Matt300ZXT
Well-known member
I know I know, I'm just as baffled as you. How could a man that's 44 and lived in TN about 41 of those years not heard of this?!?
I was watching a video on Youtube of a fat cajun dude in overalls making roux on his Blackstone and I was inspired, so I Googled "what can I make with roux, ground beef, and tomatoes", and lo and behold, hamburger steaks with tomato gravy came up. I've watched countless hours of Iron Chef Japan, Good Eats, and other cooking shows when I was in my 20s. I've cooked a ton of food, eaten a bunch of good food with southern families, and I've run 2 foodie crews and eaten some very tasty stuff, but I had never heard of tomato gravy.
I went with a different recipe for the gravy than the initial recipe I found, but those simple ingredients had no business being that good together. Basically, you partially cook the seasoned patties and use the drippings to make your roux. You slowly incorporate in broth/stock/water to keep it smooth, to get a consistency you like. Then you add a can of tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and I threw in some thyme as well. Then you put the patties back in and cook until they finish getting to temp, then you hit it with a little cream, remove from heat, and serve.
I wasn't even hungry, I was mostly just making it because I was bored, but it was so good that I ended up eating the whole 1lb of beef and all the ingredients in the sauce. Well, not all the sauce, it made a ton of gravy. Anywho, apparently people have been putting this stuff on biscuits, grits, eggs, meatloaf, hamburger steaks, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pork chops, etc. It was savory and flavorful with the tomatoes not coming across too strongly, even though it's a main ingredient. It was very well balanced and I literally couldn't believe the flavor. I am EXTREMELY hard on myself and anything I do, to the point of crushing my own self confidence, but this was one of the best tasting things I've eaten in a long time, and I've eaten some very good food lately. I was very proud of myself and am definitely going to put this in my rotation.
I was watching a video on Youtube of a fat cajun dude in overalls making roux on his Blackstone and I was inspired, so I Googled "what can I make with roux, ground beef, and tomatoes", and lo and behold, hamburger steaks with tomato gravy came up. I've watched countless hours of Iron Chef Japan, Good Eats, and other cooking shows when I was in my 20s. I've cooked a ton of food, eaten a bunch of good food with southern families, and I've run 2 foodie crews and eaten some very tasty stuff, but I had never heard of tomato gravy.
I went with a different recipe for the gravy than the initial recipe I found, but those simple ingredients had no business being that good together. Basically, you partially cook the seasoned patties and use the drippings to make your roux. You slowly incorporate in broth/stock/water to keep it smooth, to get a consistency you like. Then you add a can of tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and I threw in some thyme as well. Then you put the patties back in and cook until they finish getting to temp, then you hit it with a little cream, remove from heat, and serve.
I wasn't even hungry, I was mostly just making it because I was bored, but it was so good that I ended up eating the whole 1lb of beef and all the ingredients in the sauce. Well, not all the sauce, it made a ton of gravy. Anywho, apparently people have been putting this stuff on biscuits, grits, eggs, meatloaf, hamburger steaks, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pork chops, etc. It was savory and flavorful with the tomatoes not coming across too strongly, even though it's a main ingredient. It was very well balanced and I literally couldn't believe the flavor. I am EXTREMELY hard on myself and anything I do, to the point of crushing my own self confidence, but this was one of the best tasting things I've eaten in a long time, and I've eaten some very good food lately. I was very proud of myself and am definitely going to put this in my rotation.
