Amish Hamburg Gravy

"Amish Hamburg Gravy" .. For this installment of "Ground Meats Week", I thought I would stay in Ohio. In particular, the part of Ohio I grew up in .. Amish Country!

The region of Holmes, Stark, Tuscarawas & Wayne counties have some of the largest Amish communities in Ohio and Ohio leads the nation in Amish peoples.

I had a lot of dealings with the Amish as I grew up. They would stop in the restaurant to grab a sandwich in their horse and buggies. I would hunt both game and mushrooms on their land and in return, I would let them fish in my pond. Barter .. that's the Amish way. One thing I bartered was a few of their great recipes.

I updated their time tested Hamburg Gravy with my own interpretation using both red wine and herb de provence. The end result is a silky smooth, divine sauce that when coupled with mashed potatoes, becomes a meal on it's own. Here's what I do ..

Simply melt butter in a cast iron pan until it's about to brown, then immediately add onions and slowly caramelize them. Once there, add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the ground hamburger, I house grind my own using chuck, sirloin and brisket. 

Deeply brown the meat. That is the key to this sauce. each piece of ground beef should be caramelized. It takes a good 20 minutes on medium heat. But don't skip this step.

Next add the red wine along with the herbs and cook until the wine has completely evaporated. Add All-Purpose flour with a 1to1 on the amount of butter and fat still in the pan. In other words don't drain the meat and I prefer a good 75/25 ratio. This isn't for the weak of heart.

Cook the flour into a roux, til it's brown also. Brown food tastes good! Next, add beef stock and cook as it thickens, then add a touch of water, salt if needed and coarse ground black pepper. I finish the sauce with heavy cream and butter, then ladle it over mashed potatoes with several slices of bread handy to work on that leftover gravy .. see what I mean about faint of heart? 

This is without a doubt a fall-time workers' meal. It's super rich, super tasty and without a doubt as comforting a dinner that was ever created!

Cheers to great fall eating!

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