Hamburg Escallop

[Juliebove]

I found this recipe online some years ago in a scan of a Lydia Pinkham's book. It's a very old book. I remember making it when Angela was a toddler and it was very good. Now I am remaking it with some variations for our allergies. I love that there are no measurements to do, so you can make it as big or as small as you want and the ingredients are things we usually have around the house. Plus it is unseasonably cool right now so I can use the oven! I used my food processor to slice and chop.

Place a layer of lean ground beef in a baking dish (yes raw), then sprinkle with salt and pepper (I used Herbamare). Then place a layer of thinly sliced potatoes on top. Dot with butter (or in my case drizzle with olive oil) more salt and pepper (I used Herbamare) and a layer of finely chopped onions. Continue to layer the potatoes, onions and seasonings until dish is full. I ended with potatoes. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Dampen the top with some milk (I used used rice milk), cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for an hour and a half.

I took the precaution of placing the baking dish on an old lipped cookie sheet just in case anything bubbles over. The dish is quite full. I got into the habit of doing this some time ago and I rarely have to clean spills from my oven.

As I recall, last time I made this, I put a layer of canned green beans on top of the meat. But my mom called as I was fixing to make this. When I told her what I planned to do, she made gagging noises and said that didn't sound good. So I left them out. And after I got it in the oven, I remembered that my mom doesn't much like green beans. In this house, they are considered a food group, as are black olives. Angela will eat those with every meal!

I can smell it baking now. Mmmm...

[jerseyangel]

Ooh--thanks for the recipe--it sounds delicious and easy! I think I'm going to try it

I'll bet the leftovers are yummy, too!

[ShayFL]

It does sound yummy. No taters for me tho. I wonder if sweet potatoes would work or cubed acorn squash maybe. Or butternut?? I am sensing an experiment.

[jerseyangel]

Shay--I think sweet potatoes would be very good in this. I may have to try it that way too!

[Juliebove]

It does sound yummy. No taters for me tho. I wonder if sweet potatoes would work or cubed acorn squash maybe. Or butternut?? I am sensing an experiment.

I'm sure they would work if you like them. We are not squash lovers here. And the only person who will eat sweet potatoes is Angela. She likes them as fries. I can eat them. They don't gag me. I just don't really care for them.

[Juliebove]

I should add that I used waaaay too much rice milk in this. I kept pouring because I couldn't see how much was in there and then suddenly it was halfway full. Didn't affect the taste any but there was a lot of moisture in it. I drained it off in the sink. Next time I will just do a light drizzle on the top to keep it moist.

[Beth in NC]

Is there any reason that the beef couldn't be browned first? Could then drain off any fat.

[Juliebove]

Is there any reason that the beef couldn't be browned first? Could then drain off any fat.

There wasn't any fat aside from the olive oil because I used very lean beef. You *could* brown it first and probably cook it for less time in the oven, but you'd have little crumbles of meat if you did that. This way you have a huge rectangle (or whatever shape your casserole is) of meat. Like a giant patty. With a potato and onion topping. I think that the milk helps to keep it moist and prevents the meat from becoming tough on the outside like browned beef can get.