Teddy Says Hi

Teddy says hi and thanks you for all the good wishes concerning her illness. We might finally have an answer as to what ails the pup. Her blood and urine cultures both tested positive. She has some sort of an infection and they started her on a broad range antibiotic. Suddenly she is much better. Here temperature is consistently normal now. Her rash is gone. The lameness seems to have disappeared. It's the healthiest she has been since this all started. She sees the doctor next Tuesday so we should know something definitive then.


I love bringing back the old classics and improving them. Salisbury steak is one of them. I took 2 pounds of ground meat and added fresh parsley, sliced green onions, salt and pepper and some freshly grated nutmeg. I rolled them in flour and browned them in olive oil for a couple minutes on each side.


I sliced two very large onions.


And diced about 6 cloves of garlic.


When the onions become translucent, I sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of flour over them and stir for about a minute. Then I added about 3 tablespoons of tomato paste. This paste is frozen because when I open a can of paste, I freeze the unused paste in zip lock bags and then just drop it into recipes when needed.


I add a cup of hearty red wine and beef stock.


And throw in a bunch of fresh thyme. I let this simmer on medium heat until it begins to thicken.


Then, I place all of the steaks into the liquid and let them simmer for about 20 minutes.


While they are cooking I mix about 5 tablespoons of softened butter with about 4 diced garlic cloves.


Earlier I sliced up a baguette and put the slices on a cookie sheet.



I spread the garlic butter on the baguette pieces.


Then shredded some Gruyere cheese.


And mounded it on top.


Then I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of that.


Finally I sprinkled them with a combination of spices I made up. It consists of thyme, oregano, salt and garlic powder.


I baked these at 400 degrees until they just began to brown. It's smelling really good just about now.




To serve, I ladled some of the juice into a soup bowl.


Then sat one of the garlic toasts on top of it.


Then placed one of the steaks on top of the toast.


I sprinkled it with a bit of Parmesan and it was ready to be devoured. Good comfort food for another cold wintry day.