Chipped Beef Spread

You don't have to tell me. I already know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Kim, this isn't the most attractive dish you've ever made." I know. But, when I was reading through Martha Nesbit's Savannah Celebrations, copyright 2010, I just kept getting drawn to it. The photograph in her cookbook showed the spread in a pie plate sprinkled with pecans. It was a little more attractive than this, BUT my husband nixed the pecans as soon as he read them in the recipe. Men like meat!!! Don't complicate that with nuts. But, if you can look past the first impression, I think you'll like what you taste.

Chipped Beef Spread

1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2-1/2 oz. dried beef, shredded
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix cream cheese well with dried beef, green and red peppers, onion, and black pepper. Fold in sour cream. Spoon into a small casserole dish. Top with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with crackers.

I will admit that this scared me. I've never used dried beef before and frankly wasn't sure if I wanted to. I've lived my life trying to avoid jarred meat. And, the scariest part of it all is that my picky 8-year-old came walking through the kitchen and ate a whole slice and declared it "good"! Now, here's a little tip - this stuff is SALTY! After, I repeat, after I got the meat chopped and added to the cream cheese, I read this on the top of the jar: If using in a recipe, rinse with warm water and pat dry. Huh?!?

Here's the beef chopped and laying on a bed of cream cheese. Fortunately, the recipe didn't call for salt and I didn't add any. So, if you've got issues with salt, please rinse the meat. It's not too salty to eat but I just want to warn you so you won't add salt.

Now, for the healthy part - onions and peppers!

I mixed it all together with some sour cream and black pepper.

See, that doesn't look so bad, does it? And, you could follow the directions and add nuts on top. That would make it even prettier. It bakes for 20 minutes.

All kidding aside...this is really good - salty from the meat and crunchy from the veggies and perfect for football watching! 

Be brave and enjoy!!