Salisbury Steak with Gravy

This is hugely popular around here. The only adjustment I've made is to saute the onions separately instead of mixing them in with the meat. Just accommodating picky eaters. We like it with rice and a veg, although mashed potatoes is more traditional. You have my permission to do what you like!

Ingredients
Meat and Gravy:
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick) or, coarse salt and pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons, 3 turns of the pan
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock
Directions
Combine meat, Worcestershire, and steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Form 4 large, oval patties, 1-inch thick.

Preheat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the meat patties to a hot pan. Cook meat 6 minutes on each side until meat is evenly caramelized on the outside and juices run clear. Remove meat and cover with loose tin foil to keep warm. Add 1 more turn of the pan extra-virgin olive oil and butter to the pan, then the onions. Season onions with salt and pepper and saute until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

To onions, add a sprinkle of flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in stock and thicken 1 minute.

Serve with potatoes or rice, a veg and, for our family, ketchup!

Chili and Cornbread

Chili

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1-2 cans diced tomatoes (I like using petite-diced)

1 tsp chili powder

chopped onion

cumin

brown sugar

Brown the beef. Throw in some chopped onions. Add beans and tomatoes. Add 1/2 cup or so of water till you get the consistency you like. Add chili powder, some cumin (1/2 - 1 tsp) and some brown sugar (1 Tbsp or so) and adjust to taste. Let simmer while you get the rest of the dinner ready.

**This is a pretty basic chili recipe without anything fancy.  What kind of chili do YOU make?

Cornbread

The recipe I used for above photo was from Smitten Kitchen and I did NOT care for it. I chose it because it was different from my usual recipe and used buttermilk (something I've been experimenting with a lot and love to use in pancakes). The following is my good ol' standby:

2 cups flour

8 Tbsp cornmeal

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

Mix dry ingred. together. Add eggs and milk. Gently stir in melted butter. Pour in greased pan (I vary the pan size 9*9, 7*11, pie pan, etc.) and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. 

**I halve this recipe for our little family.  I've also been using powdered milk to rotate it through our food storage. It tastes fine with powdered milk but is a bit more crumbly. I keep tweaking it to compensate for that.