I
hope that you and yours had a very Hoppy Easter weekend! Sorry, I
couldn’t help myself – it just slipped out. The Kegley clan all gathered
at our homebase in the urban capital of Carlisle, Ar for a fabulous
Easter; we even captured The Texan and amazed him with the idea of small
town living. Being that our family is very blessed and tends to be very
hungry, our Easter meal consisted of big, gorgeous dry-seasoned aged
steaks with all of the fixings to go with them, especially the mandatory
post-lunch comatose nap – can’t skip that. And in the spirit of April
Fools, here is a picture of Pappa Kegs (and Grand-Pappa Kegs), who has fallen asleep for the comatose nap and is now
wearing red heels…
Now
that you’ve gotten to experience that fabulous picture, back to the
food. Our gorgeous Easter steaks were wonderful but gigantic, so I ended
up taking leftovers home. On the long trek back home, The Texan
mentioned that steak sandwiches sounded like a great future for the
leftovers (here's another great steak leftover recipe). Not just any steak sandwiches, steak sandwiches on his mom’s
bread. The Texan’s mom is well known for making a potato sourdough
bread, which I’m currently trying my hand at it. Now, I’ll let you in
on a little secret – I’m not doing so well at it. While it still tastes
good, my bread lacks the fluffy, light quality that hers achieves so
well. But don’t worry, I’m not giving up and my dense loaves will
someday be glorious, light, and puffy like The Texan’s fabulous mother’s
loaves. Fortunately, he brought two of her loaves back from his recent
trip home, so we are still enjoying them every chance we get.
Last
night, as grumblings of dinner started arising, I already had the
perfect sandwich built in my mind. Very tangy, hearty, and with a
multitude of rich flavors. Fear not ladies and gentleman, this sandwich
is everything I’d imagined and you’ve been looking for in a steak
sandwich. My only major regret was not having more steak, so that I
could make more sandwiches! This sandwich is a scrumptious, very easy
meal that could definitely rival the best gourmet café. Best of all? It
is filled with lots of great ingredients, choke full of protein, and
tastes like it should be very unhealthy – but it isn’t!
One
last thing before we get down to business with the recipe, I’m excited
to announce that One Hungry Hog is partnering with Chenal Restoration
DKI NWA for a weekly blog post! This means, that recipes will come to
you more frequently and provide all of Chenal Restoration’s wonderful
affiliates with a great outlet for new recipe ideas. Chenal Restoration
and One Hungry Hog have a long history together, some of the recipes on
this blog are catered for Chenal Restoration events, and the owner just
happens to be Pappa Kegs – my ultimate food critic. For more information
about the great work that Chenal Restoration does, feel free to visit
their website www.chenalrestoration.com or find them on Facebook at Chenal Restoration DKI - NWA.
So, if this is
the first time you’ve been to One Hungry Hog – welcome! There are a
multitude of great recipes that your whole family is sure to enjoy, just
don’t strictly judge their merit on the pictures (I’ve got a long way
to go in the food photography department :) )! A little about the
structure of the blog: each post will have a notes section which houses
substitution options or other things I think you might want to know,
each post also contains the recipe (duh), and the other pages of the
blog specify the type of butter, flour, etc. that I use in all of my
recipes and let you get to know a little more about me! Feel free to
contact me with any suggestions, requests, or questions – I’m always
happy to hear your thoughts/ideas! If this isn’t your first time at One
Hungry Hog, let me take a moment to say thank you to all the wonderful
people who frequent this blog and give me a great excuse to keep
cooking!
Without further ado…
Notes:
- I used approximately 1 ½ c. of sliced steak for my sandwiches. If you don’t have that much steak leftover, increase the amount of mushrooms to compensate.
- As mentioned, I used homemade bread but any hearty bread that can stand up to grilling will be great. I would suggest an Italian loaf, ciabatta, or something of that nature; light bread may give to the weight of the sandwich.
- I used a shredded gruyere and shredded colby jack blend, because that is all I had on hand. Swiss or American would be great on this sandwich too!
- For the Aiolis, make sure to use your best judgment on your preferences for the amounts, my amounts are simply a suggestion. For example, if you use the 1 T. of prepared horseradish, the aioli will be very bold and hot. If that doesn’t fit your tastes, start with 1 t. of prepared horseradish and work your way up from there. Also, if you don’t have greek yogurt you can use mayonnaise.
- Let’s discuss horseradish for a second, the horseradish you need here is specifically called prepared horseradish and it is the hottest version of horseradish generally sold. It should be in the refrigerated section of your grocery store; if it isn’t refrigerated, you haven’t found the right stuff yet.
- I suggest that you use a George Foreman grill or Panini press if you have one; if you don’t, feel free to use a skillet, think grilled cheese making.
(Makes 3 – 4 sandwiches, depending on size)
Leftover steak, thinly sliced
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 T. olive oil
½ c. red wine
Salt & Pepper
1/2 – 1 c. spinach, fresh
Bread, sliced to make enough for your sandwiches
Favorite cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
Horseradish Aioli:
1/3 c. plain greek yogurt
1 T. prepared horseradish (vary to taste)
Tri-Mustard Aioli:
1/3 c. plain greek yogurt
2 t. whole grain mustard
2 t. regular mustard
1 t. Dijon mustard
Heat
the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the
onions to the pan and saute them for 2 minutes, until they are soft and
starting to brown. Add the mushrooms to the pan, season with salt and
pepper (generously), and continue to sauté until the mushrooms have
begun to brown. Pour the red wine into the skillet and be sure to
deglaze the pan (scrape up any brown bits on the bottom). Turn the heat
down to medium and continue to sauté the ingredients until the red wine
has completely reduced and there is no excess liquid in the pan (~10
minutes), stirring occasionally.
While
you are waiting for the red wine to reduce, preheat a George Foreman
grill. Once preheated, lay all of the steak slices onto the grill and
close it for a quick reheat (~1-2 minutes, depending on the thickness).
Once they are warm, remove them from the grill.
Next,
prepare the aiolis. For both of the aiolis, simply place the yogurt
into a bowl, add the additional ingredients, and mix well (how easy is
that?! / see below for a reference picture). Lay all of the bread slices out on a flat surface, butter the
outsides of the bread for better browning. One the insides of the bread,
liberally apply the Horseradish Aioli to half of the bread slices and
the Tri-Mustard Aioli to the other half of the bread slices
Place
the cheese on the Horseradish slices and lay them (butter side down) on
a George Foreman grill, so that the cheese will begin to melt, do not
close the grill. Once the cheese shows signs of beginning to melt,
divide the mushroom / onion mix between the three pieces of bread on the
grill. Cover this mixture with your reheated steak, followed by a
healthy portion of spinach for each sandwich, and then the top slice of
bread (butter side up). Close the George Forman for 1 -2 minutes, until
there are grill marks on the top and the cheese is nicely melted.
Cut in half and enjoy!
Here are what your aiolis should look like...
Pappa Kegs clearly didn't enjoy his at all...
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