Hamburger Gravy - But Not Like You Had at School

I never dreamed I'd be blogging about Hamburger Gravy. Shoot, I haven't eaten it since my school days and have never made it! But I was feeling a bit queasy the other day and didn't feel like eating anything except mashed potatoes, which reminded me of being home from school sick as a child and only wanting to eat mashed potatoes.

My mother told me I needed to have some protein along with my mashed potatoes, had only ground beef on hand, first thought shepherd's pie/cottage pie, but the oven was otherwise occupied. So she said she'd make some hamburger gravy. Made me shudder because that was one of the regular items on my elementary school's menu, and it was ...

... ghastly. And gluey and grey and greasy and gross. (Hey, the Five G's of Gastronomy!) Never fear, she said, it won't be like that. And it wasn't. She had a real hit on her hands. Even my dad ate some, all the while reminding her of his loathing of ground beef and making rude remarks about what the dish was called in the army!

Anyway … I thought I'd try, all these years later, to replicate her superior version of the horrid elementary school staple. The first "must" is proper browning. You have to give that ground beef and chopped onion a good 20 minutes in the pan, at least. Before you proceed with the recipe, the beef has to be well browned and starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.

I was rather shocked that Mr Delightful liked it (along with a glass of rather decent pinot noir). If something passes muster with both him and my dad, well, it has to be okay. What is your favorite childhood comfort food (nursery food, for my British readers)? And what was the worst thing on your school's lunch menu?

Hamburger Gravy

(Makes 4 servings)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound (16 ounces/454 grams) lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup lower sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water (or milk)
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon country Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon marjoram

1 In a large skillet, cook oil, ground beef, chopped onion, salt and pepper, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks and browns. Take your time with the browning, or you'll be sorry! Cook until very well browned and sticking to the bottom of the pan a bit, about 20 minutes. Of course, you don't want to burn it, but that pan bottom should be full of lovely brown bits. 

Note: If you're using a ground beef with enough fat, skip the olive oil. And if there's a lot of fat left after cooking, remove all but two tablespoons of it.

2 Stir in the flour and continue cooking and stirring for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up all those brown bits. Stir in the water, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and marjoram. When it's bubbling and thickening, loosely cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it is as thick as you like. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over mashed potatoes (though the rudely-named version my dad mentioned was served over toast). 

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Jean