Is this Sandwich Week at MangiaMcCann HQ? Perhaps. But I mean, c’mon - that Himalayan Chicken Sandwich was the bomb, and this one right here is the bomb-diggity...no doubt. What is in doubt, however, is the origin of this sandwich. It’s called a French Dip, so it must obviously be French, oui? Non! This sandwich was born right here in America, in Los Angeles, to be exact. However, even the true origin is a little cloudy as two separate restaurants (Cole’s P.E. Buffet and Philippe the Original) lay claim to inventing the French Dip sandwich. Both establishments opened in 1908, so it’s a little tricky to suss this one out.
What isn’t in question is the deliciousness of this sandwich. I decided to make it as French as possible. I prepared the beef roast with a butter, horseradish and herb coating, caramelized my onions nice and slowly, while tszujing up some store bought stock into a lovely and rich jus. I stacked everything on top of a buttered and lightly toasted French baguette and topped it off with some tangy gruyère (gruyère being the French, hole-less, swiss-style cheese). Finally, like any great French steak house meal, I paired this umami-bomb sandwich with some crispy, golden, salty French fries. Ç’est magnifique! It was so good, the girls and I had no choice but to dance. If you like Geico’s “Scoop, There it is!” commercial, you need to head on over to my Instagram and check out my story. I’ll be sure to archive this one for any of you who view this blog post later and want to check out our take on Da’ Dip!
French Dip Sandwiches
To make these delicious sandwiches, you have to make a roast first, but you’ll get two meals out of this roast. I initially paired the roast with my delicious Potato Truffade. I refrigerated the remaining half-roast overnight; thinly sliced it up and slowly reheated the pieces in the oven.
Beef Sirloin Roast ~3 lbs
Butter (softened)
1/2 cup horseradish (prepared, but not creamy style)
Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Parsley
Lemon
3 onions
Olive oil
1 qt store-bought beef stock
1/2 cup Madeira or red wine
Celery stalk
Carrot
Garlic
Bay leaf
Dried mushrooms
2 French baguettes, or sub-style rolls
Gruyère cheese, thinly sliced
Unpackage, trim, and thoroughly pat and blot dry your roast. I trim away the attached portion of bottom sirloin and any connective tissue/sinew as well to get a nicely shaped roast. You will thereby not need to tie off the roast and avoid embarrassing chewy moments at the table! To get the roast completely dry, consider salting the roast (with Kosher salt) and refrigerating it overnight, uncovered.
Preheat your oven to 325 with the rack in the lower-third position.
Place your horseradish onto several layers of paper towels (or cheesecloth) and squeeze out the excess moisture.
Prepare a compound butter by mashing 1 stick of butter with the dried horseradish, freshly chopped rosemary, sage, parsley and thyme and the grated zest of a lemon. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and mix thoroughly to combine.
Season your beef with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Then coat the top of the roast with your compound butter. Place the roast on a rack-lined roasting pan and cook for 2-3 hours until the temperature reaches 120 degrees in the center of the roast. Remove the roast from the oven, leaving it in the pan and let it cool at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour. During this time, you can make your Truffade!
After the roast has cooled, turn on your broiler. Place the roast back into the oven until the topping is lightly browned. Let the roast rest for a few minutes and then slice (only what you need) thinly to serve, reserving about a half of the unsliced roast for your French Dip sandwiches. Wrap the remaining roast in foil and refrigerate overnight, or for a few days.
When it's time to make the French Dip sandwiches: peel and thinly slice 2 onions, about a 1/4-inch thick. Melt 1 tbsp each of butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toss the onions into the skillet, coating them, and then season with about a half-teaspoon of table salt, stirring occasionally. When the onions have softened, about 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue browning, stirring occasionally, for about an hour.
While the onions cook-down, pour the stock and madeira into a medium sauce pot. Add in one small diced onion, along with diced celery and carrot, and two peeled, smashed cloves of garlic. Add in a bay leaf and about ¼-ounce of dried mushrooms and season with freshly cracked black pepper. Add in a large sprig of thyme and a couple sprigs of fresh parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer.
Once the liquid has reduced by half, cover and reduce the heat to low. Just before serving, pour the reduced stock into a bowl through a fine-meshed strainer, pressing the liquid out of the solids. Return the strained stock to the wiped-clean pot, cover and reserve over low heat.
While the stock and onions are cooking, and using a very sharp knife, thinly shave your cold roast beef. Slicing the beef cold is THE way to go. If there are any accumulated juices in the aluminum foil, pour them into your reducing stock.
Wrap the cut beef in a clean sheet of aluminum foil and place in a 350 degree oven to warm through.
Then, cut your baguettes into 6-8 inch long slices. Butterfly the cut pieces so that the bread opens up, but is not fully separated. Spread some butter onto the cut bread and place in the oven to toast-up lightly.
When ready to assemble, place some cut beef onto the toasted bread, top with caramelized onions and cheese. You may want to place the assembled sandwiches into the oven for a few minutes to help melt the cheese. Serve with a small dipping bowl of the reduced stock and some French fries.
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Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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