French Dip Sandwiches
Tender beef on a toasted roll dipped in rich beef, mushroom and onion jus together make this, not French but American, favorite sandwich. The recipe is simple and the results are amazing.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 8 ounce package button or cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 large onion halved and sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 15-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons browning sauce
- 3-5 pounds beef roast bottom round pictured here
- 1-2 tablespoons steak seasoning
- 1 teaspoon granulated instant coffee or espresso powder
- French rolls hard rolls, or bread of choice
- cheese, shredded or sliced optional
- Horseradish mustard optional
Instructions
- Place one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. When butter has melted, add onions and mushrooms and toss to coat vegetables with butter/oil.
- Saute until caramelized and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic, thyme, and crushed red pepper. After a minute or two, stir in beef broth, water and browning sauce. Bring broth mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.
- Combine the steak seasoning (or salt/pepper/granulated garlic combination) and the coffee/espresso powder and rub on all sides of the roast.
- Preheat oven to 300°.
- In another dutch oven, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
- When hot, place the roast in the butter/oil to brown. The butter and oil should be hot enough to sizzle when the roast is added. Do not move roast for 2-3 minutes. Flip roast over and repeat until both sides are nicely browned. Remove from heat and slowly pour broth mixture over roast.
- Cover and transfer to oven. Bake for 3 hours (2 1/2 if using a smaller roast).
- Remove from oven and transfer meat to a plate or tray. Allow meat to rest and jus to cool.
- After about 5-10 minutes, the fats will separate from the broth and the majority of the fat can be skimmed off the top.
- Slice the meat, against the grain, as thin as possible or as you like. Return the sliced meat to the broth.
- Serve with warm rolls and a side of jus!
Notes
1) Browning sauce can typically be found with other condiments like ketchup, mustard, and Worchestershire Sauce.
2) If you don't have a favorite "steak seasoning", you can substitute 1 tablespoon salt + 1/2 tablespoon black pepper + 1/2 tablespoon granulated garlic.
3) If you don't have instant coffee or espresso, substitute a cup of brewed coffee for one of the two cups of water earlier in the recipe.
4) The bottom round roast used here was about 5 inches thick. I cut it in half lengthwise to allow the broth to flavor the meat more easily and make the resulting slices easier to fit on the rolls.