[Recipe] Italian Beef sandwich

Italian Beef is made by slowly roasting lean beef in a pan filled with seasoned beef-based stock. Then it is sliced paper thin, soaked in the juice for a few minutes, and layered generously, dripping wet, onto sections of Italian bread loaves, sliced lengthwise. This crust is typically tan, only slightly crumbly, fluffy and white in the center, and high in gluten.

The meat is topped with sautéd green bell pepper slices and giardiniera, which is usually a spicy hot blend of chopped serrano peppers, carrots, cauliflower florets, celery, olives, herbs, salt & pepper, packed in oil and/or vinegar. Finally juice is spooned over the toppings, making the bread wet and chewy.

Preparation time: 20 minutes.

Cooking time: Allow about 2 hours to cook and another 3 hours to firm the meat for slicing in the refrigerator if you don’t have a meat slicer. You need 90 minutes to cook a 3 pound roast, or about 30 minutes per pound. You can cook this well in advance and refrigerate the meat and juice and heat it up as needed. You can even freeze it. This is a great Sunday dish because the smell of the roasting beef and herbs fills the house. After you cook it, you need another 30 minutes to chill it before slicing.

Ingredients

The beef
1 boneless beef roast, about 3 pounds with most of the fat trimmed off. Top sirloin, top round, or bottom round are preferred in that order.

The rub
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

The juice
6 cups of hot water
4 cubes of beef bouillon (see discussion below)

The sandwich
10 soft, fluffy, high gluten rolls, sliced lengthwise but hinged on one side or Italian bread loaves cut widthwise into 10 portions

3 medium sized green bell peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil, approximately
1 cup hot giardiniera

1) Mix the rub in a bowl. Sprinkle it generously on the meat and massage it in. There will be some left over. Do not discard it, we will use it in the juice. Let the meat sit at room temp for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the grill or oven to 200°C/400°F.

2) Pour the water into a 9 x 13″ baking pan and heat it to a boil on the stove top. Dissolve the bouillon in the water. It may look thin, but it will cook down and concentrate during the roasting. Pour the remaining rub into the pan. Everyone has their own secret. Many, like Al’s #1 (my fave), put the meat in the juice, submerged half way while it roasts rather than hovering above it. Roast at 200°C/400°F until interior temperature is about 130°F/55°C for medium rare, about 30 minutes per pound (exact time will depend on the cut of meat, its thickness, and how well calibrated your oven is). This may seem long, but you are cooking over water and that slows things down. The temp will rise about 5°F more as it rests. Don’t worry if there are people who won’t eat medium-rare meat. The meat will cook further in step 5, and you can just leave theirs in the juice until it turns to leather if that’s what they want.

Beware. This recipe is designed for a 9 x 13″ baking pan. If you use a larger pan, the water may evaporate and the juice will burn. If you have to use a larger pan, add more water. Regardless of pan size, keep an eye on the pan to make sure it doesn’t dry out during cooking. Add more water if necessary.

3) While the meat is roasting, cut the bell peppers in half and remove the stems and seeds. Rinse, and cut into 1/4″ strips. Cook the peppers in a frying pan over a medium high heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom, about 1 tablespoon. When they are getting limp and the skins begin to brown, about 15 minutes, they are done. Set aside at room temp.

4) Remove the roast and the juice pan. Pour off the juice, put the meat back in the pan, and place it in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Let it cool for a few hours, long enough for the meat to firm up. This will make slicing easier. Chill the juice, too, in a separate container. Slice the meat against the grain as thin as humanly possible, preferably with a meat slicer. If you don’t have a slicer, use a thin blade and draw it along the meat. If you try to cut down or saw through the crust you will be cutting it too thick.

5) Taste the juice. If you want you can thin it with more water, or make it richer by cooking it down on top of the stove. Turn the heat to a gentle simmer. Soak the meat in the juice for about 1 minute at a low simmer. That’s all. That warms the meat and makes it very wet. You can’t leave the meat in the juice for more than 10 minutes or else it starts to curl up, squeezes out its natural moisture, and toughens.

6) To assemble the sandwich, start by spooning some juice directly onto the bun. Get it wet. Then lay on the beef generously. Spoon on more juice (don’t burn your hand). Top it with bell pepper and, if you wish, giardiniera. If you want it “wet”, dip the whole shootin’ match in juice. Be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand.

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