Sous Vide Roast Beef Sandwiches

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fantastic fall weekend. As for me, it was a relaxing one where I didn't work, didn't have any specific obligations and didn't have any stress... which all is pretty rare. I can't even tell you how nice it was to wake up, snuggle up with Joel and just play things by ear the entire weekend. And the best part? I'm playing things by ear all week while I take a little 'staycation' of sorts before I start my new position at a new firm. In keeping with the play by ear theme, there isn't any specific theme for the recipes shared this week. It'll be just random deliciousness to share. So with that, I was recently impressed with a sandwich last week... and it wasn't one I made. This Sous Vide Roast Beef Sandwich was probably one of the best sandwiches I've had in awhile. Sirloin roast is bathed in butter, olive oil and fresh herbs before being vacuum sealed and gently cooked in a sous vide for 24 to 48 hours. Trust me, it's worth the wait to slice this and pair it with creamy Merkt's cheddar cheese, horseradish spread, kale and sweet cherry tomatoes...


A couple years ago, I worked with Ray, who was practically my long lost culinary sibling. We shared the same thought process when it came to recipe development, flavor profiles, and just enjoyed food in all aspects. Ray went on to be an exec chef down south when we split from the restaurant where we worked. Fast forward a few years to the past couple of weeks, I learned a fellow colleague at work, Dan, enjoyed cooking and geeking out on food, recipes and all things culinary. It's just too bad that we met and enjoyed talking food during my final weeks before I left. That said, I was surprised and flattered when Dan gave me a foodie parting gift... one that was so beautiful packaged and even more delicious to enjoy. Dan reminds me of Ray, in that we share a lot of the same tastes and have similar opinions on various food things. I certainly appreciate a hard core foodie. Man, do I wish we knew each other months ago so that we could have had lunch swaps and talked food throughout our work day! 

Dan packaged up his roast beef sandwich... that is nothing like your mom's version. Dan's version was made in a sous vide, a technique in which food is vacuumed packed and slowly simmered in water for several hours, if not days. In this case for the roast beef, it took 1-2 days of slow cooking. To perfection. The following is Dan's recipe verbatim. The composition of his sandwich was perfect and I can't wait to try this at home using a crockpot with a temperature gauge to maintain the temperature for several hours...

Sous Vide Roast Beef Sandwiches
recipe from Dan C.

1 stick of butter

1/4 cupgood olive oil
2 tablespoons each of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano)
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste
2-3 pounds sirloin roast
 

Melt butter, combine with olive oil and herbs (combine and mince herbs). Lather Roast with mixture. And add generous amount of salt and fresh pepper. Toss in foodsaver bag and vac sealer. Before you vac seal roast you can toss in fridge so the butter will firm up a little so you’re get a better seal.

Sous vide at 131 F for 24-48hrs. 24 hours is plenty of time. I like Sirloin roast for roast beef... I have tired the cheaper cuts of meat and even though it’s good I found this cut of meat better.  

24hrs later, drain liquid from bag. Place on cutting board and pat dry for the searing. Wet meat doesn’t sear well. Heat up a cast iron skillet as hot as you can get and sear each side for a few minutes till you get the malliard effect (browning). Rest and slice.

For the sandwich:

Merkt's cheese

cherry tomatoes

kale

horseradish 

2 slices bread

Assemble sandwich with slices of roast beef, Merkt's cheese, cherry tomatoes (unless you have a very good tomato, most tomatoes taste too bland), kale (crispier then lettuce, more crunch), and horseradish sauce between 2 slices of bread