Kid Friendly Hamburger Steak

Today is the day for all foodies and gourmet fans to look away. Today I am going to make kid friendly cuisine.  Someone asked me earlier in the week why I go into so much detail with these recipes, when I could just give out the ingredients and directions and call it a day.  Well friends the answer is simple. Not everyone I know was born with an inherent ability to cook.  Heck the first time I moved out of my parent’s house I knew out to make breaded cutlets, tuna casserole and mac & cheese.  Over the years I have asked questions, sought out adventurous recipes and cooked by trial and error.  I have some friends and family who are young college students and newlyweds and they are new to the whole cooking scene.  My goal is to help them out as much as possible and encourage them to cook and not rely on take out as often. 

For dinner last night I served up one of the first born son’s favorites, Poor Man’s Steak. 

He just loves it and I like to let him choose the meal every once in a while. It gives him a sense of autonomy and makes him feel like he contributes.  Here’s what we started with.

Poor Man’s Steak

1 pound ground beef

Slices of bacon

Salt & Pepper to taste

Lipton’s Beefy Onion Soup Mix

2 tablespoons Flour

I began by seasoning the meat with salt and a fair amount of pepper.  My mom believes that plenty of pepper is what makes a hamburger so good.  I formed the meat into Poppa Bear, Momma Bear and Baby Bear sized patties. I then wrapped a piece of bacon around each one and secured it with a toothpick. 

 

 

Next I preheated my pan and cooked them up.  You’ll notice here that I am using a splatter screen.  My mother used these when I was growing up, and you rarely see any of us cooking without one.  It works well to protect the chef from unwanted splatters and burns.  I usually hold mine in front of me shield style when I am in front of the pan. Believe it or not it has saved my eyes from a grease splatter or two.

After they were cooked I placed them on a paper towel, a poured off the grease in the pan.  I deglazed the pan and used the liquid gold to make the gravy.  I made the gravy by following the recipe on the side of the package, which consists of adding 2 tablespoons of flour and whisking with 2 cups of water to bring to a boil. 

Then I put the steaks back in the pan and poured the thickened gravy over the top.  You can use whatever gravy recipe you like, just remember the goal is to get dinner on the table between homework and bath time. Don’t be ashamed to use a package, I’m not.

I served “little man’s” with rice and corn as he requested.  He doesn’t like the gravy on his rice; he prefers to eat his plain. Check out the Star Wars plate, pretty snazzy huh?

For the grownups I put the hamburger steak on a bed of rice and ladled gravy over the top.  I have been known to smother this with grilled onions, bacon, and mushrooms, and a slice of cheese before covering it in gravy.  That’s how we served it at a restaurant I worked at in college.  So there you have it a kid friendly recipe for the weekend.