Hamburger Casserole
A little trivia. Before modern times, ground beef was seldom found in the kitchen. Beyond the expense of beef, there were two main reasons for this. One was that producing ground beef from a beef cut was a time consuming and labor intensive process. The other reason was that without refrigeration technology ground beef was a safety hazard.
Karl Drais is an important name in the history of ground beef. He was a German inventor who developed the first two wheel predecessor to modern bicycles and motorcycles, a device called the velocipede which lacked pedals. He also developed the earliest typewriter, and invented the meat grinder, thus earning his name a place in hallowed hamburger history.
The other technological innovation which served to propel ground beef onto dinner plates everywhere was refrigeration technology developed in the 1800's. This enabled the export trade of beef from South American colonial nations to Europe, and the introduction at the beginning of the 20th century of refrigeration to meat packing plants and businesses. Thus ground beef achieved its ubiquitous niche in modern culture.
1 lb hamburger
1 can cream of celery soup
3 medium Russet potatoes
salt
pepper
1-2 tbsp butter
splash of milk
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Rinse and peel the potatoes. Chop the potatoes into pieces and place them in the boiling water. The size of the pieces dictates the length of the cook. The potatoes should be cooked in about 10-20 minutes. Check doneness by piercing a potato chunk with a fork. When the fork goes in and can be shifted about with little resistance the potatoes are cooked.
3. Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain the water. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork. Add in the butter, salt, pepper, and milk.
4. In a large frying pan brown the hamburger. Drain the fat.
5. Place the hamburger on the bottom of a casserole dish. Mix the can of cream of celery soup in with the hamburger.
6. Layer the mashed potatoes over the hamburger mixture in the casserole dish.
7. Bake the hamburger casserole in the oven until done, approximately 45 minutes.
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