beef sandwich

If this slow cooker french dip sandwich filled with beef, melted cheese, caramelized onions and a beef broth to dip in sounds appealing, you NEED to make these!

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

lb beef round roast (trimmed)

tbsp minced garlic (minced)

rosemary (or 1 tsp dry)

tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry)

tsp kosher salt

tsp black pepper

broth

Worcestershire sauce

peppercorns

bay leaf

onion

olive oil

onions (thinly sliced)

tsp Kosher salt

red bell pepper

green bell pepper

Sargento Reduced Fat Provolone

whole wheat baguettes or rolls (cut into 2 oz pieces)

In a small bowl mix garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub the spice mixture onto all sides of the roast, then place in the slow cooker. Pour the broth into the side of the roast then top with onions.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns and bay leaf to the broth.

Cover and cook on low until the meat flakes apart easily with a fork, about 9 to 12 hours, depending on the size of your roast.

An hour before the meat is done, prepare the onions and peppers.

In a large nonstick skillet heat the oil over medium heat.

Add the onions and salt and cook until golden, stirring often, reducing heat as needed if the onions are burning or browning too quickly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Add 1 tbsp to the pan if it becomes too dry. The onions should turn golden and the flavor should be sweet.

Transfer to a serving bowl, then add the peppers to the skillet and cook stirring often until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the meat from the slow cooker to a cutting board and shred with a fork or slice with a knife.

Strain the broth through a fine sieve then place in a gravy separator to remove any fat. Pour 1/4 cup broth into each small ramekin.

Preheat the oven to broil. Split the bread open and top with 2 ounces of beef. Top with onions, peppers and cheese and broil until the cheese melts. Place on a plate with broth for dipping.

Chicago Italian Beef is made by slowly roasting lean beef on a rack above a pan filled with seasoned beef-based stock. Some folks call it gravy, but in most Chicago Italian households gravy is a term reserved for tomato sauces. Others call it au jus or &quot;juice&quot; for short, although it is often made with bouillon, and that is not technically au jus, which normally refers to natural cooking juices. Let&#039;s just call it juice, OK? It&#039;s what keeps the sandwich nice and moist.

Authentic Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe

beef sirloin

black pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

oregano

basil

red pepper

water

beef bouillon ((yes, bouillon, see the explanation below))

soft, fluffy, high gluten rolls

green bell peppers

spicy hot giardiniera

Prep. If you wish, you can stab the surface of the meat every inch or so and stick slivers of fresh garlic into the meat as does my brother-in-law. If you do this, leave the garlic out of the rub. Otherwise, mix the rub in a bowl. Coat the meat lightly with water to help the rub stick, 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.

Fire up. If you are cooking indoors, put a rack just below the center of the oven and preheat to 225°F. If you are cooking outdoors use a 2-zone setup or a smoker and get it the oven or the indirect side up to about 225°F. 

Cook. Pour the water into a 9 x 13" baking pan and heat it to a boil. 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. Place a rack on top of the pan and place them both on the indirect side of the grill or in the oven indoors. Place the roast on top of the rack above the juice. Roast at 225°F until interior temperature is about 130-140°F for medium rare, about 3 hours (exact time will depend on the cut of meat, its thickness, and how well calibrated your cooker is). This may seem long, but you are cooking over water and that slows things down. 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.

While the meat is roasting (mmmmm, smells sooooo good), 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 2 tablespoons. When they are getting limp and the skins begin to brown, about 15 minutes, they are done. Set aside at room temp.

Prep again. Remove the roast and the juice pan. Take the meat off the rack and remove the rack. 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. My wife remembers that her family would cook the roast and take it to the butcher to slice on his machine. That's a good strategy if you don't have a meat slicer but it may be against your local health codes. 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.

Next, 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. In Chicago beef stands it is rich, but not too concentrated. Then turn the heat to a gentle simmer. Soak the meat in the juice for about 1 minute at a low simmer. That&#039;s all. That warms the meat and makes it very wet. You can&#039;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. If you go to a beef stand and the meat is really curly, they have committed a mortal sin. At Mr. Beef, for example, I watched them take a handful of cooked beef and dump it into the juice every time they took out enough for a sandwich. This also enriches the juice with meat protein and seasoning from the crust.

Serve. Slice the rolls lengthwise but leave them hinged on one side. Or slice a loaf of Italian bread the same way, then cut it widthwise into 10 portions. To assemble the sandwich, start by spooning some juice directly onto the bread. Get it wet. Then lay on the beef generously. Spoon on more juice (don&#039;t burn your hand). Top it with bell pepper and, if you wish, giardiniera. If you want it &quot;wet&quot;, dip the whole shootin&#039; match in juice. Be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand. You can also try one of the following variations of the classic:Da Combo. Most Italian beef joints offer a &quot;combo,&quot; which also has a grilled Italian sausage nestled in with the beef (shown being made at Al&#039;s in a photo at right). These are thick, uncured, coarsely ground pork sausages in natural casings, flavored with fennel, paprika, black pepper, red or green bell peppers, onions, garlic, parsley, and crushed red chili peppers for some heat. Italian sausages are made in your choice of hot, medium, or mild (sometimes called sweet).Da Cheef. Cover it with shredded mozzarella and/or provolone, broil for a few minutes, and you have a &quot;cheesy beef&quot; or &quot;cheef&quot;. Not many stands offer this mutant strain.Wit Gravy. An even rarer and more heretical variant, topped with marinara.Da Soaker. Just dip the bread in the juice and you have the classic laborer&#039;s lunch, a soaker, a.k.a. &quot;sugo pane&quot;, or gravy bread. Sugo pane is also commonly made with marinara sauce.

Smoked Top Sirloin Roast turned into one amazing Italian Beef Sandwich
 
#italianbeefsandwich #chicagoitalianbeefsandwich #howtobbqright
 
Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe
 
I don’t know if there is a sandwich more fitting for the “Super Bowl” than the Chicago Italian Beef. Hailing from the South Side of Chicago, this sandwich has it all:  Piles of thinly sliced, hot beef nestled in a soft bread smothered in tasty “beef juice” topped with sautéed peppers and spicy giardiniera; it just doesn’t get any better.  This is a sandwich worthy of a Championship Trophy! 

For the authentic version of this recipe I turned to my friend Meathead over at https://amazingribs.com/   

Meathead suggests starting with a Top Sirloin Roast in the 3-4 pound range. You can also substitute top round or bottom round roast as well. I would say any lean beef roast will work. Remove as much fat and sinew from the outside of the roast as possible. To season the roast I used salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper. Mix the seasonings together in a bowl, spritz the outer surface of the roast with water and sprinkle on a good dose of the seasoning. The water will help the seasonings stick and release some of the flavor from the herbs.  

To cook the roast I set up my Big Green Egg for indirect cooking running Royal Oak lump for heat and few chunks of hickory for smoke flavor. Use the plate setter in the Egg to create indirect cooking. The temp needs to run at 325 the entire cook. 

The cooking set up is key for Chicago Italian Beef. The roast sits above a pan of simmering beef broth while it cooks. Place a 9x13” baking pan on the cooking grate and add 6 cups of water. Throw in 4 beef bouillon cubes and stir to dissolve. Season the beef juice with a good pinch of the same seasoning used on the outside of the roast. Place a baking rack over the pan and sit the roast on the raised rack.  

For the first stage of cooking the roast needs to hit 125-130 degrees internal for medium rare. Insert a wired probe thermometer - I used my Thermoworks DOT http://bit.ly/ThermoworksDOT into the center of the roast to monitor the temperature. 

Once the roast hits 125-130 degrees, remove it from the pit.  Pour the beef juice into a large container.  Cover both with foil and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours (or overnight) to cool.  

When the roast is completely cool, it’s ready for the next step. Remove any fat that floats to the top of the juice then bring it to a slow simmer. Taste the juice for flavor.  Add more seasoning if necessary. 

Now it’s time to slice the beef. In Chicago they use a meat slicer for thin slices but at home you can use a thin bladed knife. Let the knife do the work and take your time. Like Meathead says you don’t want to press too hard or saw at it because it’ll be too thick.

Also no Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich is complete without peppers.  I sliced 3 sweet bell peppers into 1/4’ slices and sautéed them. 

To assemble the sandwiches first you need a good bread. If you have fresh Italian bread loaves great, but I didn’t, so I went with fresh French Rolls. The bread needs to be firm on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside.  Slice it lengthwise but don’t go all the way through.  

Place a big handful of the sliced beef into the simmering juice and let it hang out for a minute.  Ladle the bread with a big spoon of the juice then pile the hot beef right on top.  Add a few strips of sweet pepper and giardiniera - Meathead has a great recipe for making it yourself http://bit.ly/ARgiardiniera -  Lastly spoon more of the Beef Juice over the top or if you’re like me just dunk the whole sandwich back in the crockpot.  

Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Ingredients:
- 3-4lb Top Sirloin Roast (you can also use Top Round or Bottom Round)
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Granulated Onion
- 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried Sweet Basil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
- 4 Beef Bouillon cubes
- 6 cups Water
- 3 Green Bell Peppers
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Killer Hogs AP Seasoning http://bit.ly/TheAPRub
- 8 French Rolls
- 1 jar Giardiniera (can be store bought or homemade)
 
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Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich

Grilled Beef Banh Mi

Beef

lb. well-marbled tri-tip, sliced against the grain to 1/4-inch thickness

garlic

shallot

dark brown sugar

fish sauce

Mirin

soy sauce

canola oil

Sandwich

Lfrench roll, halved horizontally

Sriracha mayonnaise (**recipe follows)

pickled Vietnamese slaw (**recipe follows)

cilantro sprigs

jalapeños, sliced

You’re going to want to take your time with this recipe. Prep the meat the night before, cook in the morning, and give proper time to cool for a good slice before inhaling the finished product.

tbs Italian Seasoning

tbs fine sea salt

tbs black pepper

cayenne

paprika

teas red chili flakes

lbs beef top round (with fat cap)

tbs bacon fat

yellow onions (chopped)

garlic (each clove peeled and smashed)

red wine

beef stock

bay leaves

hoagie rolls (split and toasted)

drained giardiniera

red bell peppers (sliced 1/4″ strips)

Mix the spices, Italian seasoning through red chili flakes in a bowl. Coat the beef round with the spice mix evenly. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 275.

In a braiser, heat the bacon fat over medium high heat and brown beef on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Add the onions and cook for another 5 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook one minute longer. Finally, add the wine, Worcestershire, beef stock, and bay leaves. Deglaze the pan and transfer to oven to finish cooking.

Cook for 1 hour 30 minutes, uncovered.

Remove meat from cooking liquids and let cool completely. (After a 20 minute cool, I wrap tightly in aluminum foil and cool in fridge for easy slicing).

When the meat is cool, slice into very thin pieces. Reheat the broth and add the beef.

Assemble the sandwich by layering meat, with extra broth, giardiniera and red pepper strips over the toasted rolls. If it’s not messy, you didn’t do it right.

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Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

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Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich

Top 4 beef sandwich recipes from across the web

The most viewed beef sandwich recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

Authentic Chicago Italian Beef Sand...

Grilled Beef Banh Mi

Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich

The most viewed beef sandwich recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine