Serious Eats did an article about Shooter Sandwiches, in which they used the best ingredients, the best prep to make the most of the ingredients, and lovingly created a gorgeous sandwich, which they determined was not worth the effort. Basically they believe the secret to a great sandwich is that it becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Bacon? Good. Mayo? Good. Tomato? Good. BLT – great. But of course I tuned out immediately after reading the word “effort”, and decided that I have to try it. Because, well you know me by now. Plus I like steak. Instead of my usual 16,000 word essay on every slice and step, I’ll try to keep it short today so I can maybe throw a Halloween post up before the weekend is over.
First you bake a loaf of bread – I used Jim Lahey’s no-knead recipe from the New York Times, since I had to start with a boule shape. I used AP flour instead of bread flour, which was a good move:
The next weekend I made two loaves with the two types of flour just out of curiosity. Because that’s what I do on the weekends. Because I’m weird like that. You can see that the AP flour (right) makes a much prettier loaf.
It kills me to destroy such a beautiful bread. I made this bread! Now I have to gut it, by slicing off the top and scooping out the insides. (Which I then eat, literally by the handful.)
Gawd, that’s some beautiful bread.
I cook some strip steaks to medium rare, and saute mushrooms and shallots in butter with a splash of balsamic vinegar until they’re soft and almost like a paste.
First you spread delicious meat juices around the bottom of the bread bowl.
Then a layer of mushrooms and shallots, then Dijon mustard.
Then tuck the steaks in. When I trimmed the excess fat, they got a little smaller than I’d hoped, but you get the gist.
Sorry. It looks gross. I assure you it was not. As previously mentioned, I am a terrible photographer.
More mushrooms, more shallots, and a heaping tablespoon of horseradish goes over everything. Put the lid back on the bread.
This is fun and weird – wrap the whole thing in foil – twice. Then you put a bunch of heavy stuff on it and let it squoosh until it gets as flat as it can. You’re supposed to leave it overnight, but I just let it sit for around six hours so that I could eat it.
Cut into slices and enjoy.
Meh. Serious Eats was right. It’s fine. It’s okay. But I’d rather eat a steak and a loaf of bread. Nothin’ special, despite all the effort.
So – not my best post, but I’m getting lazy about blogging and want to keep putting stuff on here, lest I abandon it completely. Difficult recipe, lots of time and effort, with a so-so product at the end. My kind of cooking! The fellows at work enjoyed it the next day, even if Mr. Dishes and I were not so enthusiastic.
illdothedisheslater 