I was looking for a quick dinner involving steak this week. I have a great butcher in Balmain village, with superb free range meat, and their beef is particularly tasty. I had a beautiful piece of sirloin, so how best to cook to showcase it?
Jamie Oliver has a really simple steak sandwich recipe in 5 Ingredients Quick and Easy Food. I’ve made it a couple of times and it’s great!
I made a few tweaks, mentioned in parentheses in the recipe. I made the sandwich with sourdough bread and I charred some spring onions instead of onion, preferring the milder flavour. I prefer Dijon mustard too.
Here’s Jamie’s recipe. Highly recommended for a delicious, quick steak sandwich. Lovely with a little tomato salad.
Ingredients
250g sirloin steak, ideally 1.5cm thick
1 large onion (or 3 or 4 spring onions)
2 teaspoons American mustard (or Dijon)
4 slices of nice bread (I used sourdough)
50g provolone or fontina cheese
Method
Pull the fat off the sirloin, finely slice the fat and place it in a large cold nonstick frying pan.
Put on a medium-high heat to render as it heats up, moving it around
to coat the pan, while you peel and slice the onion/spring onion into thick rounds. Add them to the pan to char for 10 minutes, turning halfway.
Meanwhile, cut off the sinew, then place the steak between two sheets of greaseproof paper and pound with your fist until just under 1 cm thick. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then brush all over with the mustard and cut into two.
Add a good splash of red wine vinegar to the onion, toss for 1 minute over the heat, then divide between two slices of bread, leaving the pan on the heat.
Sear the steaks in the screaming hot pan for just 40 seconds on each side, then slice and lay over the cheese, cover, turn the heat off and leave to melt for just 40 seconds more.
Lay the steak on top of the onion, pop the other slices of bread on top, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, and devour.
The Quirk and the Cool 