Using a food processor, turn half a loaf of whole wheat bread into breadcrumbs. I use Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat Bread. Add 1 large egg, 2 beef flavor enhancers, 1 tsp. each garlic powder and onion powder, and mixing well. Form patties from this mixture, or form small dime-sized meatballs. Use a large covered skillet. Place a quart of beef broth in the skillet, and cook the patties in the broth for 20 minutes with the lid on the skillet over medium heat. Flip the patties over, after they have been cooking for 10 minutes. The meatballs only need to cook for ten minutes with the lid on the skillet. The meatballs usually will double in size once cooked. I recommend making a lot of these faux beef meatballs ahead of time and freezing them in a single layer without any of them touching each other on a baking sheet then storing them in Hefty freezer bags to have on hand for making some of my other recipes that need crumbled up faux beef meatballs.
To use as hamburger patties, drain cooked patties on a white paper towel. Place each one on a bun, and add any condiments you want. They can even be placed on a grill to reheat for a minute on each side if you want that grilled flavor. Or you could add 1 tsp. Liquid Smoke to the patties mixture before you form them and cook them in the beef broth.
To use as cooked hamburger meat, crumble up the drained cooked faux beef meatballs, and use as you would in any recipes that require cooked hamburger meat.
In stews, soups, spaghetti, lasagna, stroganoff, tacos, or chili, you can use the cooked crumbled up faux beef meatballs if you so choose. Or you could cut the patties up into bite-sized pieces. If you want your faux beef to resemble beef tips, just form your patties rectangular in shape and a little bit thicker, before cooking them. When done, cut them into bite-sized squares to use in any recipes that call for beef tips. No extra cooking time needed.
To use the faux beef meatballs, drain them, and add to any recipe that requires cooked meatballs, or add to a can of spaghetti and sauce and heat through. You can use them as appetizers by heating a jar of any jelly you enjoy in a saucepan, then adding the faux meatballs to the sauce and heating them through. Stick a toothpick in each meatball, and serve them hot in a shallow bowl with a large spoon to dip the sauce over them.
To make Faux Hamburger Steak or Faux Salisbury Steak, thicken the beef broth after the faux beef patties are cooked by mixing 2 Tbsp. flour into 2 Tbsp. cold water until smooth, and stirring it into the broth. Keep stirring it over medium heat until it has thickened into gravy. Serve the gravy with the cooked faux beef patties. You can also sauté a sliced sweet onion in a butter sprayed skillet, and serve the onions with the patties, with or without the gravy. The faux meatballs could also be served with the gravy and sautéed onions. To make Faux Hungarian Meatballs, simply add some ground cardamom to your meatballs and sauce to suit your taste preferences.
To make Faux Swiss Steak and Tomato Gravy, form your patties and cook them in a covered skillet with 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 diced sweet onion in it, for ten minutes, using medium heat, then flip the patties over and cook another ten minutes. Serve with the sauce over them. Serve cooked brown rice, green peas and diced carrots for a frugal meal.
Both meatballs and patties can be made ahead of time and frozen for use as needed. Store the patties wrapped individually in Glad plastic wrap in the freezer inside Hefty quart or gallon freezer bags that zip. The meatballs should be frozen on a baking sheet individually, then placed inside Hefty quart or gallon freezer bags.
Most people cannot tell the difference in these patties and meatballs from real meat unless you tell them.
