Who better to recreate the iconic Italian beef sandwich than Chicago-born chef Jeff Mauro, who first rose to Food Network fame as the sandwich king?
The sandwich has risen in popularity recently thanks to fictional chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White on the FX show "The Bear." The gourmet version Berzatto plated up at his family's Chicago sandwich shop on the show had foodies drooling, and fans were quick to recreate their own versions of the dish -- thinly sliced seasoned roast beef that's simmered and served au jus on a French roll -- at home.
Mauro joined "Good Morning America" Thursday to lend his expertise on the latest hit food trend and shared his own recipe below.
"I grew up making this sandwich and by all the beef stands," Mauro said. "What I'm going to show you is how to replicate [thin cut] without a meat slicer at home."
He suggests getting an affordable chuck roast and searing then braising for up to four hours to make it juicy, tender and "fork-pullable" to mimic the Chicago-famous sandwich.
"When you walk into a Chicago beef stand you do gotta have the vernacular down," Mauro said for anyone ordering the sandwich in real life. "Beef, sweet, hot, dipped" which translates to a beef sandwich with sweet and hot peppers with the roll dipped in au jus.
Ingredients
For the pot roast:
1 boneless beef chuck eye roast (about 3 1/2 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
5 cups beef stock (or enough to submerge the roast about 75%)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Sweet peppers:
4 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Additional sandwich components:
6 soft hinged French rolls, preferably from Turano or Gonnella Bakeries
Oil-packed hot giardiniera
Directions
For the pot roast: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300 F.
Liberally sprinkle the entire roast with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the roast on all sides until golden and caramelized; reduce the heat if the fat begins to smoke. Transfer the roast to a plate and reduce the heat to medium. Add in the onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and saute until fragrant, another minute. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze with the red wine and cook until reduced by half. Add in the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer. Adjust the seasoning of the jus. Place the roast back into the pot with any accumulated juices and place in the oven. Cook the roast, turning every 30 minutes, until very tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Increase the oven heat to 350 F.
Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil. Strain the jus through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and return back to the pot. Bring to a simmer and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Once cooled a bit, pull the meat into smaller chunks, return to the reduced jus and reserve until ready to build the sandwiches.
For the sweet peppers: Toss the pepper strips with the olive oil, granulated garlic and some salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Bake, stirring halfway through, until lighter in color and soft, about 20 minutes.
For the sandwich build: Place some beef on a roll, then some sweet peppers (with some of the oil it was cooked in) and then some hot giardiniera. Pour a small dish of reduced jus. Take the whole sandwich and quickly dunk in hot jus and wrap in deli paper and wait for at least 2-3 minutes while the magic happens. Open up and eat!
Recipe courtesy of Jeff Mauro.