Roast Beef Sandwich 2.20 Help Wanted

“This roast beef is delicious. It’s lean, it’s tender. What’d you get?”

Ingredients:

• ½ banana pepper, thinly sliced

• ⅓ cup red onion, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp of red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp granulated sugar

• 2 slices of sourdough bread (you can use any bread to your liking, though if you’re using sandwich bread, you’ll probably only need half of the ingredients)

• 1 tbsp butter, melted

• 1 tbsp whole grain mustard

• 4 slices provolone cheese

• ¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

• 2 thin slices of tomato

• 2 oz roast beef

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together peppers, onions, vinegar, and sugar. Set aside for ten minutes.

2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add pepper mixture to the skillet, season with salt and pepper to taste, and sauté for about 7-8 minutes or until caramelized.

3. Meanwhile, spread the butter over both slices of bread. You can also use mayonnaise for a crispier finish!

4. On the dry side of one of the slices of spread, evenly spread the mustard.

5. Place two slices of provolone over the layer of mustard. Then add the peppers and onions on top. Sprinkle half of the cheddar cheese over the peppers and onions.

6. Add the tomato slices then the roast beef. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese then layer the remaining provolone slices. Top with the other slice of bread, butter side facing up.

7. Heat a grill, skillet, or griddle to medium heat. Add your sandwich to and cook for about 3 minutes on each slide or until golden brown.

8. Cut in half and enjoy!

Caramelized onions and peppers add a nice sweetness to your sandwich

I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous about this sandwich. I never really liked roast beef growing up, although I didn’t like most meat growing up. But as I’ve mentioned before, I wanted to challenge myself with this project and that’s not always about cooking skills, sometimes that’s trying new foods. This sandwich is only mentioned very briefly, but it’s what Richard orders when he and Lorelai get food from the little shop near his new office. He gets it with pickles, but that’s a food I’m never going to like. Sorry.

I have come to fully embrace whole grain mustard.

When I was planning out what I wanted to put in my sandwich, I thought about a flavor I recently started to enjoy: whole grain mustard. I don’t typically like mustard, but I needed whole grain mustard for a recipe I was trying out, and I reluctantly added it. To my surprise, I enjoyed it. I use a garlic flavored whole grain mustard, so it has a better flavor profile than yellow mustard or even dijon. I think the tanginess of the mustard adds a nice complexity to the sandwich and compliments the saltiness of the meat and the sweetness of the peppers and onions. Now, I did use store-bought sourdough bread for this sandwich. I made my own bread for my fancy grilled cheese for Jess’s first episode, and I wanted an easier dish (spoiler alert- my next two dishes are big projects). If you partook in the homemade sourdough trend last year, then this would be the perfect dish to revive that recipe for.

Layer your sandwich with all kinds of goodness.

What I really love about this episode is the juxtaposition from Richard in Stars Hollow. In that episode, Richard criticizes Lorelai a lot, particularly the way she works. But now in this episode, he needs her to get his business up and running. In fact, he tries to prolong her time working with him instead of hiring a new secretary. I love any time when Richard and Lorelai have a good relationship, really any time she has a good relationship with either of her parents, but especially with Richard. I enjoy watching Lorelai show Richard around the office supply store, “think big, Gilmore.”

A good helping of roast beef is crucial to this sandwich.

This episode follows the one where Rory and Jess get in the car accident. Rory is upset that everyone is blaming Jess for the wreck. He was driving the car, so it was technically his fault, even if it was a complete accident. I think the way she acts in this episode is very similar to the way she acts in P.S. I lo… when she gets mad at everyone for tiptoeing around her breakup with Dean and then runs away to Richard and Emily’s house. I think Rory expects everyone around her to react in a certain way, and when they don’t, she gets all upset. Which is totally unfair of her.

Use a grill if you want those beautiful grill marks on your bread (or a panini press)

On the better side of things, Lane discovers that she is meant to be a drummer. Sophie’s music store opens up, and they come up with an arrangement for Lane to practice. This is one of my favorite moments of Lane’s storyline because it sets the stage for her to be the badass that she really is. I’ve already talked about how I hate the treatment of Lane on this show, especially in the later seasons, but she has so much going for her in this episode. I love that this leads us to Hep Alien and of course meeting Dave Rygalski! I can’t wait to get to his first episode. Let me know if you’re Team Dave down below!

Happy Cooking!

Totally easy to make a super delicious sandwich!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!