The ultimate steak sandwich

I have a love/hate relationship with leftovers. On one hand, they mean a night off from cooking, but on the other, they mean I have to have the same thing twice in one week. So often I try to make dishes where the leftovers can be given a makeover. This sandwich is a perfect example.

On Saturday night, I made surf and turf for dinner. We grilled one shell steak and steamed one lobster. I served them with a simple pasta with fresh tomato basil sauce. We had some of each leftover. Finding myself home alone tonight, I decided to use up the steak. I'd bought a nice crusty roll that I hadn't used so that and the steak inspired my ultimate steak sandwich.



In my opinion, sandwiches are rarely memorable and are typically unworthy of the title ultimate. But some sandwiches make the grade. Of note are the Chicken Madness from Wisemiller's in Georgetown, the fish sandwich from Linda Jean's on Martha's Vineyard, and the first muffaletta I ever ate in New Orleans. That's about it. I add this one to the list because it was just too good not to. The steak had been cooked medium rare so it stayed tender and juicy - go ahead and use leftover steak or make fresh for these sandwiches. The other thing that made it good was the ingredients - I fire roasted my red peppers and I used Divina Organic olive tapenade (I found it at Whole Foods). I also love the store-brand olive tapenade from Trader Joe's, but use your favorite.

Have other ultimate sandwiches? Leave a comment and let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas for lunch and quick suppers! I only made one, but the recipe can easily be multiplied for two or even a crowd.

Oh - and I cannot neglect my accompaniment. I was overjoyed that the local Scotch Plains Farmer's Market opened so I went a got some fresh veggies and a few other things from my favorite vendors. At the top of the list are the half sours from Pickle-licious (I simply love pickles!). Find them at farmer's markets throughout New Jersey or check out their website to find them near you.

The Ultimate Steak Sandwich

1 crusty Italian bun
A little butter
Garlic powder
4-6 oz. cooked steak
A few slices of fire-roasted red pepper
3 slices provolone cheese (or more, who's counting?)
3 tsp. black olive tapenade
Baby arugula



First, slice the roll lengthwise and spread a little butter on each side. Sprinkle with garlic powder and brown in a toaster oven until just golden.



Remove the bread from the toaster oven and layer the steak and peppers on one side and the cheese on the other. Put it back in the oven until the cheese melts.



Remove from the oven and spread the tapenade on the cheese. Pile the arugula on top of the steak and peppers then put the sandwich together and dig in!

Little Italy Relish: Quick pick-me-up for grilled steak

One of the simplest dinners is grilled steak. It's quick and easy, but with a little extra effort it can seem like an elegant dinner. Paired with a nice side dish, a classic caesar salad, and some good red wine, it was a perfect Saturday night dinner. To add a little more flavor and flare to the meal, I made a fresh batch of Little Italy Relish. It's a no-cook relish that comes together as fast as you can chop the ingredients. Olives, roasted red peppers, and more combine to bring a unique flavor to a simple steak dinner. Served at room temperature, the heat from the steaks brings out even more flavor.

I made more than enough for the two of us. I wanted leftovers! This relish will be great on roast beef sandwiches or even better on a hot steak sandwich with melted provolone on garlic bread. It'd also be delicious as a topping for a salad with grilled chicken. Or simply put a scoop of it on a piece of crusty bread like Jeff did after dinner!



Little Italy Relish
Adapted from Weber Real Grilling

1 roasted red bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium ripe tomato, diced
1/2 cup pitted green olives, diced
1/2 cup pitted black olives, diced (I used Calamata)
1 stalk celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 Tbsp. good quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving. If making a day ahead, refrigerate overnight and let come to room tempterature before serving.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Serve over your favorite cut of grilled steaks.

Last Supper #14: Michelle Bernstein

Miami chef Michelle Bernstein's Last Supper was a lengthy list of delicious foods, so creating a dinner out of them took some restraint. She listed (among other things) oysters, caviar, foie gras, poached lobster, lasagne, steak, asparagus, and about 6 desserts. For those of you who follow my blog, it'll be no surprise I chose lobster. But instead of serving it as a main course, I did it as a first course. For the main course, I did grilled steak with chimichurri and grilled asparagus. Simple but delicious.

The lobster course came from my new favorite cookbook: Bistro Laurent Tourondel. It's Poached Lobster, Tomato Vinaigrette, Pesto, Tomato and Avocado salad. It was delicious. It began by creating a tomato vinaigrette. Cooked tomatoes were pureed and then passed through a sieve to leave nothing but the delicious flavor. A little sherry vinegar added a tart taste that was just enough. The pesto came together in the blender and then Mr. Lobster went into the pot. Jeff cleaned it for me and then all that remained was to assemble the salad. A mixture of tomatoes, avocado and a little redonion were tossed with some sherry vinegar and piled on the plates. I topped it with some arugula and then the chunks of lobster and then the pesto and tomato vinaigrette were drizzled around the whole thing. Delish!

The chimichurri was also from Chef Tourondel. After perusing a number of recipes, I chose his because it included roasted red peppers as well as parsely, cilantro and a healthy dose of fresh garlic. A little crushed red pepper gave it some heat and it went nicley with the gilled flank steak.

The salad was definitely one I'll make again. It'd be a beauftiful first course for a dinner party.

Last Supper #7: Guillaume Brahimi

Born in Paris, Guillaume Brahimi now resides in Australia. For his last supper, he listed oysters, caviar, foie gras, ribeye, and some cheese. Rather than break the bank on oysters, caviar AND Foie gras, I made a simple green salad and served on the side D'Artagnan Foie Gras with black truffles. Talk about rich! Of course, both Jeff and I ended up putting little bits of the truffled Foie Gras on our hot steak. MMMMMMM!

We grilled a ribeye from our favorite local butcher, Barth's, in New Providence, New Jersey. I also skewered a few shrimp and seasoned them with some herbs because the steak looked a little small for the two of us. A few roasted asparagus spears rounded out the meal.

The cheese turned out to be a bit of a treat because I went earlier that day with my Mom to the Greek Store in Kenilworth where I bought a chunk of a firm variety of goat cheese. Delish!

With 33 more Last Suppoer ahead, I'm already thinking I'll be a bit sad when it all ends... :(