An Awesome Steak Sandwich from the Woodfired Oven

Some dishes are barely recipes they are so simple and this is one of them – take some great steak and cook it well, rest it, slice it, serve it in some great bread and you have an awesome steak sandwich. That’s all there is to it – if only that were true. Steak seems to be one of those things that cause so many problems to so many people. There are a few rules to follow which will help you on your steak crusade –

• Buy Good Steak – we don’t have steak very often but when we do we want it to be memorable so we’ll go to our butchers in Dartmouth or get it online from butcher’s such as Piper’s Farm or Turner & George.
• Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
• Season it before cooking.
• Make sure your pan or grill is hot before you start cooking.
• Don’t overcook  your steak – work out how long it will take and trust the process. We use the press test – commonly used by chefs – and then you literally get a feel for how done it is.
• Make sure to rest your steak in a warm place before cutting into it – we’ll leave it for at least 5 minutes. Not resting it means the juices will run out and you’ll be left with a steak that’s grey and dry; resting it means it will be full of colour and super juicy.

In the steak sandwich, David is using bavette steak -also known as flank or skirt. It’s from the side of the animal as the name suggests and has done a lot of work so is full of flavour but can be tough if overcooked and chewy if you cut with the grain not across it. High heat cooking, a good rest – for the steak, not you – and slicing across the grain gives you a fully flavoured, juicy steak that’s got a good texture but not leaving you with a mouthful of meaty strands that you can’t swallow.

Here’s how David made our awesome steak sandwich and don’t forget to watch it here on our Youtube Channel –

Ingredients – for two

2 good bread rolls – we used ciabatta ones but whatever you like

1 x 250g piece bavette steak

Olive oil and 50g butter, cubed

Few sprigs fresh rosemary

Salt & pepper

1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges

Small handful of salad leaves – enough for both rolls

2tbsp mayo mixed with 1-2 tsp grain mustard, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Another 50g butter mashed with 1tsp finely grated lemon zest, 1tbsp chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Oven State, equipment etc

2-3 Mississippi with a good bed of embers

1 sturdy cast iron or steel frying pan

Method

• The day before cooking your steak, mash the 50g butter with the lemon zest, parsley and black pepper. Roll this mixture into a cylinder and wrap it in clingfilm or greaseproof paper. Put it in the freezer to freeze solidly – we put it in the door section so as not to lose it.
• The next day when you’re ready to cook, bring the steak to room temperature and dry it well on thick kitchen paper.
• Heat the pan on the embers.
• Lightly oil the steak and season well with salt and pepper.
• When the pan is hot, add the steak and cook for 1 minute on each side with the pan on the embers.
• Add the cubed butter and rosemary sprigs to the pan and put it back in the oven but away from the embers – you now want to roast the steak for 3-4 minutes, not grill it. As it’s cooking, baste with the rosemary flavoured butter from time to time.
• When the steak is done to your liking, take it out of the pan and let it rest on a plate in a warm place for 5 minutes. Slice the frozen butter and put a few slices on top of the hot steak to melt.
  

  Resting steak with flavoured butter

• While the steak is resting, cook the onion pieces in the hot pan with the oily butter mixture. Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes over the embers until they are charring slightly and starting to wilt. Spoon them on to another piece of thick kitchen paper to so they aren’t too oily when they go in the sandwich.
  

  Cooked onions draining on kitchen paper

• Split the rolls, generously spread the bottom half with your mustardy mayo and add the salad leaves.
• When the steak is well rested, pour any juices on to the bread – cut side – and then slice the steak across the grain into thin slices with a sharp knife.
  

  Slice across the grain

• Pile the steak on top of the salad leaves and add the cooked onions on top.
• Add the top part of the roll and press down so you can hold it without the filling falling out.
• Serve at once and enjoy

Alternatives

• We use bavette steak because we just love it for reminding us of all those steak frites in fantastic French bistros. However use whichever steak you like – rump, hanger, sirloin – all of these are delicious.
• Coleslaw is good instead of salad leaves but not too mayonnaisy.
• Add some herbs into the salad leaf mix – parsley, chervil, chives, basil, coriander – whatever you like to spruce it up a bit.
• Use whichever bread rolls you like – but a good ratio of crumb is essential for soaking up all the steaky juices.

 

 

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