Old School Salisbury Steak Dinner

Old School Salisbury Steak Dinner

Old School Homemade Salisbury Steak Dinner
🥔🥩🧅  🥔🥩🧅
Mushroom Onion Gravy
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Buttered Green Beans

Old Dr. James H. Salisbury (1823-1905) probably wouldn’t be surprised that the recipe he introduced in 1888 is still going strong. The good American doctor believed that beef was an excellent defense against many different physical problems. And while his suggestion that Salisbury steak be eaten three times a day is extreme to say the least, many of us do enjoy his comfort-food creation from time to time.

Salisbury Steak Dinner Recipe

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Chanterelle Gravy

Chanterelle Gravy

Crispy-Skin Chicken Thighs, Chanterelle Gravy, Microgreens

What would you pay for a whole pound of Fresh, Wild, Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms from Oregon? These fancy, seasonal mushrooms can be quite pricey.  I’ve seen them locally for $30/lb and on the internet for up to $80/lb plus shipping charges. But here at Costco in Las Vegas, a pound of beautiful Oregon Chanterelles cost only $12.99. We couldn’t pass up that deal!

When cooked, luxurious chanterelle mushrooms have a velvety consistency and a woodsy, earthy flavor with hints of mild pepper. Chanterelle gravy is a great way to elevate the humble chicken thigh.

Chanterelle Gravy Recipe

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Vegetarian Meatloaf, Mushroom Gravy

Vegetarian Meatloaf, Mushroom GravyA Moist, Tasty, Satisfying Vegetarian Meatloaf
made with
Oatmeal, Quinoa, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, and Gruyere Cheese
served with
Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy

The somewhat mysterious walnut loaf on the vegetarian restaurant menu seemed way too heavy for lunch, so I ordered the sprouted salad instead.

While the salad was completely delicious, I was still curious about that hearty, compelling “vegetarian meatloaf” so I decided to make one at home.

While researching vegetarian walnut meatloaf recipes, I came across several that sounded similar to our local restaurant’s version. Upon further investigation, it appears that the original recipe is over 2 decades old, from famous vegetarian chef Deborah Madison.

Madison recently noted that 20 years ago she would add cheese to many of her recipes. These days however, with the variety and quality of vegetarian ingredients, she no longer relies on cheese to substitute for the meat. In this vegetarian meatloaf, cheese does play an important role…but vegan cheese should work fine too.

In my interpretation of the recipe, I substitute oatmeal and quinoa for Madison’s brown rice, and make many other adjustments as well, but credit for the concept definitely goes to her.

Vegetarian Meatloaf, Mushroom Gravy Recipe

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Egg Foo Young

Egg Foo Young, Shiitake Gravy

Egg Foo Young with Mung Bean Sprouts, Pork, and Scallions
Shiitake Gravy

It’s a nostalgic American egg dish borne of Chinese ancestry, one similar to the Italian frittata filled with vegetables and sometimes meat (but no cheese). Here, it’s cooked with a bit more oil than a frittata in order to conjure up the original deep-fried version of Egg Foo Young invented by resourceful Chinese immigrants to California during the Gold Rush.

Ten years ago I posted my Egg Foo Young recipe. A recipe that is still #trending today. Growing up, on most Sunday nights that I can remember, we would drive with our Dad to pick-up Chinese take-out for dinner. I loved that exotic deep-fried thick pancake then and still do…but what was it exactly?

I thought, of course Egg Foo Young was made with eggs. But it didn’t taste like any eggs that I was familiar with. It was oddly brown and mysteriously kind of crunchy. And who serves eggs with gravy, anyway? Gravy is for turkey.

Mom thoroughly enjoyed a Chinese cooking class back in the 60s and learned, among other wonderful things, that broccoli should be served bright green and crisp, not olive green and mushy. But “mung bean sprouts” did not show up in our home any other time except Sunday nights. The sprouts were also an ingredient in beef chop suey, another of our Sunday night favorites.

Recently I told my brother that I was writing about Egg Foo Young and asked if he had any recollection of it from our youth. He said, “Yes, loved egg foo young. Now I think it is too bland, but I order it anyway; because of the memories.”

Ok then, Donny, here is my updated Egg Foo Young recipe with wholesome ingredients reinvented from our past, it’s less greasy than the take-out version we remember because it is cooked in a pan, not deep-fried. It’s savory and evocative of Sunday nights long ago, and anything but bland.

Egg Foo Young Recipe

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Poached Salmon, Lobster Mash, Lentil Gumbo “Gravy”

poached salmon, lobster mash, lentil gravy

Court Bouillon Poached Fresh Salmon
Lobster Mashed Potatoes with Butter and Chives
Gumbo “Gravy” with French Lentils

A piece of fish, mashed potatoes & gravy. On steroids. Inspired by the extraordinary marriage of Lobster Fettuccine with Gumbo Sauce, this dish features buttery lobster mashed potatoes paired with a flavorful seafood-based gumbo “gravy” flecked with earthy French lentils. Fresh salmon filets are poached in a court bouillon, imbuing the fish with subtle lemony herbaceous qualities and a silky texture. The robust flavors and extravagant ingredients remake the everyday combination of fish & potatoes into a voluptuous meal.

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