Slummin' it for Supper: Hamburg Gravy & Cheddar Biscuits

Digital Scrapbook Images created by Andrea Boyer:  www.scrapartstudio.com

So as I said in the introductory post for the Slummin' it for Supper series, I will sometimes pick up a pack of meat for a particular dinner that I'm planning.  Either that, or I'll have a hankering for something (usually, for me, it's hamburger) and get some when I see a good sale price.  I would prefer to buy my meat locally, from a "hippie" farm, but we use so little meat that I'm really just waiting until we can work out our budget for the year before I decide whether to do that or just go with my sporadic supermarket purchases.

In any case, I found a 2 1/2 pound pack of hamburger on sale for an alarmingly good price at my supermarket the other day and couldn't resist - I'd been craving it for a couple of days.  So yesterday afternoon I brought the girls into the kitchen with me, set them up with some plastic bowls and wooden spoons, and browned it down with an onion I'd had for about a week that was needing to be used up.  I had no idea what I planned to do with it.  I originally had thought about tacos, but I didn't have all the spices I needed for taco seasoning, my husband would have had to stop for shells on the way home, and when I discovered I was out of black beans I decided to sit on it for a while.

Eventually, I came up with the idea of hamburg gravy.  You can't get much more good old fashioned hillbilly eatin' than this without adding some sort of woodland creature to the pot (and there's nothing wrong with that  - no judgement here).  Anyone who grew up in a rural area may remember it from the lunch room of their school, or it may have been a staple comfort food at home, served over mashed potatoes or rice.  

I'm a huge fan of comfort foods.  As bad as they can be for our bodies, they do my soul and state of mind a world of good, particularly on these long, dark, cold winter days.  So once the idea for hamburg gravy popped into my head that was it.  There was no other option.  

I don't have a recipe for hamburg gravy, really.  I mean, I have one written down in case of an emergency, but as with many of the things I cook, I just winged it.  My "recipe" called for two packets of french onion soup mix, which of course I didn't have.  A quick scan of my "savory" cupboard, however, revealed an unopened can of French's fried onions leftover from a green been casserole who knows how long ago.  But hey, if it's not expired and it doesn't smell, it's fair game in my kitchen.  So instead of the soup mix I poured the fried onions into a bowl, crushed them up with the bottom of a juice cup, and poured the crumbs into my ground beef mixture.  I added four cups of water, stirred it all together, brought it to a boil, and let it simmer for about two hours, stirring fairly often. 

I'm comfortable admitting that, at first, it looked a little like cat sick.  But as it reduced it developed a nice, thick, smooth consistency (as I knew it would).  If you don't have onion soup mix or fried onions, you could make a roux ahead of time.  Then add it to your ground beef and water.  It will act as a thickening agent during the simmer.  Same idea.  Just a different way of getting there. 

 Now, I'm not afraid to admit that I love any sort of bread, pasta, or anything of the sort.  Last night's dinner was an indulgence for me.  The hamburg gravy was mixed with whole wheat rotini, to make a sort of homemade hamburger helper, and on the side I made cheddar biscuits.

I ran across this tutorial a while ago while searching for a knockoff of the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits.  It was so, so amazing, and it was the garlic parsley butter that really made them.  This is the easiest side dish to make in the world, it always comes out just right, and it goes with anything.  Seriously.  If you have pancake mix you can whip these up in ten minutes and I can't imagine anyone not liking them.  

So there you have it.  My slummed out, improvised meal hamburg gravy and biscuits.

Do you have a favorite winter comfort meal, or a super easy to throw together dinner?  Leave a comment.  Also, how does Tuesday sound for a regular Slummin' it for Supper post?  Let me know in the comments section!