The Mountain

I live up here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, so it seems appropriate that for my 33rd birthday, my husband paid homage to me, a Leeburg meal family tradition, and our beautiful Mt. Rainier by making me "the mountain" for dinner.

The mountain takes a few different forms and growing up, I remember my mother using round steak primarily, but I've made a few modifications for the sake of time and I use cube steak instead. So, the basic ingredients needed to make the mountain?

Cube steak
Potatoes (we used Yukon Golds - my FAVORITE!!!)
Onions
Flour
Water
Ketchup
Salt and Pepper
Butter
Olive Oil
Milk

Slice onions (I usually use 2 medium to large onions). In a pan over low-medium heat, add a little butter and little olive oil. Add the onions and coat. Add a little salt to draw out the moisture. Cook low and slow for the 15 minutes until they are caramelized. Add a little Worcestershire sauce.

Mix salt and pepper with flour and give the cube steak a good coating in flour. Brown the cube steaks in olive oil over medium heat in a stainless steel pan (don't use non-stick). Meanwhile, peel, chop and boil the potatoes. When they are cooked, make mashed potatoes (with a little butter and milk). Set aside. Continue cooking the cube steaks until they have a nice dark crust on the outside and are fully cooked on the inside. Set aside on a plate.

Now for the fun part...in a small mixing bowl, mix a little flour with some warm water (2 tbs flour and 3/4 cup warm water) and make a quick non-cooked roux. Add that to the browned up bits on the bottom of the pan you cooked the cube steak in. Mix together with a whisk and stir. Cook for a few minutes until the raw flour taste is gone. Add ketchup to taste. Add water depending on how thick you like your gravy and season as needed with salt and pepper.

To construct your mountain, start with the cube steak on the bottom of your plate. Top with mashed potatoes and grilled onions. Top with ketchup gravy.

It looks like a beautiful mountain (either with a sunset behind it, or as my kids say, lava coming out of it) and tastes like heaven on a plate.

We ate it so fast, I didn't get a picture in, but I'll post one the next time I make it. This meal is excellent as leftovers too, if there is any leftover!