Saturday Supper

I slept badly, but long and finally got out of bed at 10:00 AM. Without having a plan for Saturday breakfast, I just ate the last two pieces of cold pepperoni pizza (groan) washed down with fresh coffee.

My plan was to “deep-clean” the house. However, I started out by just straightening things up. That took up most of the afternoon.

I’m a little mystified about the birds and squirrels. Yesterday I had hundreds of visitors (Caley was in her glory) but I haven’t seen even one at the feeder or the two suet cages today (and I’ve walked past the kitchen window a lot). They usually only do that when a big storm is coming, but there’s nothing like that forecasted. Weird...

Maybe the new seed tasted like crap...

I quit at 5:00 PM and took a break. The “deep-cleaning” never got going, but the house is straightened up. Before I took my break, I made up the mise en place for tonight’s supper, so I’m good to go. I went in and watched some TV cooking shows that taped today.

Since I just had a meat sauce with pasta, I had searched for an easy recipe for Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy. I found one earlier, so I started supper.

I mixed the pound of ground beef with one egg, three tablespoons of crushed Ritz crackers, two tablespoons of finely minced onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning. Then I formed it into one inch thick patties (the recipe said six, but I only got three).

I fried the patties in a skillet over medium-high heat until I got a nice sear on both sides (about 3-4 minutes). I drained off the grease and removed the patties and kept them warm.

I added three tablespoons of butter to the same skillet and, when it had melted, I added two 4-ounce cans of mushrooms, along with the juice. I cooked and stirred this for about two minutes. Then I sprinkled three tablespoons of all-purpose flour and mixed it in until blended. Then I added three sups of milk and three beef bouillon cubes. I whisked that over medium heat until smooth and starting to thicken.

I put the patties back in and let it cook uncovered over low heat for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I made some wide egg noodles. When they were done, I plated it up and wandered in to watch TV. Not the best Salisbury steak I ever had, but not bad!

When they were cool, I put the leftovers in the fridge and then went to bed.