Scrumptious Salisbury Steak in Mushroom Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes Secret Recipe

Do you know what I did last night? My husband and I and our son went to see Pink in concert! She was playing at The Patriot Center in Fairfax County, Virgnia. We had an absolute blast! I was so worried on the way there that I would be the oldest person in the crowd but didn't need to worry about that at all. There were all ages at her concert (a 4 year old sat in back of us and 2 women that had to be about 70 sat in front of us.). I'm telling you the one 70 year old lady knew just about every word to each song that Pink sang. I kid you not. I didn't know she had such a varied audience!!! I think we need to go to rock concerts more often! I hadn't been to one in many years so this was a real treat. My son who is 10 was telling his classmates that he saw Pink last night and they didn't believe him! Oh well.... I still think one of my favorite concerts from years back was seeing Cat Stevens. I don't know if many of you remember him but he was quite popular back in the 1970's. I had a huge crush on him.....he was just gorgeous, with a deep, sexy voice! I had wanted to see him so badly and waited hours in line for tickets to his concert only to be told that they were sold out when it was almost my turn to purchase them. Luckily a friend of my cousins worked at the venue he was playing at and he allowed us to sneak in. This is but one of many adventurous stories of my teenage years!

Let's get on to this recipe. I found this on Allrecipes. This is definitely comfort food. I have lots of ground beef in the freezer and was looking for a recipe other than meat loaf or hamburgers and came upon this one. It's very good. I tweeked it just a little and my changes I will put in parenthesis. I also had some red skin potatoes to use before they started growing eyes, arms and legs, etc... (yes, I have had a batch grow legs one time)! This is definitely a different recipe for garlic mashed potatoes since most of the recipes I've tried always use some milk or cream and have the garlic roasted beforehand. These are very good - I was skeptical but they were good! Give these a try if you want some good, old comfort food! p.s. warning - not for the calorie conscious!!!!

Salisbury Steak
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons crushed buttery round cracker crumbs (I used a bit more)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used only a dash)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning (I used Lawry's seasoning salt 1/2 - 1 tsp)
2 (4 ounce) cans sliced mushrooms with their juice (I used 1 can)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups milk (I used 1 1/2 cups)
3 cubes beef bouillon (I used 1 1/2 cups beef broth)
(I also used 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup)

In a medium bowl mix together the ground beef, egg, cracker crumbs, onion, salt, pepper and seasoning salt using your hands. Shape into 6 patties about 1 inch thick.
Fry the patties in a large skillet over medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until browned. Drain off grease, and remove patties to a platter and keep warm.
Melt the butter in the same skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook and stir for about 2minutes. Sprinkle the flour over and mix in until blended. Stir in the milk and beef broth and soup. Cook and stir over medium heat until smooth and starting to thicken. Return the patties to the gravy and cook over low heat, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (the original recipe on Allrecipes yielded 100 servings!....this one is for about 4 servings.)
2 pound unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
5 ounces butter, room temperature
2 ounces Romano cheese, grated (I used Parmesan...that is what I had on hand)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used 1/2 tsp and you could taste it well)

Boil potatoes in a large pot until slightly tender; drain. Stir in butter, cheese, garlic, salt and oregano. Mash with a potato masher or with an electric mixer.