Beef Salad Spread

One of the most popular spreads at my parties is the Beef Salad spread. It is very similar to tuna salad in preparation and it makes all my friends who don't like fish very happy.

If you ever make beef soup stock a yummy way to use the beef from the soup is to make a Beef Salad spread. For this spread you will need:

• 1 lb of cooked beef, lean beef shank was used here
• cooked or fresh onions, three (3) small, cooked boiling onions were used in this example
• five (5) cornichons or pickles
• one teaspoon (1 tsp) dijon style mustard
• one teaspoon (1 tsp) horseradish
• two tablespoons (2 tbsp) lemon mayonnaise or sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste

The beef should be cooked and tender. Remove all the bones and chewy, connective tissue from the meat. Chop the meat and set aside.

If you made beef soup stock, then you might have some cooked onions set aside from that. Chop them up like you would fresh onions. If you don't have cooked onions, fresh onions will work. I like using cooked onions because they still give off some onion flavor but are not as potent. If the fresh onions are too strong, leave them in some salted water for about 15 minutes and then wash them out. The water and salt will ease up some of the overwhelming taste of fresh onions.

Chop up the pickles.

In a bowl combine the meat, onions and pickles. Add in the mustard, horseradish, and mayo. I ordinarily don't add salt and pepper since the pickles, horseradish and mustard will give the adequate salt and spice but some folks like to add them in. Also, if you don't like mayonnaise, sour cream is a good substitute. Mix everything until well mixed.

When you are finished, serve the spread with some toast or crackers. You can garnish with pickles or capers. Enjoy!