French dip salt beef sandwich

As you may have noticed through many a previous post, I am a little bit of a fan of salt beef and pastrami, so when LoveSaltBeef asked me if I thought a variation on the classic French dip sandwich would work, there was only one thing for it: to the butchers!

Essentially a French dip sandwich comprises roast beef, with the bread dipped into a thin but delicious stock or gravy. The difference I took at this point is that instead of a plain stock I felt that the salted meat needed a bit of contrast in the form of mustard heat and a little hint of vinegar sourness.

While I won't go into the creation of salt beef this time (my recipes for which can be found here and here) I will instead show you my take on the gravy and construction of the sandwich.

This recipe makes two hearty sandwiches.

The gravy

1 medium onion
1/2 stick celery
Olive oil for frying
2 large teaspoons mustard (to taste - I used a wholegrain variety with chilli)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Half a pint of good quality beef stock

Fry off the onion and celery until they become limp on a low heat, then turn the heat up and add the mustard. Fry for about 30 seconds, or until the mustard burns the top of your nose, at which point add the vinegar and cook off some of the intensity, again for around another 30 seconds.

To this pungent blend add the stock and bring to a simmer for around 10 minutes. This will allow the vegetables to finish softening and will reduce the mixture slightly. During this time, slice the meat into thick juicy slices and add to the gravy for the last minute or so, with the heat turned low.

As the meat is slowly warming in the gravy, prep the bread. For this I used soft white breadcakes. This is where personal choice comes in, with the amount of liquid you want on your sandwich. Starting with a little dip of just the lid of the sandwich (my wife's choice) to the whole ensemble being served in a Turkish bath of steaming hot meat gravy. Or simply grab the full meaty arrangement in some tongs and plunge it into the pan of meat juices and serve.

As a Yorkshireman this combination of bread and gravy is perfection, normally reserved for the last wonderful moments on a Sunday roast, but which can now be appreciated in full blown sandwich form.

Enjoy,

Jim

Sunday Lunch: Duck Legs and Roast Potatoes

Sunday for me is the best day for food - having all weekend to think about what you're going to cook and the time to actually prepare it is a luxury that I try to commit to. This week, we had roast duck legs with roast potatoes and a mixed leaf and orange salad.

Often our meat comes from reduced sections of supermarkets, mainly Waitrose (which is on the walk home from work). As long as you use the meat relatively quickly or go straight to the freezer with it, it is always tip top. On this occasion we happened upon some roast Gressingham duck legs that were about half the price.

Starting the chopped potatoes first from raw, with finely chopped fresh oregano, rosemary, thyme, chilli, garlic, olive oil and salt and roast for between forty minutes and an hour. 

Whilst the duck was already cooked, we re-roasted it so that it was properly warm with a glaze of orange juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil for 20 minutes.

We served with runner beans and a mixed leaf salad, with segmented orange and a similar dressing to the glaze initially added to the duck.

The end result looked like the photo to the right.

Below is a Vine post of the method, I apologise for the jumpiness and for my voice, I will work on it for the future.


And here is Laura's dessert offering - home-made apple and blackberry crumble, with the fruit all coming from our own allotment. Turned out pretty well considering the oven was on the grill setting!

With food we drank a glass of Blandford Flyer, a sweet fragrant brew from Badger Brewery and one of my favourite bottled beers ever, but a nice glass of Pinot Noir would also complete the deal.

Slainte

Jim