Dip Me Frenchie!

I was craving a good brew pub type meal this weekend, and decided to try to replicate my favorite brew pub's french dip sandwich.  I successfully did so and this was unanimously agreed to be one of my best "restaurant" meals so far.  I have made french dips in many ways before, with pot roast, roast beef etc, but this time I decided to try a new approach.  I was watching "Diners, Drive In's and Dives" on the Food Network recently and Guy Fieri was at a diner who was sharing their secret to a perfect Philly Cheese steak sandwich.  They used ultra thin slices of rib eye steak, and of course the reaction from Guy when he ate the sandwich was convincing enough for me to take the plunge and purchase the pricey rib eye for my French Dip this time around.  I must say, that this is the secret to the perfect steak sandwich.  The extra marbling on a rib eye gives it the extra umph that it needs to be tender, melt in your mouth beefy goodness. I also made a batch of oven fries that were truly restaurant worthy.  I'll give you both recipes since this was the perfect combination. The recipe may seem sort of lengthy, but if you prep (slice, smash and season) all of your ingredients before begining, the actually is a pretty quick meal to prepare.  This recipe makes 4 generous sized sandwiches and plenty of fries to accompany.

Ingredients:

3 medium Russet potatoes

1/3 cup Olive Oil

5 Cloves of garlic (Smashed)

Salt

Pepper

1/2 tsp fresh or dried Rosemary

4 6-8 inch pub style sandwich buns
1- 1 1/2 Pounds of boneless Rib eye steak (depending on how meaty you would like your sandwiches)
2-3 teaspoons of Montreal Steak Seasoning
3 Tablespoons of Butter
1 Large sweet yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 Bell pepper (color of your choice), sliced thinly
1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
2 large Shallots, sliced thinly
1 cup of white wine
3 cups of beef stock
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
4 slices of Provolone Cheese

Begin by preheating your oven to 425 degrees.  Also at this point, place your steak in the freezer to let it firm up for ease of slicing.

Rinse and slice your potatoes into large steak fry sized pieces.  Imerse them in water to soak for at least 10 minutes.

Place your 1/3 cup of Olive Oil in a small saucepan along with crushed garlic.  Place on stove over medium heat.  As soon as you hear the garlic sizzle (2 minutes). remove the pan from heat and let sit for 3-4 minutes.  Strain out the garlic chunks and set aside to cool slightly.

Remove your potato "fries" from the water and pat to dry.  Arrange them on a large cookie sheet (with an edge) so that you have a single layer of potatoes.  You want each potato to touch the surface of the pan.  Drizzle with the garlic oil and sprinkle with Salt, pepper and rosemary.

Place in your oven and set the timer for 25 minutes.  When the timer goes off, you will want to take a spatula and carefuuly scrape your fries, turning them over to allow the other side to cook.  Cook for another 20 minutes or until lightly brown and tender when a knife is inserted.

Now, on to your steak sandwiches.  I would start making these right after you put your fries in the oven.  Remove steak from the freezer and trim the outside edges of the fat that may be there.  Don't worry, there is plenty of fat in the rest of the meat, you don't need the extra.  Place your steak on it's side and with a very sharp knife, start slicing the meat as thinly as you possibly can.  You may need to cut your steak into smaller more manageable pieces to accomodate the slicing process.  Once the steak is all sliced, sprinkile the montreal steak seasoning on it, toss to distribute and set aside.

Slice the onion, bell pepper mushroom, and shallot.

One warning here...Do NOT rinse your saute pan at any time during this process.  The caramelization from each step of cooking is an important part of the flavor for the sauce that you will make as the last step of this recipe.

In a medium sized skillet (not Non-Stick), place 1 Tablespoon of the butter over high heat.  Once the butter has melted, add your onions and bell peppers.  Reduce your heat to medium high, and saute until the oinons have started to caramelize.  Remove them from the pan and set aside.

Place another Tablespoon of the butter in your pan, along with the mushrooms.  Season with a little salt and saute them until the mushrooms are tender and slightly browned.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Place the last Tablespoon of butter in your pan, along with the meat and increase the heat to high.  Saute the meat , stiring it frequently, almost stir fry style.  To prevent over cooking and since the meat is so thinly sliced, you will want to remove it from the heat while a little bit of pink remains.  Remember that the meat will continue to cook slightly once removed fromt the heat.  Remove your meat from the pan and set aside.  Preferably in a dish that you can keep on the stove top.  That way the meat will stay warm while you make the sauce.

In the pan that you have used to cook all of the other ingredients, place your shallots and saute for a minute to start softenening them.  Add in your white wine and bring to a boil.  Let the wine to reduce by half before proceeding.  Add the beef stock and garlic powder and bring to a boil.  Let boil for one minute and them remove from heat.  At this point, you will want to taste your sauce.  If it is too strong, add a little bit of water.  If it is too weak, add a little more beef stock, and of course salt and pepper as desired.

Now the assembly begins:  Slice the buns in half the long way, but do not slice them all the way through.  You will want a "hinge" on one side for easier assembly and eating.  Place a quarter of the meat in each bun.  Top with mushrooms, onions and bell peppers.  Lastly, Place a slice of the provolone cheese on top, you may need to break it in half to cover the surface adequately.  Place all 4 sandwiches on a cookie sheet and place under a hot broiler just long enough to melt the cheese.

Cut the sandwiches in half and plate them with a serving of fries and a cup of the sauce and enJoy!