What on earth is this!?
This is also called "frizzled beef" because of the sound it makes while cooking. It's a hearty meal that
is quick to prepare from roast-beef dinner leftovers. Originally, the fat used in this recipe would have been beef
drippings (which are eaten over toast sometimes as a favourite snack called "drippings on toast"). But
we don't want to make it too terribly bad for our hearts, so I recommend using healthy cooking oil instead.
Ingredients:
4 to 6 Tbs. canola, safflower, peanut, soy, corn or other heart-healthy oil
1/4 cup finely chopped or minced onion (optional)
2 to 4 cups cold mashed ("smashed") potatoes
Salt, pepper to taste
6 to 8 slices of cold beef (about 1 oz. each)
~ Brown gravy ~
Preparation:
Form two patties about 1" thick each in one or two pans with your chilled whipped potatoes. If you want to
use the onion, heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onion until soft and nicely caramelized. Mix the
onions into the cold potatoes before forming your patties (see notes below). Preheat a little oil in a very large
skillet or in two smaller pans (it works best for me if I use two and spray them first with some commercial brand
of non-stick cooking spray, like Pam); cook the patties on both sides over medium-low heat until golden brown.
Remove the patties from the skillet(s) on to two serving dishes and keep them warm in the oven. A good trick for
flipping/removing the patties is to simply hold a plate on the hot skillet and turn it upside down onto the plate
(to brown the other side, the patties will slide easily enough with a spatula off the plate and back into the pan).
Next, add a little extra oil to the pan(s) and lightly fry the beef slices on both sides to heat them through. Arrange the beef on top of the browned potato pancakes and serve with enough thick, brown gravy to suit your taste. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Makes two servings.
I like to arrange the potato patties on each plate so that they are off center from the beef (this insures that
you can cover everything well with gravy). Serve with green beans or some other cooked green vegetable.
Notes:
Using the warm, chopped onion bits makes this recipe more authentic, but it also makes it a little more difficult
to form the patties because the onion will warm them up and they can get soft and unmanageable then - it's best
to fry the onions, mix them into the whipped potatoes, then let the potatoes & onions chill back down in the
fridge for an hour or so before making the patties! You can get pre-made whipped potatoes in most supermarkets,
either frozen or ready-to-serve in the refrigerated section. You can also pick up sliced roast beef to make this
recipe in any supermarket's deli section (ask them to slice it to order so it's thick enough)!
Her Majesty, The Queen
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