Chopped Beef Toasts

A fond food memory from my childhood, I remember eating these chopped beef toasts fresh from the oven and savoring every scrumptious bite.  Nonna or Grandpa didn't make these for me very often, and I don't think my mom ever made them at home, so I was delighted when I saw there was a recipe for them.  Once I found the recipe, it went to the top of my list of new things to try.

The toasts are very easy to make and I had dinner ready for the family in about fifteen minutes.  I used my my own fresh ground beef for the recipe, which is a blend of half sirloin and half chuck.  The recipe also calls for meat condiment, which is an ingredient I have not heard of.  A quick internet search for 'meat condiment' did not yield any answers either.  So, I used homemade mayonnaise.  I thought the mayonnaise would be a nice compliment to the meat and not lend any flavors that would overpower it.

An interesting part of the recipe that I did not realize until I was assembling the toast was that the meat is put on the bread raw; though I think that's what makes them so good.  As the meat cooks, the juices are absorbed into the meat creating a texture almost reminiscent of bread pudding.  Speaking of cooking the meat, the recipe states to grill at moderate heat for five to six minutes.  I wasn't sure how to 'grill' the toasts, so I baked them at 450 degrees for five minutes and put them under the broiler for another minute.  Using this method, they tasted just as I remember them.

The beef toasts were a big hit with the family.  Ari ate his whole piece and asked for more and once we got Emilie to try it, she ate her whole serving as well.  Valerie kept talking about how good they were, too. 

If anyone knows what 'meat condiment' is, or how the toasts were traditionally cooked or 'grilled', I would love to know.

Chopped Beef Toasts

Printable Recipe

(2 servings)

1/4 pound chopped raw beef

1/4 teaspoon onion salt

1/2 teaspoon meat condiment

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

4 slices white bread

1.  Mix the beef, onion salt and condiment.

2.  Spread the bread with half the butter and toast on one side.

3.  Spread the untoasted side from crust to crust with the chopped beef; dot with the remaining butter and grill at moderate heat from 5 to 6 minutes.  Serve very hot.