The order she works in
The first thing on the stove is not really cooking, it is thawing. Frozen pre-made patties go into a skillet that has been heating on low, and she lets them sit there and simmer (the patties go in frozen), because that will unthaw them slowly while she does everything else (why she does it that way).
While they thaw she peels and cuts the potatoes, covers them with water a good two inches over the top so they have plenty to cook in (water over the potatoes), and puts them on medium high with a little salt added to the water (salting the water). The cobbler gets started later, once the hamburger steaks are already simmering in their gravy (starting the cobbler while they simmer).
The hamburger steaks and gravy
The patties are the pre-made kind she gets at Walmart, which come in a box of about 30 (the patties she uses). She says they shrink a lot, so for a bunch of people you would cook seven or eight; for her and Travis she makes five, three for him and two for her (how many to cook).
Once they are nearly done, but not quite cooked through, she takes them out to sit for a few minutes, since they will keep cooking in the gravy (taking them out early). Most of the grease gets poured off, with just a tiny bit saved, and a little bacon grease goes in for flavor (pouring off the grease). To that goes about a tablespoon of flour, which she measures against her hand rather than a spoon (how she measures a tablespoon).
That flour cooks a few minutes before any liquid goes in, and she is blunt about the reason: gravy that tastes like a bowl of flour is not going to go over well at the table (cooking the flour first). Then a teaspoon of beef bouillon powder, which she says gives the gravy a richer, stronger beef taste but can be left out entirely (the beef bouillon), about a cup and a half of beef broth with a little salt and black pepper (the beef broth), and about a teaspoon of the all-purpose seasoning blend she likes (the seasoning blend).
When the gravy starts to thicken the patties go back in and get swirled through until they are coated, and she notes the thicker it gets the better it stays on them (back into the gravy). Then the lid goes on, the heat goes as low as it will go, and they simmer about 15 minutes, which is the step she says makes those patties good and tender (the simmer that tenderizes them). Every once in a while she flips them in the gravy (flipping them as they simmer).
The plain mashed potatoes
The potatoes boil until they are fork tender, then get drained and mashed with a potato masher she has had since she and Travis got married, though she says a blender would work for it (draining and mashing). Into them go two big heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise, two tablespoons of butter, about a fourth of a cup of milk, salt and black pepper (mayonnaise, butter, and milk).
She lets that sit for a few minutes so the butter melts before she starts mixing, then mixes it all together and tastes for more salt or pepper (letting the butter melt first). She calls it the basic, simple version and says the channel has recipes that take a lot more ingredients (the plain version).
The little peach cobbler
About 5 tablespoons of butter go into a pie dish and into the oven at around 350 to melt while she works, and about two cups of frozen peaches go into a skillet (melting the butter in the dish). The peaches get about a half cup of water (water on the peaches) and about a fourth of a cup of sugar (the sugar), then boil down into a little syrup for the cobbler, since hers did not have any syrup in them (making their own syrup).
For the batter she warms about a half cup of milk in the microwave first, because cold milk going into the dish with that hot butter could break it (warming the milk). A capful of vanilla flavoring goes in, which she calls a teaspoon (the vanilla), then about a half cup of all-purpose flour stirred into the butter and milk (the flour). She points out that with canned peaches, or fresh ones you had not sugared, you would add a half cup of sugar to this part as well (when to add more sugar).
The cooked peaches go on top and get worked down into the mix without much stirring (the peaches go on top), and it bakes at 350 for around 25 to 30 minutes (into the oven). When she checks it at that point it is not quite brown enough, so she gives it about 15 more minutes (checking the cobbler).
How long the whole thing takes
She says the gravy alone took her about 15 minutes (how long the gravy took), and that hamburger steaks and mashed potatoes together can be done in probably no longer than 30 minutes (about 30 minutes for the two). With the cobbler and a salad on the side, supper was on the table in about 45 minutes (about 45 minutes altogether).