Let me start by saying the title is a slight untruth as for me, the ultimate steak sandwich is one with venison. However, we have been so hectic recently that we haven’t had the chance to visit our game butcher. This beef sirloin in the sandwich pictured is from Radford’s in Sleights, best butcher we know and their meat is fabulous. If you are ever in North Yorkshire, check them out, well worth the visit.
Dominic and I have experimented with what makes up the ultimate steak sandwich. Different marinades and rubs, different bread, selection of leaves, accompaniments. We now think we have it perfected. Here goes.
Firstly, prepare a rub for the steak. We put about a handful of fresh thyme and about 20 peppercorns in our spice grinder with one clove of garlic. You could use pestle and mortar but frankly we are lazy and have the grinder so… add some oil too to loosen.
Rub this over the steak. We reckon you need about 300g of steak for 2 decent sized sarnies. We generally get one big one and beat it out a little so is about 10mm thick. It gets chopped up into slices anyway. Just use knuckles to press and squidge it a bit thinner, no need for a meat tenderiser. It’s important that the steak has been out of the fridge for a couple of hours so that it is room temperature. Once the rub is on, just leave it.
And so to the onions. I think it’s important to use red onions as they give a better flavour. I use 2 medium sized ones as they cook down so much. Peel and cut in half and then into thin strips or half moons, whatever you prefer. Add a splash of olive oil to a large frying/ sauté pan and bring to heat. Add the onions, stir and coat and then turn the heat down so the onions cook down slowly. When at the stage of darker stickiness add either a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar or about 100ml of red wine. Raise the heat and reduce the liquid so the onions absorb and coat. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of unrefined granulated sugar too. Set aside in a bowl. Don’t chill.
For bread, it was tricky to decide. I prefer oven crisp baguettes, either something very fresh from a bakers, like ficelle or the ones you bake yourself in the oven are acceptable substitute (I’m sure somewhere a bread snob is about to shoot me down in flames, but I like them, so sue me). Dominic prefers the allure of a ciabatta. So you decide! The bread must be oven warm though so refresh in the oven if necessary.
And now for the secret ingredient. We cannot have a steak sarnie without this. It’s impossible. Tesco’s (sorry, I know, the evil empire) Finest range smoked garlic mayonnaise. God it’s good. And a perfect accompaniment to the steak and the onions.
When cooking the steak, well, it depends how you like it. Since throwing off my 25 year mantle of vegetarianism (WHAT was I thinking!!) I have embraced the rarest of meats and love my steak between blue and rare. Dom is a rare man (in many ways) so we work together well on steak sharing. Those with less compatible partners or friends will have to divide the steak before cooking. We cook the steak for 45-50 seconds each side. Resting is important, between two hot dinner plates, one overturned on the other.
Meanwhile assemble the sandwich. Slather the mayo on the bread, add the onions. Have the salad at the ready (rocket leaves only please). Cut the meat against the grain into 5mm thick slices. Arrange on top of the onions. We tried putting the onions on top of the steak but it’s tricky and frankly it makes no difference to the taste. Then add a generous amount of rocket, close the sandwich, stand back and admire. There really are only two acceptable drinks, a large glass of red (a gutsy shiraz or a fruity Italian) or an ice-cold beer. Ahhh!!
The pepperiness of the steak, the sweet and mellow onions, freshness of the rocket, the smoky, richness of the mayo and finally the crisp yet soft texture of the bread. Can it get any better than this?
Sit facing each other to share the joy and eat greedily. Make sure you have a napkin. Smile and sigh.
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