Jacob’s Meats in Defiance, Ohio, provides top quality fresh meats — plus some old-fashioned canned beef.
By Lori Bauer
Ohio University
My recipe contribution is Stephen Colbert’s fault.
“We’re now entering week four of isolation, or as historians will eventually call it, canned beef week,” he said.
Unless you grew up in Ohio farm country, you might not even know there is such a thing as canned beef. But not only is there canned beef, there’s also canned turkey and chicken. It’s fully cooked and requires no refrigeration, so it’s popular with campers and preppers, too.
At the Athens, Ohio, Kroger, it’s on the bottom shelf under the tuna, Spam and Dinty Moore Beef Stew. That’s the shelf that emptied out really fast—along with mac-n-cheese mixes, frozen pizza and toilet paper. So if, for some reason, there’s canned beef on your shelf (probably behind the soup and pasta sauce), what can you do with it?
For inspiration, I pulled out a recipe book produced by my mother’s generation of women in the Paulding United Methodist Church. Some of these recipes are more than 60 years old, which tells you how long canned beef has been around. That there are so many recipes just shows how popular it was at church fetes and family meals.
- Shout out to Jacob’s Meats in Defiance, Ohio, where families can still buy top cuts along with good old-fashioned canned beef to make those popular dishes.
And if you’re in need of recipes for ham loaf, 7-Up Jell-O salad, or a comfort food from your past, it’s probably in this book. Let me know and I’ll find it for you.
And since I wondered how in the world Colbert had heard of canned beef, I added a Maryland option to the last recipe, homage to his early youth in Bethesda.
Beef and Dumplings
By Sharon Whitman
- 1 – 15 oz. can beef broth
- 1 – 15-oz. can beef
- 1 large potato, diced
- 1 onion, fried in butter
Dumplings:
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 egg, well-beaten
- ½ to 2/3 cup milk
Mix together dumpling ingredients in a separate bowl. Drop tiny pieces in the boiling broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Tear meat in pieces and drop in broth last. Cook until dumplings are done to your liking.
Beef N Noodles
By Deanna Wann
- 1 – 16-oz. package Reames Frozen Egg Noodles (Note: until I looked this up, I thought the church ladies spent hours making their own noodle. My family just used a bag of dry egg noodles like the one in the picture above.)
- 1 – 28-oz. can of beef
- 2 – 15.oz cans of Swanson’s beef broth, one regular and one onion flavored
Cook noodles for 15 minutes, drain. Dump beef into pot, breaking chunks up; put in broth, dump noodles in the beef and broth mixture. Add pepper to your liking. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.
Hot Beef for Sandwiches
By Paulding United Methodist Church Kitchen
- 15 cans beef, drained
- 2 boxes of Lipton onion soup mix
- 1/2 box Hi-Ho crackers (same as Ritz), crushed
- 3 cans cream of celery soup
Mix well and cook until thick enough to use in sandwiches. Add flour if necessary.
Creamed Beef Sandwiches in Crock Pot
By Naomi Colley
- 2 large cans beef
- 1 stack Hi-Ho crackers
- 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
- 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
Drain beef and remove fat. Mix ingredients and put in crock pot. Cook 4 hours on low. Makes 27 sandwiches.
Vegetable Beef Soup (with Old Bay if you’re from Maryland)
By My Mom
This one’s not from the book, but it’s a handy one from my mom because you can throw just about anything in, especially if you have a pot to hang over the campfire.
- For stock use tomato or V8 juice.
- Canned beef
- Vegetables such as carrots, celery, potatoes, green beans, corn, etc.
- Bay leaf, salt and pepper
- To make it Maryland-style, use Old Bay seasoning.
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