German Style Salisbury Steak with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

For the steak:
4 strips of bacon
1 1/4 lb. ground beef chuck
1/4 c. onion, minced
1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

For the sauce:
2 medium onions, sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. beef broth
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. caraway seed
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

For the potatoes:
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 c. onion, diced
1/4 c. sour cream
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

For the steak:
Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove from pan and reserve 1 Tbsp. drippings.
Combine beef, onion, parsley, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper. Shape mixture into 4 separate patties.
Brown patties in skillet using reserved drippings. Remove patties from pan.

For the sauce:
Using the same pan add sliced onions, and mushrooms saute until onions are tender, about 8 minutes.
Stir in flour. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
Remove pan from heat. Add broth, sugar, tomato paste, caraway seed, garlic, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Return pan to heat. Bring liquid to a boil for 1 minute to thicken. Return patties to pan, cover and simmer until meat is cooked through. Serve with sauce over patties with crumbled bacon on top.

For the potatoes:
Cook potatoes, parsnip and onion in a pot of salted water. Cook until potatoes are fork tender about 15 minutes. Drain vegetables.
Mash vegetables. Stir in sour cream and parsley until mixture is smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Makes 4 servings. Total time 45 minutes.

Verdict:
If I were to think of comfort food this would be it. It is a meat and potatoes dinner. I used ground beef instead of ground chuck. I also used dried onions in the meat mix. I think the changes tasted good. When I make this again I will most likely omit the sugar. The sauce had a little bit of a sweet taste that I was not a huge fan of. Don't get me wrong it was good...I just think that would make it better.