Hamburger Steak Supreme

Yeah, I know this is "Mushy's" cooking blog, but it should be known that my wife (Judy) is also a cook, and I'll admit, a much better cook than me.

It's pretty basic, but tonight's supper is just evidence that she feeds me pretty well.  It was just your basic "hamburger steak" with all her special trimmings, but it was wonderful, as the posted photo shows.

She is a southern cook, raised up knowing her way around the kitchen, studying under her mother's watchful eye.  All our meals are pretty much southern born, nothing fancy, but believe me, there is nothing better in 80% of the restaurants in the country.

She smothered the steak in sauteed onions and red peppers, topped the sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and sauteed green beans on the side.

If you look at the plate, you can see why I was stuffed; that was a lot of food!  That was also great food!  

Testing Carla Hall's Glorified Grits Recipe

My wife and I enjoy The Chew most everyday on ABC, and we always end up hungry and curious as to whether or not we would have the same results in our kitchen.

So, tonight I decided to whip up Carla Hall's "Glorified Grits".  The recipe is a bit much to do early in the morning, especially when we usually just have one eye open until noon!  Doing it at night, after we've eaten supper and watched the evening news, affords us time to use both our eyes and have a ready made breakfast the next morning.

As a matter of fact, this recipe serves 6, so we should have enough for 2 or 3 mornings!

I did most of the heavy lifting, but Judy was there to separate the eggs and get the herbs out of the cabinet when I needed them.  It goes something like this:

Ingredients - 

• 2 cups grits
• 2 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 3 garlic cloves (or a big tables spoon of minced)
• 1 pound of spicy (we used medium) sausage
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano (chopped) (we used powdered and I suggest only 1/2 as much)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (leaves chopped) (again we used powdered)  (I suggest using half as much, because it was a little strong.  However, fresh may not have had the same effect.)
• 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese (I plan on using a big hunk of Velveeta next time as well!  I will add to the creaminess.)
• 3 tablespoons of butter (or margarine) 
• 4 eggs (separated)
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425, and grease a casserole dish.

Uncooked mixture.

Pour all the milk, chicken stock into a heavy pot and start the mixture to boiling.  Add in salt and pepper, and then add the grits.  Constantly stir the liquid after it begins to boil, then turn the heat down to simmer until the grits get creamy and soft (and done).  One trick - when the grits pop out on the back of your hand...they're done!

In a big skillet, pour in a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the pound of sausage until it is brown and done.  You can add the herbs and garlic in right at the end.

Cooked mixture.

Put the sausage into the grits mixture and mix well.  Then blend in the cheese and butter.  Also add the whisked egg yokes.

The last ingredient are the egg whites which have been fluffed stiff with a mixer.  Fold them into the grits mixture last.

Pour the whole mixture into the greased casserole dish, place in the heated oven, and cook 25 to 30 minutes.  The top should be lightly golden brown.

It can be served immediately!

It was great!  We have to have a little tonight right after it was finished.  We can't wait until morning to have a larger portion!