so I am taking advantage of having my own apartment to cook things without stoned morons constantly asking if they can have some of whatever I'm making, it's pretty sweet

here's a recipe that tastes better than the photo looks, plating is something I will have to work on when I have more plates and my countertops aren't covered with books and dvds

oh by the way this recipe serves like four people so try and cut it down accordingly if you're making it for fewer but I'm not really sure how you use half of an egg so maybe just do what I did and keep the remaining patties in the fridge for later

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs or italian seasoning
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs
oil

GRAVY
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Okay, so start by putting the beef, onion, tomato sauce, herbs, egg and breadcrumbs together in a big bowl. Mix it all together well with your hands, also probably make sure you wash your hands first. Divide it up into eight portions and make those into patties.

Heat your oil up in a pan and cook the rissoles, you should probably be able to do up to four at a time. Cook them over high heat for a minute on each side, then reduce the heat to medium and cook another two minutes on each side, or until they're cooked through. When they're done, drain them on paper towels and keep them warm.

To make the gravy, blend together the stock, flour and tomato paste till it's smooth. You probably want a mixer or something for this, otherwise the flour just sort of tries to clump up. Also you can use pretty much any stock for this. I used vegetable because I couldn't find my chicken stock cubes.

Add that mixture to the pan juices, but first AND THIS IS IMPORTANT make sure you pour off most of the hot oil and maybe let what's left cool a bit so you don't set off the smoke alarm or burn yourself horribly. Anyway, stir it in the pan over medium heat for a few minutes till it starts to thicken. If you have a strainer and don't want any onion bits or anything in your gravy, strain it. Then serve it with the rissoles.

Oh and I had them with mashed potatoes as shown, I kind of made more than I probably needed to but I was pretty hungry. If you want to make mashed potatoes just cut up a couple of small potatoes, put them in a pan with water covering them, boil till fork-tender, and then drain any remaining water and mash them up with some cream and butter.

BONUS TIPS

* you can make your own bread crumbs by toasting bread and then sending it through a food processor! I still just have a coffee grinder, which is way too small to keep using for this stuff but it did work

* you can add other stuff to mashed potatoes if you want, everyone is probably already aware of this

* seriously be careful with making the gravy you do not want to get oil and smoke everywhere