Recipe: Red Eye Steak au Jus Sandwich

Yield: 4 servings

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

This recipe combines two classics, red eye gravy and a French dip sandwich, into one addictive dish that’s sure to wake up your tastebuds. As with using wine in your cooking, it’s best to use a coffee here that you enjoy drinking.

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter,  at room temperature
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves
• 4 thick-cut bacon strips
• ½ cup strong black coffee
• ½ tsp light brown sugar
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• 3 cups unsalted beef stock
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1½ lb flank or skirt steak
• 4 6-inch French rolls or hot dog buns,  sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 cup grated gruyere or Swiss cheese

Method

Place butter in a small bowl. Finely chop garlic cloves—use all four if you’re a garlic lover—and smash and stir into butter. Set aside.

In a large, cold skillet or saucepan, arrange bacon in a single layer. Place skillet over medium heat and cook for about 8 to 15 minutes, flipping pieces often to promote even cooking and good rendering of fat. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and ensure you have about 2 to 3 tbsp bacon fat left in your skillet.

Place skillet back over medium heat and stir in coffee, brown sugar and thyme. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly, before adding beef stock. Bring mixture back to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes. An optional addition at this point is to dice up some of the cooked bacon and stir it back into the jus, or save for another use. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired with salt and pepper.

Heat a large cast iron skillet or frying pan over high heat. Generously salt and pepper steak, then sear until it reaches medium rare,  or 130°F on an instant-read thermometer (about 3 minutes each side). Let the steak  rest for 5 minutes.

Preheat broiler, setting the rack in the middle of your oven. Butter inside of each roll with garlic butter and place them open faced on a rimmed baking sheet.

Slice steak into thin strips, as thin as possible, cutting against the grain of the meat. Quickly dip steak strips into broth and divide them evenly among bottom halves of rolls. Sprinkle an even amount of cheese over each pile of steak before placing under broiler. Watching carefully, broil until cheese begins to melt and top bun gets a little toasty around the edges (about 2 minutes). Remove from oven and place top bun over filling.

Ladle red eye jus into small ramekins. Serve alongside warm sandwich.

Chef’s Tip

If your butter is cold and you don’t want to wait for it to soften, grate it on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl. It should be good to use almost right away.