classy but trashy

Classhy Prince n' Pauper T.V. Dinners

Sarahsbury Steak

Part 1- Plating Challenge

Salisbury steak has always been a sort of mystery to me. It was never a dish served at our family dinner table, nor can I recall having tasted it at either a restaurant or friend’s home. Yet when contemplating the concept of T.V. dinners, Salisbury steak always seems to come right to mind—I suppose marketing really does have an effect! Named after Dr. James Henry Salisbury (1823-1905), an American physician and 19th century nutritionist, Salisbury steak consists of ground beef, minced onions and spices. “Steaks” are cooked in patty form and served with a mushroom, onion or tomato based sauce.


I found that most of the Salisbury steak available in the frozen entrees section of my local CalaFoods now come with a macaroni and cheese side dish, which was great news for me—mac is my favorite!

I used a simple Stouffer’s brand meal for this week’s challenge:

I must mention, after the olfactory torture we were all exposed to last weekend during the MeatLove plating, I am pleased to report that there was no gagging endured during the making of this challenge. ;)

For my two allowed garnishes I chose a red vine sweet mini pepper and grilled cheese baguette. My concept was to create a Salisbury and Mac “sandwich.” I spritzed the bread slices with my lovely spray butter and pressed them in the Panini grill for a spell. I then sliced up the pepper width wise and tossed them with a touch of oil in the sauté pan until they got nice little black edges.

Turning to my main ingredients, I first cut the reconstituted meat into three strips, choosing two of those to layer on top of the bottom piece of grilled bread. After having stirred up the cheese and mac goo, I was able to fish some solid noodles out and pile those on top of the bottom meat layer and bread. Next, I threw three of the pepper rounds on top of the macaroni and angled the top bread slice on with a green toothpick. To finish, I spooned some of the brown mystery sauce around the plate.

This conceptual sandwich has been my favorite of this month’s Prince n’ Pauper plating challenges so far. The simple addition of the red pepper to the color palate made the dish infinitely more appealing and my passion for macaroni and cheese affords me limitless ways to prepare and serve it, so in sandwich form was no exception! The smell of the cooked peppers coupled with the not horrible scents of Salisbury even enticed me to take a bite… or three. This time none of the leftovers went in the trash—steak pieces, leftover mac and extra grilled baguette all went into a Tupperware to be given to one of the ever present homeless people on my way to work downtown.

All around, a very fun experience with great results!

Stay tuned for Part 2

Sarahsbury Steak- Cooking Challenge!