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10/27/10

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Au Jus and Garlic Fries


Garlic fries
These are better than any frozen bagged fries, I promise. And they make the house smell outrageously delicious.
  • Yukon gold potatoes- I use around 9 small potatoes for a family of four 
  • 4 Fresh garlic cloves, minced
  • 2-3 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil- enough to coat the potatoes
  • 2 tsp. sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, paprika- add more if preferred
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. of a good dried herb blend - my favorite is yah's best house blend, this is optional
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large mixing bowl combine garlic, olive oil, seasonings, and herbs. Rinse and scrub potatoes. Set aside. 

Leaving skin on, cut each potato in 4-8 wedges. It really doesn't matter if it's 4 or 8 just make them uniform in size. In a large mixing bowl combine garlic, olive oil, seasonings, and herbs. Place cut potatoes into mixing bowl and toss until all potatoes are coated with garlic/oil mixture.

Pour potatoes and garlic mixture onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. Place in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy warm.


Roast Beef Sandwich with Au Jus
I made this into a Panini instead of the traditional roll. This is a quick and easy dinner. My husband loved this simple deli style meal.

Sandwich
  • 3/4 lb. thinly sliced roast beef - I use Boar's head or Applegate farms because they don't add nitrates
  • 4 slices provolone cheese
  • Mayonnaise- a little for the top of the bread
  • about 5 sliced pepperoncini, per sandwich
  • Trader Joe's panini rolls
Easy Au Jus with no pan drippings
  • 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 fresh clove of garlic, minced
  • 16-32 oz of beef stock or broth- depending on how much Au jus you would like
  • 1 Tbsp. of a good dried herb blend- look for an Italian blend or make your own and add a little rosemary, thyme, oregano, a dash of crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 -1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce - make sure to read the label before buying; there are a lot of mystery ingredients in some of the brands
  • Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Heat up your panini press or your George Foreman grill. If you don't have either of those you can use a regular pan but you need something heavy to press the sandwich, a heavy cast iron pot would do.

In a small saucepan add olive oil and heat at a medium setting. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until the garlic smells really great, don't let it burn. Add the remaining ingredients except the salt and pepper. Let simmer while you are putting the sandwiches together. Right before serving taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Now make your sandwiches. This is how I made mine: cut bread in half, a little mayo on top bun, a couple slices of roast beef on the bottom, slice of provolone, pepperoncini's. Place on grill and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melty and the top is lightly browned. 



I made the kids sandwiches first so that they would have time to cool down enough for them to handle safely. Because hot cheese burns!

My husband's favorite part of the sandwich was the surprise of the pepperoncini's. I would normally make this with a creamy horseradish in place of mayo but I really had my eye on the peppers and they did not disappoint.