Just Call Me Betty C: This Ain't Your Hungry Man Salisbury Steak, Bubbs

It's been awhile.
Yeah, I know.
I've been lazy. And also extremely reluctant to post things that aren't accompanied by moderately ok photos. But tonight, I break my (unintentional, really) silence with salisbury steak.

Yeah, you heard me.
Salisbury steak.

The thing about salisbury steak, as the editors of Cuisine at Home point out, is its relegation to a culinary oblivion, its edging out by meatballs and hamburgers, its annex to a plastic compartment, decorated with a painted-on grill mark... OK, so maybe I made some of that up, but what they were trying to get at when they said "it was banished to the frozen food section of the supermarket" is that you don't want to eat it. Not like that. Not all gummy and sticky and slabbish and tasteless. Even a Hungry Man doesn't get that hungry.

Thank God those editors tackled the problem and published the recipe in the latest issue so I could give it a whirl for dinner tonight.

The tender steak couples with the rich brothy sauce and the mellow onions topping a crispy and delectable piece of cheesey, toasty bread... Man. You must try this. (I'm looking at you, EVERYONE.)

French Onion Steaks
(barely) adapted from Cuisine at Home

Tools: measuring cups, spoons, cutting board, knife, sautee pan, baking sheet, cheese grater, can opener, wooden spoon, spatula, platter, small shallow dish

Ingredients:

Steaks--
1.25 lb ground chuck (I used 85/15 'ground beef'), .25 cup minced fresh parsley, 2 tbsp minced scallions (green onions), 1tsp kosher salt, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Sauce--
1 tbsp (2 turns) olive oil, 2 cups sliced onion (about 1 medium, sliced thin), 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 2 cups low-sodium beef broth, 1/4 cup dry red wine, kosher salt to taste (up to 3/4 tsp), 1/2 tsp dried thyme

Cheesey toasty yums--
4 slices french bread or italian baguette sliced diagonal 1/2 thick, 2 tbsp unsalted room-temp butter, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, pinch or so of paprika, 1/2 cup swiss and 1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheeses

Preheat the oven to 400. Combine the butter, paprika and garlic with a fork or spoon. Slice up the bread, butter it with your mixture and top with the cheese. Set it on the baking sheet and put aside.

Combine the ground beef, parsley, scallions, salt and pepper.

Don't be shy-- use your hands. Divide it into four even portions and shape into an oval patty about 1/2 inch thick.

Add the flour to a small shallow dish and dredge the patties. Set aside remaining flour.

Heat the oil in your sautee pan, on medium-high. Add the patties and brown for about three minutes on each side.

Remove from pan and set aside. Don't crowd the pan-- brown in batches if your sautee pan is small.

Toss the onions with the sugar, and then add to the oil. Sautee for about five minutes. As the onion releases liquid, the pan will deglaze somewhat and the onions will pick up those yummy brown bits. Help it out a little bit if you want by scraping the pan when you stir the onions.

Add the garlic and tomato paste, stirring. Cook for about a minute or until the tomato paste starts to brown or give off a sweet aroma. Add the flour by sprinkling and stirring. Cook for another minute.

Add half the stock, stir and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remainder of the stock and stir in the wine, salt, and thyme.

Toss those cheesey toasty breads in the oven. They'll go for about 12-14 minutes, until cripsy-edged and bubbly-topped.

Put the meat back in the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another 10-12 minutes, covered and simmering, until meat is cooked through and the sauce thickens ever so slightly.