A few weeks ago, I was thinking about how the rise of tv dinners in the 1940s marked a transition in the way we thought about food in this country. One of the first “convenience” food products to rise in popularity, the tv dinner could be stored indefinitely in the freezer until you were ready to eat. Able to be cooked in the very tray it was stored in, all a person would need to do was unwrap or vent the top and place it in a 425-degree oven for 25 minutes. In many ways, the tv dinner is the antithesis of my purpose in writing these articles, so I thought it would be fun to recreate one of the most ubiquitous tv dinners but make it from scratch with real ingredients.
The history of Salisbury Steak is pretty interesting if you are into diving into rabbit holes about the history of food. The Salisbury Steak is generally recognized to be a mixture of ground beef, veggies, breadcrumbs, and egg, roasted in the oven, and topped with brown gravy. It was birthed in the United States and named after Dr. James Henry Salisbury, a Civil War-era dietician. Salisbury Steak rose in popularity during the war as an easy-to-prepare, nutrient and protein-rich meal fed to soldiers. Dr. Salisbury believed that ample protein was the answer to wasting, a condition related to malnutrition and chronic diarrhea. After the war, Dr. Salisbury wrote what may be the first book about diet and nutrition published in the United States. In “The Relation of Alimentation and Disease,” Dr. Salisbury attempted to help people understand the link between health and a balanced diet that includes animal proteins rich in B vitamins.
I considered a variety of Salisbury Steak recipes, but ultimately, it was Jacque Pepin’s recipe that rose to the top. Salisbury Steak is a pretty easy dish to put together, reminding me a little of meatloaf though chunkier and cooked in convenient single-size portions. I pivoted a bit from the original recipe when it came to the gravy, adding a red wine reduction and mushrooms.
Salisbury Steak
By Jacque Pepin
Slightly modified by Kelli Kelly
INGREDIENTS:
3 T vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 ribs of celery, chopped
2 apples
1 ½ lb ground beef
2 large eggs
1 t minced garlic
1 t salt
½ t fresh ground black pepper
2-3 slices firm, fresh bread
For the Sauce
2 T vegetable oil
6 oz mushrooms, cut in quarters
2 carrots
1 medium yellow onion, peeled
1 c red wine
1 c water
1 T soy sauce
¼ t fresh ground black pepper
1 ½ T tomato paste
¼ t Tabasco Sauce
½ t salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan. When hot, add the onion and celery and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat until they are softened. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Core, but do not peel the apples. Cut apples into ½ inch pieces. Add the apples to the onion and celery mixture.
4. Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Add the onion-celery-apple mix to it, and stir in eggs, garlic, salt, and pepper.
5. Tear the slices of bread into large pieces and pulse in a food processor until crumbed. Add breadcrumbs to the meat mixture and mix well to incorporate.
6. Dampen your hands with some water and form the mix into 6 large patties. Arrange in a large roasting pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make the sauce: pulse the onions and carrots in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat oil in a saucepan, add mushrooms, and cook over medium heat until they have given up their moisture and are lightly browned. Add onion-carrot mix and sauté briefly. Deglaze with red wine, bring to a simmer, and reduce for about 5 minutes. Add water, soy sauce, pepper, tomato paste, tabasco, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and gently simmer until reduced to a sauce-like consistency.
8. When the steaks are cooked for 20 minutes, remove them from the oven. Spoon the sauce over and around the steaks and place them back in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to serve.
Kelli Kelly, Slinger of Produce. Slurper of Dumplings. Person of the Bean.
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