Recipe from The Diner's Club Cookbook: Chopped beef à la Lindstrom

Chopped beef à la Lindstrom or Biff à la Lindström is a Swedish dish with Russian influences. It is thought to have been brought to Sweden in the mid-1800s by one Hendrik Lindström, who may have invented it or learned to make it in Russia. From Sweden it has spread all over the world.

To serve 4:
500 g (1 lb) ground beef
1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup cooked or canned beets, diced
1/3 cup capers
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup ice water
3 tbs butter

Mix together all ingredients but the 3 tbs butter.




Shape into 4 patties. Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and sauté the beef in it until it has reached your preferred stage of doneness.

Fry 4 eggs and serve the patties with the eggs on top.



From the Stockholm Restaurant, Worcester, Massachusetts.


A note on ground beef:
I always cook ground beef through unless I have done the buying and grinding myself. If you are using supermarket ground beef or beef not prepared by your local butcher from a cut you chose, it is safer to cook it through.

Edit:
I made some for dinner. The beef I used was not finely ground enough for patties, so they fell apart and I ended up with something resembling dog food, which, however, tasted all right. It was remarkably mild considering the amount of onions and capers. I think another time I would use more beets and onions and less capers.