Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tasty Tuesday Cheesy Hamburger with Potatoes and Onions!

I know. I've been amazingly lax about blogging lately--this from someone who once blogged every single day for more than four years. The truth is, I simply haven't had anything new to report. Yes, I've been helping my husband replace a bunch of windows, and I've been working on several home and farm maintenance projects that I've let slide for years, but I'm not sure any of it is worth more than a few Facebook posts and pictures.

But during that time, I've also been writing. A lot. With the result that I'm at least halfway through the first book in a paranormal romantic suspense trilogy about three survivors of a plane crash at sea.

Not my usual genre, I know, but it has stimulated my interest in a horde of new things, and those things have been keeping me busy. The amount of research I've done for this first book is staggering. Without internet access, I doubt I could've written it unless I'd spent an inordinate amount of time in the library, and even then I probably wouldn't have found what I needed. Call Google all the names you like, but it is still a valuable research tool.

In other news, my Sourcebooks editor called yesterday. She'd finished reading the erotic contemporary manuscript I sent her a while back, and she still likes it well enough to make a very nice offer for it, plus a second book to go with it. She didn't ask for much in the way of revisions, but I'm going to edit the entire book anyway. I first wrote that story several years ago, and my writing skills have improved since then, so I see no point in putting it out there for you to read without giving it a significant facelift. Since she wants two books, I'll probably have to drop the romantic suspense story for a while to revise the first book and then write the second. I can probably keep going on both, but there will be deadlines to meet, which will place greater demands on my time. Either way, blogging may continue to take a back seat to other projects.

That being said, here's a recipe you might enjoy. Last night, my husband wanted something made with hamburger that was creamy and cheesy. He claimed this was exactly what he'd had in mind. I didn't take a picture, but it tasted better than it looked anyway.

Cheesy Hamburger with Potatoes and Onions

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled in salted water until tender
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb lean hamburger
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
1/3 cup burgundy
1 tsp instant beef broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup sour cream or plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions
Prepare the potatoes and cook until tender. Heat oil in a large skillet and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the hamburger and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Cook until browned and add the garlic, beef broth powder, thyme, and burgundy. Let it cook down a little, then add the drained cooked potatoes, mushroom soup, ketchup, and dry mustard. Reduce the heat and let it cook for about five or ten minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the yogurt and heat for about two minutes, then add the cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and serve.

6 comments:

  1. Yah Cheryl, I'm going to try the recipe this week ~ sounds yummy :-)

    Thumbs up re the new book deal. I can't wait!

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  2. This recipe just might be on the table tonight. I know you're a busy lady. The new books sound good. I'm glad you made another deal. Looking forward to them all.

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  3. It's a basically a cheesy version of hamburger stroganoff made with potatoes instead of noodles.

    I'm glad I made another deal too, Donna. I was kind of in limbo without a contract.

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  4. Hey Cheryl
    I made this last night. I know it took me a while to get to it... IT'S REALLY GOOD as you well know :-)

    I tried to use a shortcut. I made a BIG boo-boo. I decided to use the frozen cubed hash browns instead of preparing real potatoes and cooking them first. It was a great idea and would have worked IF I'd gotten the right bag of hash browns. I found out they were the shredded kind after I took them out of the microwave... OK I can deal with this... I didn't have any burgundy so I used my husband's sweet red wine in the frige. Then I added a dash of Worcestershire too. As I said it tasted great, my husband even said so and that's high praise from him cause he doesn't usually comment on my cooking. It was his comment he made looking over my shoulder in the kitchen I had to tell you about...

    Are we having DOG FOOD for dinner?

    I'll make sure I get the RIGHT hash browns next time, sigh.

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