Italian Beef Sandwiches

December is a CRAZY month in my house.

Not only do we have the regular old holiday stuff–we have FOUR birthdays.  Two kids on the 8th and 12th, my husband Kevin on the 23rd, and then, bringing up the hind end, a family friend on the 28th.

I always make Albert a cake and a special dinner on December 28th.

This year, it’s Italian Beef Sandwiches.

I got a great deal on a tri-tip roast when I was buying our Christmas prime rib. I made some broth with the prime rib–um, ribs. And I bought some killer ale rolls from a local brewery/restaurant.

These sandwiches are  EPIC. The roast is cooked rare and then brined all day. You might be a little worried about soaking perfectly good roast beef in pickled pepper juice for six hours, but the flavor–O.M.G.

Just trust me.

So first things first–I braised the roast until it was 140 degrees in the center.

To do that, I seasoned the meat well with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then put it in a big pot and covered it to about 3/4 with that homemade beef broth. (If you don’t have prime rib ribs laying around, that’s okay. Used boxed beef broth.)

I roasted the whole thing uncovered at 400 degrees. I started checking the temperature at 45 minutes. It took an hour and fifteen minutes for my five pound roast to reach 140 degrees.

You can either do this pre-roasting the night before or the morning of your sammy dinner. I did it the morning of–mostly because I forgot to take my roast out of the freezer in time to roast it the night before.

After your roast is at the 140 mark, take it out of the oven and put it on a cutting board. Cover it lightly–I used a clean bar cloth. You don’t want it to steam, so don’t cover tightly with anything that will hold in the heat.

Let it sit for an hour. Meanwhile, pour the left over broth in the pot through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Get rid of the solids in the sieve and save the broth.

Then take out your sharpest knife and slice it as thin as you can manage on the bias. Put the slices in a big lidded container. (This particular roast, being a tri-tip, was thick in the middle and pretty narrow on the ends. I wish I’d left it at 130, instead of going to 140. The middle was perfect, but the ends are a overdone. You want rare or medium rare here.)

Now–open three bottles of these babies.

Pour them in. Peppers, juice, and all.  Add the reserved broth. Your meat should be completely submerged. If it’s not, add more broth.

Then mix in about a cup of dry, Italian bread crumbs.

Give it a little mix, cover the container, and let it all sit and soak for at least six hours. The beef will finish cooking in the pickle-y broth. So good.

Pour the whole thing into a big pot and let it simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.

There are two traditional toppings for an Italian Beef sandwich. One is grilled sweet peppers. The other is spicy pickled vegetables called giardiniera.

To grill the peppers, just cut them into pieces, toss with a little oil and salt and pepper, and add to a hot pan. I used a grill pan, but a large frying pan would work just as well. Cut into slices.

Now just put the sandwich together.

You want a sturdy roll. Slice it most of the way through, pile on the beef and top with peppers and pickled veggies. And, if you’re feeling adventurous, hold the sandwich with tongs and dip the entire thing into the broth in your pot.

I told you that you’ll want a sturdy roll!

Unfortunately, I got excited and took my picture before adding the pickled veggies. But still…look at this sandwich. So. Yum. Serve the little pickled peppers on the side.

And french fries. (Make frozen fries taste better by tossing them in one tablespoon of olive oil per 4 ounces of fries and spicing them up–I used garlic powder, salt, and pepper–before baking as directed.)