discovered the perfect ratio of meat-to-breadcrumbs-to-liquid for patties, be them meatballs, burgers, meatloaf, or Salisbury steaks. This recipe is modified from Lauren (no, not me) who blogs over at the very successful Lauren’s Latest. I might have a blog-crush on her! If you haven’t visited her blog before, but you probably have, you should really check it out. I feel like I know her. I get sucked into her writing style and her stories always provide a little chuckle. I’ve made a few recipes from her blog (another to be featured Thanksgiving week) and they have all been a success.

I found myself drawn to this recipe because my mother-in-law was visiting and I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to make a dish involving mushrooms. I don’t like mushrooms, it’s a texture thing. My husband though, loves mushrooms. If we’re having burgers or steaks he’ll excitedly saute some up in soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. But because I don’t eat them the package of mushrooms usually goes to waste, unless of course he remembers we have some and makes an omelet. So with my mother-in-law, who also enjoys mushrooms, in town I knew they wouldn’t be wasted. The flavor of mushrooms doesn’t bother me, and they always smell amazing when cooked so I happily gave them another try (I want to like mushrooms but it’s just not happening) and easily ate around them in the gravy.

I’ve never had Salisbury steak before but according to Lauren’s blog post it’s traditionally served with mashed potatoes. (She served hers with rice cauliflower.) I had a very, very large sweet potato in the pantry so we sliced it up and roasted it. I think this gravy would taste good on anything though so whatever you chose to make as your side will also be dragged through the gravy!

Turkey Salisbury Steaks

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 small red onion, chopped, divided use
  • 1 egg
  • 3/8 C Italian-style breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided use
  • 8 oz sliced mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 2 C beef broth
  • dash Worcestershire sauce

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl, mix together turkey, half of the onion, egg, breadcrumbs, ketchup, garlic powder, ground mustard,  and S+P. Form into 8 patties.
  2. In a large, high-sided skillet, brown patties over medium-high heat in 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Remove and set aside.
  3. Add remaining olive oil and saute the rest of the onion with the mushrooms. Season with S+P and cook until onion is translucent Remove and set aside.
  4. In the same skillet create a roux by melting the butter and whisking in the flour. Once combined add the broth and Worcestershire, whisking consistently to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
  5. Return the patties and mushrooms to the skillet. Cover and cook 10 minutes until gravy is thick and turkey is cooked through.

*This recipe is modified from Lauren at http://www.laurenslatest.com/turkey-salisbury-steak/*

Salisbury Steak

Pork Chops with Onion Gravy

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I have one more tried and true recipe from April’s edition of Food Network Magazine for this month.

It comes from their “Weeknight Meals” section.

In fact, it looked so good and so easy that I actually made it the same week I received my magazine in the mail!

They suggested serving it with grits, but I went with the more classic mashed potatoes. So I know that my nutrition facts are different from theirs, which indicated this meal is only 483 calories with 45 grams of protein and 18 grams of fat. (To achieve their numbers serve the pork chops and onion gravy with 3/4 C quick-cooking grits and 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese.)

I am not a huge fan of gravy, and only ever “indulge” in it on Thanksgiving, but I have to admit this onion gravy was spot on. I do love onions so I’m sure that had something to do with the happy dance my taste buds were doing.

Pork Chops with Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

  • 4 3/4″ thick pork chops
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 2 red onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 C chicken broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • fresh parsley, for garnish

Steps:

  1. Season pork chops with S+P. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of pork chops in vegetable oil, 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Add onions to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the flour, cook another 2 minutes. Add the broth and bay leaf until thickened. Add the vinegar.
  3. Return pork chops to the pan and cook until the pork is cooked through.
  4. Serve pork smothered in the onion gravy and garnished with fresh parsley.

IMG_8133-2

Loco Moco

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Loco Moco is the number one comfort food on the Big Island. Rumor has it that it originated in Hilo. The story according to our travel guide, Lonely Planet Hawaii: The Big Island (Regional Travel Guide), September 2008 is as follows:

A group of teenage boys hung out at a local restaurant to play pinball and chow down on cheap food. A football player nicknamed “Crazy” was nominated to request a new dish. A large bowl of rice topped with hambuger and gravy. When the group relocated their hangout two over-easy fried eggs were added to the dish, creating Loco Moco as it is today.

Traditionally Loco Moco uses a hamburger patty as the choice of protein, but variations include pork, spam, etc. I made mine with leftover shredded pork. When we ate our Loco Moco in Hawaii Stuart said it needed one more egg, so I made three! Breaking into the yolk and combining the rice with the yolk and gravy is the best way to eat it.

Fried Egg Pork & Gravy

Loco Moco

Ingredients:

  • 3 C cooked rice
  • 3/4 lb cooked shredded pork
  • 1 can beef broth
  • flour for thickening
  • 1 tbsp butter, plus more for eggs
  • 3 eggs

Steps:

  1. In a saucepan, reduce beef broth. Stir in 1-2 tbsp of flour to thicken. Let reduce to desired consistency. Season with S+P. Stir in 1 tbsp butter. Warm shredded pork in the gravy.
  2. Melt a little butter in a small skillet. Crack eggs (I did mine one at a time) into skillet. Cook for only a couple of minutes before flipping. The yolk will still be runny.
  3. Assemble loco moco: spoon rice on a large plate, cover with the gravy and pork mixture, and top with the over-easy fried eggs.

Loco Moco 1

Loco Moco 2

Chorizo Gravy

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Once upon a time, in our first year of marriage, Stuart was craving a Southern classic: White Sausage Gravy and Biscuits. But I didn’t have any traditional sausage. I did the best I could with what I had – chorizo. It wasn’t technically a white gravy anymore, but it was pretty awesome!

Last week’s Mexican Monday (tomorrow’s post) involved chorizo so I had some leftover and decided to remake this gravy.

The seasonings in the chorizo give the gravy a light orange color and adds tons of extra flavor. Most sausage gravies have a lot of pepper in them, but I don’t add any additional seasonings – the pork takes care of that for me.

Chorizo Gravy

Ingredients:

  • 3 links Mexican chorizo, casings removed
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 C 2% milk

Steps

  1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, brown chorizo, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Once cooked through, use a slotted spoon to remove the chorizo and put on a paper towel lined plate.
  2. Using the fat in the pot, make a rue with 2 tbsp flour. Whisk.
  3. Whisk in milk. Continue to stir over medium-low heat until milk thickens into a gravy – about 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in cooked chorizo and serve atop biscuits.

Chroizo Gravy 3

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