I consider myself a bit of a magician with leftovers. I like to think I've perfected the art of taking a few excess chunks of meat, some seemingly undesirable veggies and turning them into an unforgettable breakfast burrito or "sammich" (I don't consider myself a sandwich architect for nothing). Readers stateside will be familiar with the annual Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, but the opportunity for such a marvelous mix of ingredients shouldn't be reserved for a post-holiday lunch once a year. Below, you'll find a random leftover-filled sammich for the history books. It was pretty easy to make. It was also delicious, and now my mouth is watering again, thanks a lot.
I'll start you off with the finished product so you know the time and effort that goes into all this is worth it. Just look at the semi-melt of the cheese over the steak and under the mushrooms. I mean...damn!
I started with a leftover steak and portobello mushrooms. I think I purposely undercooked the steak the night before, knowing I'd turn it into a sandwich the next day. You can still do this with a fully cooked steak, you'll just want to take it off the heat a bit sooner than I did (or not re-heat it, just slice it).
I use peanut oil most of the time because it doesn't burn as quickly as olive oil and I wanted the steak and shrooms to spend more time caramelizing instead of burning or crisping. I don't see them in this pic, but I'm sure I minced a bit of shallots and sauteed those for a second before tossing the steak and shrooms in. There's also a bit of chopped garlic in there as well as one or two whole cloves that I tossed in with the intention of snacking on them while constructing the sammich (my girlfriend loves this).
I probably started cooking on med-high, to give it a bit of an exterior sear (on top of the previous evening's sear) then I drop the heat down and go with the "slow & low" method. The mushrooms love to hang out in the juices from the steak and they cook and caramalize nicely using the slow & low technique. I also tossed a sprig of rosemary in the pan as well because, 1. I love rosemary & 2. it just looks fancy, don't it?
Once it's sliced, you can see I COMPLETELY NAILED the cooking time. I don't always nail it like this, but DAMN this is perfect!
Now it's onto prepping the sandwich itself.
Dave's Killer Bread (green label): check.
Best Foods Olive Oil Mayo: check.
Tillamook Cheddar Cheese: chiggedy-check!
Once it's splayed across the prepped bread...it looks majestic. Is it calling to you yet?
"Hey there. Got plans for lunch?" - This sammich
Slap the cheddar on top of the warm steak... strategically place the mushrooms on top of the cheddar and SEAL THAT BADBOY UP!
*Don't forget, slice your sandwiches diagonally because we're not cave people.
I'll leave you with this image of the final cross-section once more...now go eat, you know you're hungry.
Side note:
The original steak was marinated with a splash of soy, some worsterschire sauce, salt, pepper (white and black) and probably a spring smidge of an herb "rub".
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