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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Cafeteria comfort food stirs memories By Judyrae Kruse Herald Writer There are undoubtedly some wonderful stories about comfort food floating around out there in Forumland. Memories galore of the family sitting around the dinner table, chewing and chattering away, night after night. Delicious food-related remembrances of other people, other places, other times ... All the kids in the neighborhood, toddlers to 10-year-olds, spread out on a sea of blankets in somebody's back yard on a sunny summer day, when the moms decided to put on an impromptu picnic for us. Or groups of friends gathered together in cliquey clusters, all happily chowing down amid the cacophony of a school cafeteria ... It's the latter we'll deal with today, as we begin a recipe exploration that will hopefully soon see Judy Miller of Meridian, Idaho, pulling up to a plateful of her heart's desire. Her particular want-it-bad comfort food, hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, dates back to the 1950s and 1960s, when she attended schools in the Seattle area. "It obviously was so special that it is still on my mind 38-plus years later,'' she says. And while nobody, at least not yet, anyway, has come up with the specific school recipe for this comfy concoction, ingenious Forum cooks have formulated their own satisfying facsimiles. Mary Gilroy of Darrington writes, "I remember this recipe from my school days in the 1950s in Long Beach, Calif. My friend's mom worked in the cafeteria and gave me the recipe years ago. I don't have the exact amounts, but it is so simple to make. "Brown hamburger until crumbly. Add flour, water and a beef stock concentrate like Better Than Bouillon or something equivalent to that to give it that rich gravy taste. Add enough of the flour and water for the right consistency. Serve over mashed potatoes. It can't be too healthy for us, but boy, is it tasty.'' Everett helper-outer Terry Brundage tells us, "Here is the recipe I grew up on at my house. This was one of my dad's favorite dinners. I like to add ketchup on top of my hamburger gravy.'' Next, Gail Langley of Everett says, "I, too, loved the school's hamburger gravy. This is the closest I have come to the recipe.'' And last but not least today, Marysville cook Nancy Beschta gives us the how-to for a cream-style hamburger gravy. Terry's dad's favorite hamburger gravy 1 pound hamburger 1/4 cup chopped onion Water Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce Flour and water combined for thickening Mashed potatoes In a skillet, brown hamburger and onions. Add water, approximately 2 cups, to make the gravy. Add Kitchen Bouquet to make the gravy brown. Mix some flour and water together in a shakeable cup to make the thickening; add slowly to the hamburger/water mixture and cook, stirring, until it thickens. Spoon over mashed potatoes. Close-to-the-school's hamburger gravy 1 pound hamburger 3 cups water 4-5 beef bouillon cubes Cornstarch (not flour) and water for thickening Mashed potatoes In a skillet, brown hamburger, then drain off any fat. Add water and bring to a boil; add bouillon cubes and cook, stirring. When bouillon cubes have dissolved, thicken with the cornstarch mixture. (Do not use flour for thickening.) Serve over mashed potatoes. Cream-style hamburger gravy 1 pound hamburger 3 cups milk 1 package Lipton Recipe Secrets onion soup mix Flour or cornstarch and water for thickening Mashed potatoes In a skillet, brown hamburger. Add milk, then blend in the dry soup mix and simmer for 15 minutes. Thicken with the flour or cornstarch and water mixture and pour over mashed potatoes. The next Forum will appear in Friday's Time Out section.

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