Da Best Chicago Style Italian Beef Food

CHICAGO ITALIAN BEEF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut bread two-thirds of the way through. Toast bread in oven until crispy on outside.
• Drop sliced Roast into simmering Beef Juice. Jam beef in baguette. Dip sammich in beef juice pot.
• Drop Sweet Peppers into Beef Juice to get hot and wet.
• Add Giardiniera to sammich. Drape peppers across the beef.
• Serve with more Beef Juice on the side.
• Mix together the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and onion and oregano in a bowl until combined.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cover roast with spice mix (you will have some spice mix left over). Drizzle olive oil over top of roast. Place roast on a rack with water in the bottom of the pan (don't let the water touch the meat). Roast until the internal temperature registers 118 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour. Let roast cool. Reserve the juice.
• Thin-slice roast, as thin as you can. Can't slice thin? You are screwed. Or you can buy your chef friend a six-pack and she will do it for you. Save beef scraps!
• Portion roast slices into 5- to 7-ounce balls.
• Pour all the extra juice and beef scraps in a pot. If there's not enough juice, add some beef base and some water. Taste. Make sure it's not too salty. Simmer for 1 hour, strain and put juice back on to simmer.
• Split pepper in half, then clean white membrane out of it. Cut halves into thirds.
• Heat saute pan on high heat. Once hot, add olive oil. Drop in peppers skin-side down. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Let pepper blister and char, then flip peppers and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn heat off and let peppers rest.
• Put the vinegar, salt, garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper, black pepper and 2 cups cold water into a 4-quart container and stir until the salt has dissolved.
• Cut carrots, celery, onions, green peppers and red peppers into 1/3-inch uniform dice.
• Thinly slice jalapenos and serrano (approximately 1/8-inch thick).
• Place cut veggies into brine and stir well until all ingredients are combined.
• Cover and refrigerate for 2 days. Stir in olive oil.

" DA BEST" CHICAGO-STYLE ITALIAN BEEF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Sprinkle the roast with garlic powder, oregano and pepper, then cook roast, uncovered, in a shallow roasting pan, about 30 minutes per pound.
• Roast will be very rare-- don't overcook it!
• Let cool slightly, then thinly slice.
• Add to the roast's pan drippings: the boiling water, bouillon cubes, oregano, thyme, pepper, Tabasco sauce, garlic and Worcestershire sauce.
• Simmer for 20 minutes, scraping up the browned bits.
• Taste for salt and add some if you wish.
• Add the sliced beef; cover and marinate in da gravy overnight.
• Reheat the next day and serve in crusty Italian sandwich rolls.

CHICAGO-STYLE ITALIAN BEEF SANDWICH

Steps:

• For the pot roast: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F.
• Liberally sprinkle the entire roast with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the roast on all sides until golden and caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes per side; reduce the heat if the fat begins to smoke. Transfer the roast to a plate and reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the onions and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and garlic and saute until fragrant, another minute. Deglaze with the red wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer until reduced by about half, another 2 to 5 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer. Adjust the seasoning of the liquid.
• Put the roast back in the pot with any accumulated juices and place in the oven, covered. Cook the roast, turning every 30 minutes and uncovering the pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking, until very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F for the peppers and bread.
• For the sweet peppers: Toss the pepper strips with the olive oil, granulated garlic and some salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Bake, stirring halfway through, until lighter in color and softened, about 45 minutes.
• Strain the pot roast jus through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl and return to the pot. Bring to a simmer and simmer until reduced slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Keep warm.
• Once the meat has cooled a bit, remove the twine. Pull the meat into smaller chunks and return to the reduced jus until ready to build the sandwiches.
• For the sandwich build: Rub the rolls with some of the giardiniera oil and toast in the oven until golden brown and crispy, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Place some beef on a roll, then some sweet peppers (with some of the oil they were cooked in), followed by some hot giardiniera. Pour a small dish of reduced jus. Quickly dunk the whole sandwich in the hot jus, then wrap in deli paper or parchment paper and wait for 2 to 3 minutes while the magic happens. Repeat with the remaining rolls and toppings. When ready, open up and eat!

REAL CHICAGO-STYLE ITALIAN BEEF I

Steps:

• Make a spice rub by combining 1 teaspoon each of dried basil,dried oregano,garlic powder,ground pepper,salt,red pepper flakes.
• Rub HALF of the spice rub over and around the roast, Press the mixture into the meat as much as possible. Place the meat in a roasting pan. Add about 1 cup water to the pan.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
• Roast the beef for 35 minutes, Now reduce the temperature to 400 degrees F., and roast for 40 minutes.
• DO NOT TURN OFF THE OVEN, Remove the pan from the oven and pour 1 1/2 cups cold water into the pan, Let Stand for 15-20 minutes.
• Add remaining seasoning mixture to the pan juices and water. Return meat to the oven and roast until meat thermometer reaches (160 degrees very important to reach this temp) about 50 minutes but use the thermometer to make sure.
• When temp is reached remove pan and allow the roast to cool slightly befroe slicing. Slice almost paper thin (the right thiness is critical to ensure a good chew, But without being tough).
• Transfer the juices to a sauce pan and keep it warm over low heat.
• Immerse the sliced beef into the warm gravy.
• To serve, scoop some of the beef out of the gravy using a fork, Load it onto a Gonnella french bread roll. Garnish with hot or sweet peppers and serve.
• TIP: One of the secrets of Chicago Italian Beef restaurants is that they add garlic juice to the pan juices during the final roasting.
• TIP 2: The beef served at these restaurants are not undercooked, infact most roast the beef until it is medium well which shows very little redness.