I’m starting to think I spoil my boys! Jeremy brought home boneless beef ribs from the store and asked for burgers and roasted potatoes. That means grinding meat, homemade rolls, and roasting veggies, not a venture I usually start thinking about when my stomach is already growling. On the other hand, I already had some proofed sourdough bread that could serve as a stand-in for my usual enriched dough, and I needed to grind up the last of the pork for the freezer anyway. I couldn’t resist mixing a little of the pork in with the beef, and then it hit me: meatloaf burgers! Sounded great to me, especially with a little mushroom gravy over top, but I suspected that Jeremy would rather just have sauted mushrooms and cheese on his burger.

With just a few minor tweaks, our meals ended up looking nothing alike. I used my basic meatloaf recipe for the burgers, and cooked them in a cast iron skillet while I sauted some cremini mushrooms in butter with onion and garlic. Once Jeremy and Nolan had their burgers, I added a pat of butter to the cast iron skillet and made a roux, scraping up all the burger drippings; with a little chicken stock and the rest of the mushrooms, I soon had a flavorful brown gravy to pour over my meatloaf patty, and a sourdough roll on the side.