So, the other day I mentioned to my husband that we are in the final countdown at French Fridays with Dorie and that there are now less than 10 recipes left! He looked up with an expression genuine concern and asked, “but, what are we going to eat?” After I recovered from my fit of laughter, I gave his question a bit more consideration. The fact is that this little project has been going on for almost our entire married life, so he’s not fully off to wonder what the heck we’re going to eat if we don’t have Dorie supplying our weekly menu.
But never fear, this week Dorie is still looking out for us. We’ve actually made her Next-Day Beef Salad a few times before, once after the Beef on a String and again after one of my father’s famous Christmas Day standing rib roasts. If only I had bothered to take pictures one of those times, but alas, it turns out that I’m not as organized as I would like to think, and so we had to whip up our own leftovers this time.
This time around I got a bit more liberal with my changes. Among other tweaks, I cut the mayo in half and more than doubled the mustard. I love Maille’s original mustard and find that it’s so smooth and creamy that I can often use it to cut down on the mayo in recipes. Then again, mustard is probably my favorite condiment so it might just be that I’m an addict.
We’ve enjoyed this recipe each time and will probably make it again in the future when there are leftover bits of beef to be used up. So no worries, dear husband. Even when the project ends, we’ll still have Dorie’s book at our disposal for many meals to come:-)
one expat's life 
Ha! That’s cute. This is on the docket for dinner tonight. I’m glad to see your picture looking so tempting, because I can’t quite wrap my brain around this one. Could be because I am not a huge mustard fan. Or mayo. A little is fine, but I don’t like much.
I know right – what will we eat? What will I serve my friends when they come over for dinner?
LOL! Bill may be cheering that he’ll face no more strange recipes, but I’m already mourning the end of the line! Glad you enjoyed this one, too.
Good one! Your hubby is so cute! This salad was enjoyed by my hubby and no worries I still have loads of FFwD recipes to catch up with!
That’s a great story. I am a little bit stressed about what to cook once this is over too… FFwD has been supplying half of my weekend menu plans for over four years. I will have to find another book to work through or something…
Your version came out lovely.
I too have made this a few times but it never lasted long enough to get a picture. Turns out I didn’t mind because I love this so it was no chore to do again. The picture wasn’t easy as far as photography goes but it doesn’t matter. I could eat this weekly. My husband wants me to start the book again so we can have his favorites again. He complains I never make the same thing twice!
That is so funny, but I have to agree with everyone that I will have to plan meals on my own now.
This was a lovely recipe, and so easy with having most ingredients in the frig. Enjoy your weekend.
How romantic that you have been cooking from this book since you got married. Lucky you having discovered this salad a while ago. I love the flavors and agree more mustard, less mayo.
You’ll have to keep cooking your favorites every week or so since Dorie is already part of your weekly routine. I wish I’d discovered this recipe sooner, but I can tell I’ll be making it again and again, but with less mayo and more mustard. My first version was way to creamy for me.
First, I have Maille’s mustard love also. And, I love mustard in general. So, that vinaigrette worked for me, strongly flavored as it was. Funny, this afternoon as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I was thinking the same thing. After all these years, I will not have a weekly recipe I must cook. Doesn’t sound good to me.
That’s funny, Rose – I never thought of it, but we were married in May and started FFWD in October, so us, too! It’s been amazing & we’ve both learned so much.
Have a lovely weekend!
It is funny how the spouses respond to our weekly cookie, I know mine appreciates and looks forward to whatever surprise I have in store from Dorie ( pretty routine the rest of the week). I like the idea of more mustard, less mayo
I didn’t realize that this had been such a part of your married life – but amazing, and congratulations! I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to continue with something so that we can cook, share, and compare. And get a little glimpse into our friend’s lives along the way. I’m sure something will come up!
Hope your weekend is wonderful!
LOL that’s sweet! 🙂 How fun for you guys to be able to go back through and keep making dishes you loved though! I don’t think any of us will really “put this cookbook away.” It will always be within arms reach ! Your salad looks great and naturally, the mustard compliments the beef well so the lack of mayo makes complete sense to me!
I love that this book has been with you from the beginning of your marriage. You’ll have an extra fondness for FFwD recipes because of it, I’m sure. So many of my family and friends have benefitted from our French Fridays schedule over the years – I’m wondering what will take its place, too. I will be cooking from the book for years to come, though.
After cooking so many wonderful new things with FF’s…I’m thinking of adding a new cookbook to my routine. And each week pick something new for dinner…David Lebovitz anyone?
Nice post and lovely photo, Rose!
This salad was delish, and it’s great that it is so open to making it your own.
What a great opener for your blog post and I did chuckle out loud. I think I’ll be chuckling at odd points throughout the day for “what are going to eat?” Tee hee! Anyway, the salad looks great and I love how you changed it up!
Too funny! I love this. I do think menu planning will be harder without the set schedule to turn to, but definitely plan on continuing to use this book for a long time….I’m a mustard addict too. I will definitely add more next time.