Suffragette Heavenly Hamburger

Today's recipe comes from Henrietta Poynter, editor of the Congressional Quarterly.

Mother Left Home

I learned to cook at about 14 when my mother went on a three-month speaking tour for suffrage and left me to keep house. Whatever I saved out of the budget was mine, so I specialized in recipes for making cheap cuts of meat delicious, and managed without starving the family, to indulge in new clothes, theater tickets, and other things not covered by my allowance.

These recipes are quickies that can be made between deadline time and when the guests arrive.

Heavenly Hamburger

1 pound ground chuck or round

1 small onion

1 slice white bread

1 egg

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

To ground meat, add onion, finely chopped, egg, salt and pepper. Soak bread in hot water, squeeze out and crumble into meat mixture. Knead, with your hands, like bread, until thoroughly mixed. Make into thick cutlets: brown on outside, keep inside rare--about five minutes on each side. Makes six hamburgers.

Remove meat from pan, add four to six tablespoons of water, stirring constantly to make thick gravy, add ketchup and mustard, stir for a minute until well mixed and pour over hamburgers.