The Italian Beef Sandwich aka one of Chicago’s four main food groups is a sloppy, drippy, monster of a sandwich and a damn good one at that. I grew up on these beloved gut bombs and it was a real thrill to create a video showing you how to make your own at home from scratch. Enjoy responsibly.
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šŖMY GEAR
APRON:
BOOS BLOCK CUTTING BOARD:
BREAD KNIFE:
ESCALI DIGITAL SCALE:
HALF SHEET PAN + RACK:
INSTANT READ THERMOMETER:
INSTANT POT:
KITCHEN AID MIXER:
6.75qt LE CREUSET DUTCH OVEN:
MY FAV STAINLESS BOWL:
RECIPE BELOW Makes 4 very large Italian Beefs (+ extra Giardiniera)
GIARDINIERA (makes 1qt/ltr)
ā¢150g or about 1 1/3c each of Cauli, Celery, Green Bell Peppers, Carrots
ā¢75g or 1/2 c serrano (or another hot pepper of choice)
ā¢400g or 1 3/4c white distilled vinegar
ā¢200g or 3/4c water
ā¢24g or 1 1/2 tbsp salt
ā¢300g or 1 1/3c light olive oil
ā¢150g or 3/4c ex virgin olive oil
Chop all veg into small dice and mix to combine. Combine vin, water, salt in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, add veg, stir, turn off heat and allow to cook as it comes to room temp. Transfer to container and refrigerate 2 days.
After 2 days, strain liquid off veg. To the strained veg mix, add oils & store in fridge until ready to use.
FRENCH SANDWICH ROLL:
ā¢225g or 1c water (86F/30C)
ā¢9g or 3tsp yeast
ā¢20g or 1 1/2tbsp olive oil
ā¢15g 1 1/4 tbsp sugar
ā¢350g or 2.5c bread flour (12.7% protein)
ā¢9g 1 1/2 tsp salt
Combine ingredients into bowl of stand mixer with dough hook. Mix on low until combined (3min). When dough has begun to form into a ball, increase to high speed and continue mixing for another 6 mins. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover, and allow to ferment at room temp for 90 mins.
Flour dough and work surface and divide into two 300g pieces. Preshape into balls as shown @2:40. Cover with town and allow to rest for 15 min. Shape each piece as shown @3:00.
Place onto parchment lined sheet tray dusted with semolina, place shaped dough rolls onto tray and gently press down to slightly flatten. Cover and let proof for 30-45min until they’ve grown by about 75%. Score lengthwise.
Bake in a 375F/190C preheated oven for about 30 min (rotating halfway through) until light golden grown.
ROAST BEEF:
ā¢Two 2lb (.9kg) top round roasts, cut in half (1lb for each sandwich roll)
ā¢Neutral cooking oil (canola, vegetable, etc)
ā¢1000g or 1L nice beef stock (recipe below)
ā¢Spoonful bouillon paste (optional)
ā¢Salt to taste
ā¢Bman’s Super Secret Beef Spice Blend: 5g each dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, toasted coriander seed, chili flake, paprika, toasted fennel seed, black pepper.
Preheat large pot on med-high, add a few plugs of neutral cooking oil, and add in 2 pieces of roast. Sear well on each side. Add beef stock to deglaze. Add spice blend.
Bring to simmer, cover with parchment and load into 250F/120C oven to cook for 60 min. Meat temp should be 140F/61C. Wrap beefs in plastic wrap and allow to cool in fridge.
When ready to use, slice as thinly as possible.
Strain cooking jus into container. When ready to use, add spoonful bouillon paste, heat to 145F/62C, season to taste (should be very salty) and lower heat to low. Add in sliced beef to just warm through.
BEEF STOCK:
ā¢6-8lbs or 3-4kg beef shanks
ā¢2000g/2L water
Roast shanks in very hot oven (450F/230C) for 30min. Add to slow cooker along with all fond from roasting pan and water. Slow cook for 6hrs.
#italianbeef #chicagostylebeef #roastbeefsandwich #chicagostyleitalianbeef #chicago food
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49 Comments
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How long have you been on Finasteride?
āā¦from Johnnyās or Alās ā¦ā holy crap, Bro, you brought back GREAT food memories for me! š¢ š I moved to SC and love it. The ONLY thing I miss from chiland is pizza (Salernos and Papas pizza place) and combo sandwiches from Alās, Johnnyās, Mr Beef or Portillos (before they sold out). Gotta go, Iām in a food dream state right now š ā¦
Thank You, Brother šš
Dang! I missed the whole warning about gloves and weiner! Ouch!
Johnnie's in Elmwood park, get it juicy hot. Portillos beef is good but Johnnie's is the original
@ Brian Lagerstrom How long will the Giardiniera last in the fridge?
Give that beef a smooch for me too! I wanna marry you!!!!
keep the heat off of your hands and your weiner!!!!! Im dead!!! š
Dipped is the way.
I use that better then bulion stuff,,, It is very salty,,but good
Brian… THANK YOU.. In my opinion, this is the DEFINITIVE Italian Beef video!! I lived about 80 miles west of Chicago (Sterling) for just a few years.. so I surely didn't sample all the beefs in and around Chicago, but enough to be hooked. One question I have is this: I see several gards that include green olives…. what do you think??
Food
'make sure it's the right amount of wet' — it could be wetter
Thank you for providing multiple ways to make this (as in cheater-methods). I want a good sandwich, not three days in the kitchen to get to that sandwich.
50 other states, and no one knows how to do food like Illinois
Iām n Chicago now, fbg Butta got me wanting one
It only took 2 days to make that sandwich š¤¦š»āāļøš¤¦š»āāļø
Came back to this video after watching The Bear
so you just throw the shanks you that used in the stock away???
ADD AN ITALIAN SAUSAGE TRUE COMBO!
I appreciate the "quick and easy" approach offered here mixed in with the "advanced " version.
Brian! Awesome video. My grandmother would make Italian beef for me growing up, it has a special place in my heart. Any tips for making the bread dough without a mixer?
i like that you don't just show the best way but the cheap and easy way as well. Thank you
Two things: Where is the cheese mozzarella, and the sweet peppers are actually Cubanelle peppers not green bell.
How about we NOT use metric
So I'm going to Chicago next week to visit my nephew. Where do I go for the best beef sandwich?
šššš
Maybe I missed it in your vid but once roast is cooked to medium rare, put it in the fridge overnight. This makes it much easier to slice. I bought a cheap $100 slicer years ago which makes quick work of slicing the meat super thin.
It's missing mozz.
Making this tonight, the easy way. Thanks for the recipe, it should be delicious!
No instant pot here…. Onto the next video
Delicious š
You're a gram cooker:- I love it! But please slow down and talk slower, what's the rush?:- this is not television, it's the Internet, lots of time, be more like Jacques Pepin so we can savour the recipe while munching on something!
Can I just buy beef stock?
Silly suburbanites…if it ain't dripping all over you, soaking the bag on the bus ride home, it just isn't right! The stands at 42nd and Halsted, or in the old Jew Town/Maxwell Street were the best! Riding by the Maxwell St stand at night in the summer, the smell of grilled onions went for a mile around it! The sausage or the beef were both epic!
yesssss thank you so much for the recipe but more importantly the shortcut recipe! i focused on the bread and used some london broil roast beef from the deli and it turned out so great i can't believe it!
Thanks now I'm dreaming about a beef sandwich
Bri, why didnāt you put the veggies on the bread first? That way you get oil in the bread and crunchy veggie goodness in every bite.
Decadent.
Yes keep the hot peppers off your wiener. š Sounds like a true Windy City advice. Thanks for the recipe, even though I live near Portillos, I still want to make my own!
Worked at a no name fast food style burger place. We cooked the burgers 10:1, 6:1, 4:1 if I remember right, and held them in a pan on side of grill on low temp.
The pan had the same bullion paste in it.
Doing a big BBQ on 4th it's a good way to make a small grill go a long way
Time to eat just do a quick warm up and cheese melt
You said Wiener!
Wow. I just made this from scratch. And it was AMAZING! Great job on the recipe. And thanks!
Cringe.
I've used 'Better Than' for years. I'm a Cajun and I LOVE an Italian beef sandwich. OMG yes dip that thing. Twice. Love the veggie relish. Like the pickled green tomatoes we use down here.
Thank you so much for pointing out the stupidity of the "super secret" spice blend. People actually think if you leave out 1 secret spice in the blend, it's gonna have this dramatic effect on the outcome of the sandwich. Nonsense. The "secret" to this sandwich is the technique itself which you masterfully demonstrated here. I can't wait to make this at home.
that is called dry you full wet and half wet and you need to get to a real steak shop that makes them because I make them way better then that
I moved away from Chicago and almost forgot about this sandwich. Brings me so much memory now. Thanks, Bri.
I make this with focaccia.
Where at in Lombard? That's where I live. Mickey's in Villa Park?