Some Times Cheap Just Means Goooood
I've recovered from summer overload and strep throat. Yet still, my posting regularity is lacking. I'm not a slacker, it's just that I haven't recovered from my new job. I've been working from home up until this week. To put in perspective how out practice I am at getting myself and little chef out the door each day, I actually let the poor kid go without milk for 4 days. But don't call social services on me, she finally got her milk and I felt so guilty I let her have chocolate milk and left over for pizza for breakfast the other day (her idea, not mine!) Anyway, I'm rambling, I guess when I'm out of the loop for a few days I store up all these things I have to say! Tonight was the first night I got home early enough to cook. Little Chef requested pasta, shocking... But I just didn't have it in me. So, instead, I reached back for a Sunday Dish family classic. Hamburger Pie. A couple of my friends have asked me why I haven't put this dish, one of my favorite comfort foods of all times, up on the blog. I had to think long and hard about it. Most of my recipes are fairly simple, home cooking type of dishes - nothing "haute cuisine" - but Hamburger Pie? This humble dish has humble beginnings - I think my Mom thought it up when we were little. We didn't have alot of money but we were always well feed. Hamburger Pie is a poor mans version of Shepard's Pie (already a poor mans dish, no?) Or maybe it's a quasi white trash version! Whatever it is, it's cheap, it's easy, and it's damn good. I've made a few modifications over the years but for the most part it is, as they say, just like Mama used to make! Ingredients: 1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground beef (for this dish don't splurge on the lean stuff - buy it cheap, buy it fatty. Trust me it tastes better) 1 large yellow onion - diced 2 cloves of garlic - minced 1 large can of corn - I like the mixed white and yellow niblets. Corn, living in harmony - does it get better then that? 1 lb. button mushroom - sliced (optional - this is a Todd addition, good, but not traditional.) POTATOES: here's the controversy... you can either purchase a box of instant mash potatoes which is what my Mom did. I'm not gonna lie, there's something about their delicious other worldly flavor that I love. Todd thinks instant potatoes are basically sacrilege. He's created this dish a few times, always whipping up potatoes from scratch. Will I say it sucked? No way. But I must, for history sake, provide both options. So... EITHER: 1 box of instant mashed potatoes - cooked according to the manufacturers directions OR 6 cups of mashed potatoes (I will not put the recipe here. Basically boil some russet potatoes, remove the skins, then mash them up with lots of butter, cream, salt, pepper maybe some garlic - you know the drill.) 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you are going to make mashed potatoes from scratch - make them first then set them aside and keep them warm while you cook your beef. Cook the meat, onions and garlic over medium heat until the hamburger is brown and the onions soft. Don't over cook the the hamburger at this point as it will cook more in the oven later on. Note #2: If you are going to add mushrooms to the dish cook them in a separate pan until they have released all their moisture. Add them to the meat and onions once they are done cooking. Season it with salt and pepper. Drain all the fat off and set it aside. If you are making this with mashed potatoes - cook them now. Open the can of corn and drain. The simply assemble it all. Hamburger mixture on the bottom, corn, then mashed potatoes. Then put a generous amount of grated cheese on top. Pop it in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or so. Last but not least, dig in. What is your comfort food, humble or gourmet? I'd love to know!
