I grew up in a working class neighborhood with a divorced, working mother who did not enjoy cooking.  One of our staple meals was ground beef cooked and mixed with canned beef gravy, served over instant mashed potatoes or instant rice.   It was easy and cheap, and a step up from Dinty Moore Beef Stew or Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese (that the cheese was in a CAN mystifies my children) that we normally ate.  Neither nearly as horrific as the cans of La Choy Chop Suey.  Sorry, I have drifted down the creepy corridor of canned cuisine.

When I took over the cooking, I had a lot of ideas, but no budget.  I came up with a way to fancy up the ground beef and gravy in a dish that my brother actually eats to this day.  It’s not bad if you need a hearty casserole and aren’t skeeved by canned gravy. 

The proportions here aren’t important at all.  You need a large onion, 1 1/2  lbs ground round (or sirloin), 10.5 oz can of beef consommé (which I always prefer over beef broth), 14.5 oz can of beef gravy (I use Campbell’s), 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce (but if you don’t have that you can use A-1 Steak sauce), 2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes, 4 (ish) cloves of garlic, 8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese (more if you really like your potatoes cheesy!), and some milk and butter for the mashed potatoes. 

Peel and chop the potatoes and the garlic.  Put them in a pot of water that has enough room so that they have at least 1” of water over the top.  Bring the water to a boil.  Add a teaspoon or so of salt, turn the heat to medium so that the water is just bubbling, and let this go for 15-20 minutes while you make the rest of the recipe.

Slice the onion thinly.  Put it in a very large frying pan with a tablespoon of oil (don’t measure – just guess), and a pinch of salt and some pepper.  The salt helps the water come out of the onion so that it will brown, the pepper is there because, well, it goes with the salt.  Cook and stir the onion over medium high heat until it starts to sizzle and is will coated with the oil, and then drop the heat to low and let the onions cook and darken.  This will take 10-15 minutes – stir it once in awhile.  Don’t try to rush it by cranking up the heat – the slow caramelization adds a layer of flavor to a dish that might otherwise taste tinny from the canned gravy.  Once the onion is golden and soft, add the ground beef and cook it over medium heat until it’s crumbly and just no longer pink.  Add the Worcestershire, consommé, and gravy, and simmer for 10 minutes or so for the flavors to meld.  It should look kinda soupy.  Pour it into a 1.5 – 2 quart casserole – you need an inch or two for the potatoes.

Are the potatoes fork tender?  Drain them very well.  It won’t hurt to let them sit in the strainer while you tidy up a bit.  Put them back into the cooking pot.  Add butter – maybe 2-3 tablespoons.  DO NOT ADD THE MILK YET.  Mash the potatoes, making sure that the butter is well distributed.  Now add milk until the potatoes are the consistency you like.  Why did we wait?  Because you need to coat the potato starch with fat before you add the milk; starch + liquid = paste.  Fold in the cheese.  Put the mashed potatoes over the meat.

Now you have 3 options.  Put it in the oven at 400 for 20-30 minutes, put it under the broiler for just a few until the top is golden, eat it now.

Of all the things I can make, this is the thing my brother asks for when I offer to cook him a special meal.  My kids?  Won’t touch it.  Jeff’s kids?  Will probably grow up on it.