Channeling My Inner Short Order Cook - Buffalo Salisbury Steak with all the Trimmings

One of my favorite comfort food meals is Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes. For lots of obvious reasons, I do not eat this often. Recently, I decided to mix it up a little with some of the farmer's market ingredients. I used ground buffalo instead of beef (buffalo is leaner and has less cholesterol) and mixed up the mashed potatoes by adding cauliflower (you too can get your child to eat cauliflower this way). I finished it off with a simple sauteed cabbage.

Salisbury Steak
1 pound ground buffalo
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped
chicken or beef stock
2 tbsps flour

Mix the ground buffalo and all but a handful for chopped onion together and form patties. Mine made about 3.

Heat a little canola oil in a skillet (buffalo is very lean, you need a little fat in the pan to keep it from sticking). Cook the buffalo patties to desired doneness - about 10 to 15 minutes - flipping once. Set the steaks to the side and cover with tin foil.

In the same skillet, add a little more oil if needed and saute the handful of onions and chopped mushrooms until mushrooms are tender. Add about a cup of stock to deglaze the pan. Whisk in the flour to make a gravy.

Cauliflower/Potato Mashers with Cumin

I like the cumin in this recipe - it gives it an "Indian" feel that I enjoy. If you don't like cumin or you are trying to get little people to eat this, then skip it.

2 pounds potatoes (I used new potatoes)
1 pound cauliflower (if you are trying to "hide" the cauliflower from the kids don't use the purple or the Romanesco - see previous post)
about 12 oz sour cream or 8 oz buttermilk or 8 oz milk - I like the tang of sour cream, but not everyone does
1 tsp cumin (might want to leave out if feeding to the kiddos)
salt & pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower until tender. If you are using Russett potatoes, cut them up and set them to boiling before the cauliflower - they take longer.

Drain the potatoes and cauliflower and return to the pot. Mash the vegetables, adding the sour cream or buttermilk as you mash. Add more/less as you need to get the correct consistency. Season with the cumin, salt & pepper.