German cuisine · Salads & Mezze

Beef Salad with Pickled Gherkins

Boiled beef in strips with pickled gherkins, onions and a bold mustard dressing – the classic way to use up leftover soup meat.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 500 g boiled beef
• 3 pickled gherkins
• 1 red onion
• 1 bunch chives
• 4 tbsp wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp gherkin brine
• 6 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 tsp medium-hot mustard
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Let the boiled beef cool completely, then cut across the grain into thin slices and then into strips about 5 mm wide.
2. Halve the gherkins lengthwise and cut into fine strips, and slice the red onion into paper-thin half-rings.
3. Whisk vinegar, gherkin brine, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper vigorously and stir in the oil in a thin stream until the marinade lightly thickens.
4. Combine the beef, gherkins and onion with the marinade and let the salad rest covered in the fridge for at least 2 hrs. to develop flavor.
5. Take the salad out of the fridge 20 min. before eating so the aroma unfolds, then adjust with more vinegar and salt.
6. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives and serve with fried potatoes or fresh farmhouse bread.