Chicago-style Italian Beef - "Hot and Wet"

Italian Beef with Giardiniera

Pizza or Sandwich? It's a perplexing question to a man.

I've been to Chicago once. I had limited time and was with a Chicago Native. We went to Giordano's Pizza for a deep dish pie. She bet the 5 males at the table we couldn't finish 2 slices of the 2" thick stuffed pizza; I ate 3.

The downside of Giordano's is that I didn't get to go to Al's #1 Beef or Portillo's for an authentic Italian Beef.

An Italian Beef is a slow cooked roast beef flavored with Italian herbs and seasonings. When the beef is medium rare, it's thinly sliced, then returned to the meat drippings which are made into an Au Jus. The sliced meat is put onto a hearty white Italian roll, topped with spicy giardiniera (hot) or sweet peppers (sweet), and dipped in the au jus (wet).

As a lucky coincidence, there is Chicaco-style hot dog restaurant called Johnnie Beef's here in Salt Lake run by a Chicago Native John Carrasquilla. They serve up a delicious Italian Beef!

We were interested in making an authentic reproduction of an Italian Beef for an Office Sandwich. It turned out delicious and easy. Here's how we did it:

Ingredients

• White Italian Rolls or Hoagie Rolls
• Thin Sliced Italian Roast Beef (in most Deli Sections - This is regular roast beef, but seasoned with Italian seasoning.)
• Pagliacci Hot Giardiniera - Imported from Chicago (look in a Italian importer or buy online)
• Au Jus (Below)

Au Jus

• Three Cups Water
• 2-3 Tablespoons "Better than Bullion" Beef Stock (To Taste)
• 1 Teaspoon Dry Italian Seasoning (used for making Italian Dressing)

We're not just making a light beef-flavored broth - we want the au jus dark and strong.

Assembly
Make the au jus first in a bowl big enough to dip half the final sandwich. Heat up the au jus until it's boiling then put the bowl on the table. Put enough meat for one sandwich into the au jus - we like a lot. Swish the meat around with the tongs for about a minute. Then pull the meat out and layer it onto the sandwich. Top the beef with as much giardiniera as you like - we like a lot. Cut the sandwich in half. Using the tongs, dip the entire sandwich in the Au Jus for a few seconds.

Eat it while it's hot and before the bread gets too soggy.

Utensils

• Kitchen knives for cutting the bread
• Large Bowl for Au Jus
• Microwave to heat the au jus
• Tongs for dipping the meat and sandwich

After we're done, we save the Au Jus for the next day. We've noticed that the Au Jus gets better through out the week as it starts to get the flavor from soaking the beef in it.