# Hamburger gravy and other comfort foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632 "2005-01-07T19:45:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/21 "2005-01-08T23:00:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, for some reason dill seems weird to me in that context. Well, I’ve never made it with sausage or bacon. My Hungarian buddy is a vegetarian, so I figured it for more of a side-dish than a casserole meal. And Susan Derecskey’s _The Hungarian Cookbook_ also omits meat. The potato/egg/onion/sour cream combo reminded me of a dish my Bohunk grandpapa made, called “dill gravy.” Sort of a potato-onion soup with eggs poached in it. And dill. Lots and lots of dill. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/22 "2005-01-08T23:13:46Z")
The usual salmon rolls, chili and stew… but I now have an urge to make Hamburger Soup again… haven’t had that in a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/23 "2005-01-08T23:58:23Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > You ever hear of _rakott krumpli_? A Hungarian co-worker turned me onto this. It’s a casserole of sliced potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, dressed with sour cream and sauteed onions and baked. > > I added fresh dill to it the first time I made it ('cause my momma’s pipple were Czech); it was great, but the Hungarian guy looked at me like I was nuts. Can’t imagine that made with dill – did it work OK? We add bacon or speck to that recipe. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/24 "2005-01-09T00:30:03Z")
Thanks **Chefguy** for a trip down Memory Lane. Your recipe, minus the more eclectic additions, is one of the best dishes I used to have when I was in the Air Force. At midnight chow there was always a steaming vat, or so it seemed, of your ground beef/white sauce concoction. The old mess sergeant called in the Original SOS, Shit on a Shingle. As much as I love the version made with air-dried beef, the hamburger variety had it beat. Gloriously tasty, and over-the-top greasy, just the thing ladled over toast. Never made it myself, but the description has set my taste buds on full alert. Now I’ll have to drag my weary self out for a few key ingredients. Just made five gallons of chili. That’s how big the pot is, and the freezer was just about empty, so why not. Lots of good eating for the next few months. A few weeks ago my goddaughter’s mother sent over 4 containers of her great turkey soup. It’s actually just a really rich broth, but some cooked rice or pastina stirred in, it’s heaven. Not as good as Grandmom’s, but then, what could be. I’m the only one I know who likes it, so much the better for me. YAY! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/25 "2005-01-09T01:08:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **dwyr** > Before my veggie days, I’d make Chicken Fried Steak. This is what I could eat the other three days of the week. Yeah, I’m on Lipitor. Other faves: Bean soup made with some sort of smoked pork (sausage, chops, hocks), served with corn bread with honey. Scalloped potatoes with ham. My world-famous and award-winning black bean and chicken chili. Can you tell it’s 10 degrees outside and dark most of the time? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/26 "2005-01-09T01:18:48Z")
I just got one of those Harrington corncob smoked hams, you know those ads that have been in the back of the New Yorker and Yankee and other mags since forever ago? Just so I could make scalloped potatoes and ham. Breakfast for dinner is my ultimate comfort food, though. ---
**Author:** ![CurlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@CurlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurlyD)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/27 "2005-01-09T01:22:06Z")
I had never heard of Hamburger Gravy until now. When I was a kid I had a Betty Crocker Cookbook for Kids, and it had a recipe for Saucy Hamburger Crumble, which I now know to be Hamburger Gravy. It was simpler than **Chef Guy’s** recipe - no sage, margarine instead of olive oil, and garlic and onion powder instead of the fresh stuff. On YOYO dinner nights (when Mom didn’t want to cook and told us You’re On Your Own) I loved to make a single serving and heap it over a baked potato. Mom couldn’t stand it, though. She said it looked like barf. If she saw me making it, she’d ask me if I was making that Crunchy Crispy Crackly Crumbly Cruddy Crap again. (She never could remember Betty Crocker’s catchy name for it.) This winter’s comfort food is spinach spread on Wheat Thins. Thaw a package of frozen chopped spinach and squeeze the water out. Mix it with 16 oz. of softened cream cheese, a couple of good size garlic cloves, minced, and about a third of a cup of mayonaise. Put a bowl of Wheat Thins on one arm of the armchair, the remote on the other arm, and the bowl of spinach spread in your lap. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/28 "2005-01-09T01:22:34Z")
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I’ve never had hamburger gravy but I’m making it tonight. I mean, it’s two of my favorite words right in a row, how could it be anything but awesome? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/29 "2005-01-09T01:41:40Z")
> [@essvee](#): > > Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I’ve never had hamburger gravy but I’m making it tonight. > > I mean, it’s two of my favorite words right in a row, how could it be anything but awesome? Ummm…you’re a guy, right? Cuz women usually find this sort of thing fairly disgusting. My idea of the perfect woman is someone who thinks biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast food. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/30 "2005-01-09T01:43:37Z")
I’m a fella. And my wife won’t touch it, I’m sure. Who cares? More for me. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/31 "2005-01-09T02:32:31Z")
My family calls this recipie “Mush”. The only difference it that (my family) would add a can of peas to the mix, and THEN serve over rice or noodles. My wife had never heard of it before we moved in together, and with the exception of the peas (she hates peas 😕 ) we have it fairly regularly here! She loves the stuff now. Easy, cheap, and good!!! 😃😃😃 We also do not add milk or cream, but leave it a beef based gravy. Great comfort food. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/32 "2005-01-09T02:54:53Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Ummm…you’re a guy, right? Cuz women usually find this sort of thing fairly disgusting. My idea of the perfect woman is someone who thinks biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast food. Sorry, I’m already taken! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/33 "2005-01-09T02:59:11Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Sorry, I’m already taken! 😃 And I’m the one who hates the stuff. Good thing I do most of the cooking! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/34 "2005-01-09T03:58:55Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Well, I’ve never made it with sausage or bacon. My Hungarian buddy is a vegetarian, so I figured it for more of a side-dish than a casserole meal. And Susan Derecskey’s _The Hungarian Cookbook_ also omits meat. :eek: Vegetarian _rakott krumpli_!!! Say it ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/35 "2005-01-09T04:27:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Ummm…you’re a guy, right? Cuz women usually find this sort of thing fairly disgusting. My idea of the perfect woman is someone who thinks biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast food. Oh yay, I’m perfect! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/36 "2005-01-10T22:20:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Ummm…you’re a guy, right? Cuz women usually find this sort of thing fairly disgusting. My idea of the perfect woman is someone who thinks biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast food. Guess I found the perfect woman, she just learned to make this for me for breakfast! Great stuff! (She does white sauces much better than I do.) (Even if I do most of the cooking in the house, especially now that she’s pregnant and too big to reach even the 2nd shelf 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/37 "2005-01-10T22:39:06Z")
Creamed Spinach Cream of Mushroom Soup Boiled Potatoes with butter and parsley (not all at the same meal, obviously 🙂 ) I LOVE biscuits and gravy. I haven’t found anyone who really makes them great here at home (acceptable but nothing special) but I have had some unbelievable ones when I’ve been traveling - like Heaven on Earth. Great, now I’m starving. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/38 "2005-01-10T23:32:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Ummm…you’re a guy, right? Cuz women usually find this sort of thing fairly disgusting. My idea of the perfect woman is someone who thinks biscuits and gravy is the perfect breakfast food. Well I dunno about _other_ women but it sounds pretty tasty to me (of course for awhile the height of my cuisine was hamburger, a tin of tomato soup and pea to make ‘ghoulash’ so hamburger gravy sounds like a step up from that…) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/39 "2005-01-10T23:52:05Z")
Roast beef / mashed potatoes / glazed carrots I win! ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632/40 "2005-01-11T02:11:39Z")
I make an awesome corned beef dinner, excellent on a chilly night. Buy at least 4 lbs corned beef brisket and rinse the thing really well under warm water. Then put it in a crock pot. Add some allspice berries and peppercorns, a thinly-sliced lemon and similarly-prepared onion, and pour in hot water to cover. Cook 6 hours or so until tender. **Do Not Skip This Step** : Remove the corned beef from the crock pot, discard everything but the meat, and fire up the broiler. Combine equal parts dijon mustard and brown sugar, and spoon this over the meat. Slip this under the broiler until the mustard topping is golden-and-bubbly. Slice on a bias and serve with mashed potatoes and cabbage. If you’re lucky, you’ll have enough leftover potatoes and meat to make hash the next morning. That, with some poached eggs and sourdough toast = the perfect cold morning breakfast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamburger-gravy-and-other-comfort-foods/283632.md?page=3)