Ivorybill popped into the New Orleans thread, and I was reminded that he treated me to lunch at Herbsaint when I was in The Big Sleazy. I had the shaved beef salad and liked it so much that I asked for the recipe. Everyone who has eaten this salad when I’ve made it has liked it. If you can’t get to The Crescent City, you can make it yourself:
Herbsaint Shaved Beef Salad
Horseradish dressing
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons creole mustard (or whole grain mustard)
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce (we use Louisiana brand hot sauce)
2 tablespoons cane syrup (this is a Louisiana product, and may not be available – you can substitute a mild molasses)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Yield: about 2 cups
Directions
Mix it all together.
I can’t get cane syrup here, so the first time I made it I made simple syrup and molasses. Now I just use a little Karo corn syrup and light molasses. I use Zatarain’s mustard and Louisiana brand hot sauce.
The beef
Most supermarkets will have packets of thinly-sliced roast beef. I prefer Trader Joe’s because I think it tastes better than the beef slices at the local supermarkets. It’s also cheaper.
The salad
You can make your own salad, but I find it easier to use the bagged mixed Spring greens.
Assembly
Use three or four slices of thinly-sliced roast beef. Tear it into bite-sized bits (no more than a couple of inches square) and arrange them on a large plate. Pile on the greens. Add as much dressing as you desire. Top with French’s fried onions.
This one has been requested several times in this house. Just made another batch of dressing a few minutes ago.
Since I posted, I’ve started using Dietz & Watson roast beef from the deli counter instead of Trader Joe’s packets of beef. They shave it thinner, and I think I like it a little better than TJ’s. More expensive, though.
Sounds great and I’d like to try it but I’m a bit confused… the shaved beef is on the bottom with the lettuce and dressing on top? Seems like it would get lost under the greens since the shaved beef would tend to be stuck to the plate unless eaten with a spatula.
I’m sure this isn’t the case and I must be missing something.
I should have mentioned that this salad is served on a plate, rather than in a bowl. This way, the greens have dressing on them, and a slice of beef is easily picked up as well. This is the way it was served at the restaurant.
I think I know where my confusion was coming from. When you said to tear them into bite sized pieces I’m thinking 1x1 inch pieces and then thought arranging them on the plate would result in a plate covered with small pieces of shaved beef placed flat on the plate that a fork would have a tough time picking up.
Once I re-read it that they shouldn’t be bigger than 2x2 suddenly I see pieces folded over so a fork could pick them up along with the lettuce.
Sometimes I’m too literal for my own good.
I think I’ll make this for my family tomorrow because it seems to hit all the bases everyone likes. I’ll let you know how it goes over.
Made this for dinner tonight. Great dressing. I got shaved beef at the deli. Instead of French’s onion I caramelized some onions to put on top. My wife will be asking for this a lot.
Sounds great, although I’ve never seen French’s fried onions in Canada. I’ve never heard of the product before. I think I would have to caramelize my own too.
I use 50:50. I’ve also made it just with the light molasses. You can make adjustments according to your own tastes. Today I put a tablespoon of Worcestershire in, so there was a teaspoon too much. Still came out just fine. I put some extra horseradish in it last time, and the SO thought it was a little on the hot side – but she still liked it.
I’ve seen and used brands other than French’s. I just like French’s best. Leopard doesn’t like to show the url when you click on Images in a Google search, but I c&p’d it. I hope it works for you. I grew up calling them ‘fried onions’ or ‘French fried onions’. Someone from elsewhere might call them ‘crispy onions’ or ‘crispy fried onions’. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.
I stirred a teaspoon of dark brown sugar into the Karo. Molasses probably adds more flavor but I don’t have any at the moment. I went heavy on the Worstcestershire too. Didn’t do any harm that I could tell.
Ironically, despite my collection of over 200 hot sauces I didn’t have a bottle of cayenne sauce for cooking. I used Sri Racha instead, still no discernible harm done.
I’m sure this would give the same flavor profile, but you would need something crunchy to be the same. Here the closest I can think of is onion straws. Basically very, very thin onion rings… although they don’t have to be rings. Same flavor, but with “crunch.”
How do you Canadians even celebrate Thanksgiving? You can’t make a proper Green Bean Casserole without them. If you guys can’t even do that you probably don’t even know the right day to celebrate.
They may very well be available. I grocery shop a lot and I’ve never seen them, but then again I wasn’t looking for them, because I’ve never even heard of the product before.
What part of the grocery store would they even be located in: with the produce? rice? I know they’re not anywhere near the bacon bits!
