Last Updated on 3 years by Tim
Today, I want to share with you one of my favorite ways to use up the leftover meat from making my beef broth recipe. Beef salad is a popular dish all around Germany beloved for its tanginess.
I cook a lot of broths at home and I don’t like throwing out perfectly edible meat. Be it chicken, beef, or pork. The easiest way is, of course, to serve the meat inside the broth as part of a soup.
And as much as I love soups, they can get boring over time. Marinating soup beef with an acidic mustard vinaigrette, on the other hand, will bring the meat right back to life.
There’s a lot of acidity in my beef salad vinaigrette
Good quality vinegar will brighten up any dish.
Have you ever eaten German-style sausage salad? If yes, you know what I’m talking about. That richness of meat paired with the tanginess of vinegar makes for a surprisingly light and refreshing salad.
The same is true for this beef salad. The meat has been cooked inside a broth for a solid 4 hours. It’s basically dead at this point. It has given all its flavor to the broth. It’s dry.
But what hasn’t been taken away from the beef is its texture. The beef should ideally be fork tender.
Pair this superb texture with a flavorful vinaigrette and you’ll experience a whole new flavor experience.
What goes into my vinaigrette
It’s important to include a lot of liquid in your vinaigrette. Remember, the beef is dry so you want to reintroduce some moisture. That’s why my recipe uses a solid 1/2 cup of beef broth. The beef will soak up all the flavor that it has previously given to the broth. Genius, right?
The second component to moisten up the salad and to give it some crunch are cornichons. These small pickled cucumbers pair perfectly with cold cuts of meat. If you want, you can also add some of their pickling liquid to your beef salad to make it super tangy.
For the mustard, I specified you to use whole grain Dijon mustard. It’s milder in taste than regular smooth mustard. If using regular mustard, make sure cut down the amount of mustard depending on your taste preference.
It’s best to serve this salad on a hot summer day paired together with some good quality sourdough bread.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450 g) leftover cooked beef from making beef broth, cubed
- 2 tablespoons finely minced shallots
- 1 cup finely diced cornichons (pickled cucumber)
- 1 tablespoon whole grain dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup homemade beef broth
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup minced chives
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the beef, shallots, cornichons, and mustard. Add the beef broth, vinegar, and olive oil. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Toss everything well and let the salad marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, adjust the seasoning to your liking and sprinkle with minced chives.
I‘ve posted the same recipe, not knowing that there are more people still familiar with this salad, because my recipe is over 50 years old ?.
Keep up the good work ?