Salisbury Steak ala Schamelot

Made this one up myself after I couldn't find a recipe on line that already sounded like what I had in mind. I do that a lot...

4 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1-2 Tbs soy sauct
1-2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

Mix this up and let the flavors marinate a bit while you make the gravy in a cast iron skillet:

2 Tbs bacon grease, chicken fat from stock, or some other fat
1 large chopped onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large finely diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup corn starch
4 cups chicken stock/broth
2 Tbs Maggi seasoning, or soy or Worchestershire or salt and pepper to taste

Saute the veggies in the fat. Mix the corn starch, Maggi or other seasoning and cold chicken stock. Add to skillet after veggies are soft and have finished yielding their juices. Allow to thicken, adding more corn starch in water if too thin and more stock if too thick. Lower temp just to a bubble.

Meanwhile, form ground beef mixture into oval, hand-sized patties and cook on a griddle, pressing down the patties with a spatula so that the edges of the patties "fray." Brown each side of the patties and then slip them into the skillet of gravy. You can keep them moist and warm in the gravy over a low temp for some time until you're ready to eat. Serve over mashed, skin-on red potatoes and be very generous with the gravy!

My family loved this way more than any meatloaf I've ever made, and said it was a great gluten-free alternative to our usual Wednesday night favorite--hamburgers.

St. Lazarus Corpses

For St. Lazarus Feast day this year we decided to make something that would resemble the wrapped-for-burial body of the saint. We found this recipe for the occasion, sheets of buttered or oiled phyllo, enshrouding cooked, well-spiced ground beef, the oil and spices reminding us of ancient Jewish burial customs:

Ingredients

2-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1-1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1-1/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes,
drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2-1/2 (16 ounce) packages phyllo dough
melted butter


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook ground beef until it loses its pink color and begins to brown. Drain fat from skillet. Add tomatoes, cinnamon, cumin, paprika and allspice. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture reduces slightly, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove one phyllo sheet from package and keep the rest covered with a clean cloth until ready to use. On a flat work surface, cut the phyllo sheet into 2 14x9-inch rectangles. Brush the first half-sheet with melted butter, place the 2nd half on top of it and brush again with butter. Place a generous teaspoon of the meat mixture near the narrow end of the dough. Fold dough over the top of the meat, fold in the sides of the dough, and roll into a narrow tube (cigar) shape. Repeat until all the meat has been rolled up. Arrange "deceased" on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

I'm serving these with tzatziki and Moroccan eggplant salad.

Hope this isn't too morbid for you!