Beef Frikadellen

Method

1. In a bowl mix the mince, egg, mustard, grated garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined. Overworking the mince makes them bouncy.
2. Wet your hands and form 6 to 8 flat patties, about 2 cm thick.
3. Heat butter or oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the patties.
4. Fry 4 to 5 minutes per side until deep brown and cooked through. Cut one open to check there is no pink.
5. Serve with a side salad or sauteed zucchini.

Notes

• Steffi tip. Medium heat, not high, so the outside does not burn before the inside cooks. Make a few extra for Wednesday’s lunch.
• No onion and no breadcrumbs. This is not an omission, it is the recipe. A German reader will look at that ingredient list and assume something has been left out, because a proper Frikadelle normally carries a soaked Brötchen and a finely diced onion. Both are gone here on purpose: no onions is a house rule, and the bread is what would put this over the carb line. What is left is a stripped-down Frikadelle that tastes of beef, mustard, and garlic and holds together perfectly well on the egg alone.
• Because there is no bread in the mix, the patties are denser and brown harder than the version most people grew up with. Keep them flat and thin, about 2 cm, so the middle is done by the time the crust is right.
• Pure beef mince, not the mixed beef and pork Hackfleisch sold as standard in Germany. Ask for reines Rinderhack.
• Cold Frikadellen are one of the better leftovers there is. Wednesday’s midday meal is these, straight from the fridge, with salad.

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Von Christoph Mayer