Dried Beef and Tomato with Black Pepper and Mayonnaise - ☺♥

Dried Beef sandwiches are not common in the USA outside of the mid-Atlantic states, but they are delicious. They also have a fairly high salt content. I have enjoyed them since I was a child, but never as much as I have since finding a source of really great dried beef that is higher in moisture content and lower in salt content. Until recently my supplier was Fisher's Country Store in Cessna, Pa. Alas, they no longer ship any products.

I found the meat products company that makes the dried beef sold by my former supplier, Fisher's, and to cut to the chase they are shipping a 5 to 7 pound sealed whole dried beef to me for the price of $8.99/lb. plus shipping. Now that is wonderful, for it allows me to use my meat slicer to process only what I need at any given time, then vacuum seal and refrigerate the rest.

You can also purchase the dried beef directly as I've done from Martin's Country Market, phone number 717-738-3754. Do so ... that is, if you have access to a good quality meat slicer. Otherwise you will be stuck paying top dollar for sliced dried beef from some other source.

Here is an exciting and delicious update. Food Nirvana now has a recipe for making dried beef using an electric smoker. Check it out.

Ingredients:

12" long roll for making a small sub

1 ripe fresh large tomato

Mayonnaise

Black pepper

¼ lb. dried beef (or more)

Directions:

Cut the sub roll part way through so you can open it and fill it.

Slather Mayonnaise on both interior surfaces.

Cut the tomato into 1/4 inch thick slices to fill along both sides of the interior length of the roll.

Sprinkle the tomato slices generously with ground black pepper.

Add the dried beef evenly on top of the tomatoes. Close the sandwich.

Serve.

The Story Behind the Sandwich:

I used to work in downtown Wilmington, DE and at lunchtime I had a variety of good restaurants and delicatessens to use. There was one delicatessen named Leo and Jimmies® on Market Street Mall that made great sandwiches for a decent price, so I loved going there from time to time and ordering either of my two favorite sandwiches.

My choice of which sandwich to order was based on who waited on me! The younger employees had no idea that dried beef should be used in lesser amounts than other cold meats in making the sandwiches. When one of them waited on me I would order the sandwich per the above recipe (Without stating the amount of dried beef!), and I swear they stuffed it with at least half a pound of dried beef. What a killer sandwich and I loved it! And my, was it cheap given the contents.

When one of the owners or their wives waited on me I ordered my other favorite sandwich, as I knew I would get far less dried beef from the business owners. My other favorite sandwich is in this sandwich section of the book … the one with German salami, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, all on a long roll. Don’t miss that one either.