Weeknight Dinners

Pantry French Dip

By Sandy · From the Granny Plants Kitchen · Made with Granny’s Canned Beef

The jar broth turns into the au jus. It was practically made for this.

Serves: 4 Time: 20 min Starts with: 1 jar canned beef

Ingredients

1 quart jar Granny's canned beef (about 2 lb beef plus its broth)
1 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
4 hoagie rolls
8 slices provolone or Swiss

Steps

Open and heat the beef. Check the seal first. Pour the beef and all its broth into a pot, bring it to a boil, and heat it all the way through before using it in the rest of the recipe.
Make the au jus. Strain the heated beef. Put its broth in a saucepan with the beef broth, Worcestershire, onion powder, and garlic powder. Simmer 5 minutes.
Shred. Pull the beef apart and add it back to the au jus to stay warm.
Build. Split the rolls, add the beef and cheese, and broil 1 to 2 minutes until the cheese melts. Serve with small cups of the au jus for dipping.

Notes

Granny’s tip: Want caramelized onions? Cook a sliced onion low and slow in butter for 20 minutes while everything else is happening.

Store-bought works too: no home-canned beef? Use about 2 lb of cooked chuck roast plus 2 cups beef broth.

Using home-canned beef safely: check every jar before opening. If the lid is bulging or unsealed, the jar leaks, liquid spurts when opened, or anything smells off, throw it out without tasting. Heat the beef all the way through before eating. For extra safety, NCHFP recommends boiling home-canned meat for 10 minutes (add 1 minute per 1,000 ft of elevation). Get the canning process in The Smell That Woke the Dogs.

Twelve meals, one jar of beef

This is one of the twelve dinners competing for my five jars. See them all.