Beef French Dip Sandwich
Chapter 4: Beyond the Steak
This is for the Tuesday night when you deserve the uncompromising luxury of a white-tablecloth steakhouse, but want to eat it with your hands. An unapologetic cathedral of USDA Prime beef, bone marrow, and butter, it takes a humble Los Angeles deli invention and subjects it to rigorous steakhouse methodology. Pour yourself a relentlessly cold martini, slice the dry-brined ribeye paper-thin, and prepare for absolute, unadulterated decadence.
Before you start
Dry-brine the prime rib.
Pat the ribeye completely dry, rub aggressively with kosher salt on all sides, and leave uncovered on a wire rack in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
Bring meat to room temperature.
Remove the roast from the fridge two hours before cooking to take off the chill, then rub generously with the coarse black pepper.
Ingredients
- USDA Prime boneless ribeye roast3 lb
- kosher salt2 tbsp
- coarse black pepper1 tbsp
- wagyu beef tallow1 tbsp
- canoe-cut beef marrow bones2 lb
- shallot1 large
- garlic4 small clove
- dry red wine1 cup
- high-quality beef bone broth4 cup
- Worcestershire sauce1 tbsp
- fresh thyme2 sprig
- fresh rosemary1 sprig
- unsalted butter4 tbsp
- crusty French rolls4 large
- Gruyere cheese8 thick slices
- clarified butter2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Roast the marrow bones.
Preheat the oven to 450°F, roast the bones on a foil-lined baking sheet for 20 minutes until bubbling, then scoop out the marrow, reserving half for the butter and half for the jus.
- 02
Sear the ribeye.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until smoking, add the beef tallow, and sear the pepper-rubbed roast until a deeply browned, mahogany crust forms on all sides.
- 03
Slow-roast the beef to a perfect medium-rare.
Transfer the roast to a 250°F oven, insert a probe thermometer into the dead center, and pull it from the heat at exactly 125°F.
- 04
Rest the meat.
Tent the beef loosely with foil and let it rest on a cutting board for at least 45 minutes so carryover cooking hits the 130°F target without spilling its juices.
- 05
Build the bone marrow jus.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the shallot and smashed garlic in a spoonful of rendered marrow fat, deglaze with the red wine, and reduce by half.
- 06
Fortify the broth.
Pour in the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, and half the roasted marrow, simmering for 30 minutes before straining through a fine-mesh sieve.
- 07
Prepare the bone marrow butter.
Vigorously mash the softened butter, grated garlic, and remaining bone marrow, slather the interior of the rolls, and toast them face-down in a hot cast-iron skillet.
- 08
Slice the beef.
Using your sharpest carving knife, slice the rested prime rib against the grain as thinly as humanly possible.
- 09
Execute the Luger-style broiler finish.
Warm the sliced beef with a quick 15-second plunge into the simmering jus, pile it onto the toasted rolls, drape with Gruyere, brush with melted clarified butter, and broil until furiously bubbling.
Notes
The mandatory martini.
Begin cooking with a 4:1 classic dry martini in hand: 2.5 oz London Dry Gin to 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth. Stir 30 seconds over dense ice, strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with exactly one or three Castelvetrano olives. An even number is grounds for sending it back.
Do not skip the à la carte sides.
Serve this unapologetically rich sandwich alongside heavy creamed spinach seasoned with fresh nutmeg, and cast-iron hash browns fried in beef tallow. Do not attempt to lighten the sides.
The grades of beef matter here.
Spring for USDA Prime; the melting intramuscular fat is essential for recreating the legendary steakhouse mouthfeel, whereas Choice or Select will simply taste like a Tuesday deli lunch.