Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy wide frying pan or shallow casserole, 28cm
• •Large pot for the potatoes
• •Potato masher
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the potatoes

   Put the potato chunks in a pot of cold salted water and bring them to a simmer. They'll need about twenty minutes to cook through, which is the same time the meat needs. Start them first so everything lands on the plate together. Floury potatoes are what you want here, the kind that break down and drink up butter. Waxy potatoes stay firm and resist the mash, and that's not what this dish is asking for.

2. 2

   Brown the beef properly

   Heat a heavy wide pan over medium-high heat with the oil and half the butter. When the butter stops foaming and smells faintly of hazelnuts, add the ground beef in an even layer. Now leave it alone. This is the part most cooks get wrong. If you stir the meat right away, it releases water and steams instead of browns, and you end up with grey beef in grey gravy. Let it sit for three or four minutes until the underside is deep brown, then break it up with a wooden spoon and brown the rest. The dark crust that forms on the pan is where the flavor lives.

   If your pan is crowded, the meat will steam. Work in two batches rather than piling it in. You'll know it's browning right when you hear a steady sizzle and smell something nutty and savory rising from the pan.
3. 3

   Soften the onions

   Push the browned beef to one side of the pan and add the rest of the butter with the chopped onions. Season with a pinch of salt. Let the onions soften in the butter for about six or seven minutes, stirring them through the meat as they go translucent and golden at the edges. The salt pulls the moisture out and helps them lift the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Those brown bits are not mess. They are the foundation of the gravy.

4. 4

   Build the gravy

   Scatter the flour over the meat and onions and stir it through. Cook for a full minute, which takes the raw taste out of the flour and lets it toast gently in the fat. Now pour in the warm beef stock a little at a time, stirring constantly. Adding it warm matters: cold stock hitting a hot pan makes the flour seize into lumps, and warm stock blends in smoothly. Add the soy sauce, the mustard, and the bay leaves. The soy is the Danish weeknight trick: it gives the gravy its dark mahogany color and a quiet depth you can't quite place.

   Taste a spoonful. The gravy should be glossy and coat the back of a spoon. If it feels thin, simmer another few minutes. If it feels thick, loosen with a splash of stock.
5. 5

   Simmer and taste

   Turn the heat down and let the whole thing simmer gently for ten minutes, uncovered. The gravy will thicken and the flavors will settle into each other. Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Be generous with the pepper. This dish wants it. Fish out the bay leaves before serving.

6. 6

   Mash the potatoes

   Drain the cooked potatoes and let them steam in the colander for a minute to dry out. Wet potatoes make gluey mash. Return them to the warm pot off the heat, add the butter, and crush them with a masher. Pour in the warm milk slowly, beating it in until the mash is soft and loose. Season with salt. Warm milk folds in without cooling the potatoes, which is the difference between silky mash and stiff mash.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Take the gravy off the heat and drop in the cold tablespoon of butter. Swirl the pan until it melts into the sauce. This is called mounting with butter, and it gives the gravy its final gloss and richness. Spoon a generous mound of mash into each shallow bowl, press a well in the middle with the back of the spoon, and ladle the millionbof into it so the gravy pools around the potatoes. Scatter with chopped parsley and serve immediately with pickled beets on the side. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Don't buy lean ground beef for this. You need the fat. Around 15% is right. Very lean beef gives you dry meat and thin gravy, and there's no rescuing it after the fact.
• •A splash of kulor, the Danish gravy browning, is the traditional way to deepen the color. Soy sauce does the same job and adds a little savor besides. Either works. Both are honest.
• •Serve with a cold glass of light Danish beer if the moment calls for it. A Pilsner, nothing fancy. This is not a wine dish. It's a Tuesday dish, and Tuesdays have their own rules.
• •Leftovers are arguably better the next day. The gravy deepens overnight in the fridge. Reheat gently with a splash of stock to loosen it back up.

Advance Preparation

• •The gravy and meat can be made a day ahead and reheated gently. Make the mash fresh, always. Mash does not keep; it turns gluey in the fridge and never recovers.
• •If you want to get ahead on a weeknight, chop the onions in the morning and store them covered in the fridge. It saves five minutes when you walk through the door hungry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)