Cream & Beef Rice Casserole ~ inspired by the clever Peg Bracken

About 2 weeks ago, it was nearing dinner time,

I was tired and had no idea what to make for dinner.

After fortifying myself with some tea and a small snack,

I remembered the gloriously simple, clever, classy and quick

Peg Bracken and her books!

***

I still remember finding her first book when I was in London Ontario,

the woman at the cash register said warmly to me that she's great!

A cookbook that was called 'I hate to cook' and was done in a

witty conversational style and was retro = I was sold!

I have spent many moments enjoying her book and the many

clever ideas and her humour...she embodied for me what urban classy cooking

and hosting should be like; quick, clever and great tasting.

***

For all my years in Ottawa I used her chocolate cake recipe for my 

St. Nicholas day and Lenten chocolate cake recipes.

There is no mistake that her recipe is the FIRST one mentioned on my

recipe page! She has a long standing place in my cookbook loving heart.

***

So, after reading her recipe for 'Simple Burgers' 

with cream and Worcestershire sauce,

I knew I had found my answer!

My dinner woes for that tired Monday Peg solved in quick order!

***

I transformed her recipe into a warm, comforting:

Cream & Beef Rice Casserole

Here's the recipe:

Fried in butter: 1lb organic hamburger beef, onion, salt, pepper and a bit of Worcestershire sauce; 

set aside in toaster oven on 'warm' setting.

Cooked 1 cup of rice, used half of it.  (Saved other half for a later meal).

I fried up onions in coconut oil and then fried mushrooms with it.  

3/4 or more of a pint of cream simmered on stove in fry pan that the meat was in, with drippings still in the pan, added with 3 tbs Worcestershire sauce and some corn starch to thicken. 

As mentioned, 

I kept the fried meat in a toaster oven on warm 

while the rice and mushrooms were being cooked.

When done, I put half of the cooked rice in the blue serving bowl,

 then the still warm hamburger and 

then poured the still hot cream sauce on top, 

then added the fried mushrooms on top!

(not all of them, as I am saved some for a later fast day). 

It was really good! Creamy, savoury and warm! 

Will make again DV! 

It was so enjoyable!

 The Worcestershire sauce, caramelized onions 

helped make it so!