Hello to you all
What makes a superb steak sandwich?
Number 1: the quality of meat you choose. Seek out meat that has been ‘properly brought up’ from a butcher you trust. If you’re in Cape Town, we highly recommend Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants.
Number 2: a fresh sauce we make called Chimichurri. It hails from Argentina which is braai country, only their barbeques go by a much sexier name: Asado!
Give this recipe a go over the weekend with sweet potato fries on the side!
With love from a freezing Palace
HRH Kathleen
You will need
± 350 g rump, sirloin or fillet steak – 2 cm thick (ask your butcher for his favourite cut)
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
2 ciabatta or baguette rolls
Butter for the rolls
Emmenthaler cheese
1 large onion, cut into 1 cm thick slices
4 Tbsp Pesto Princess Chimichurri Sauce
1 ripe tomato, sliced into thick slices
For the sweet potato fries
300 g sweet potatoes
2 tsp coconut or canola oil
How to
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (200°C if your oven doesn’t have a fan).
2. Line a roasting tray with baking paper. Peel the sweet potatoes (place them in cold water to prevent browning). If you prefer to eat the skin, give them a good scrub! Cut into chunky chips or thin matchsticks and toss in oil before laying out in a single layer on the baking tray.
3. Cook for 12 minutes. Check and then toss and cook for another 12-15 minutes. Cooking time will depend on how thick or thin you have cut your chips, so keep an eye on them!
#TopTip: it’s essential to leave enough space and don’t overcrowd the tray to achieve ultimate crispness!
4. Heat a griddle pan until piping hot. Drizzle your steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, massaging the seasoning into the meat.
5. Cook the steaks in a hot pan for three minutes a side for a medium-rare steak or longer if you prefer yours medium to well done. Set the steaks aside in a warm place. Hang onto those pan juices for frying the onion rings in a little while.
6. Cut the buns in half, spread with butter and top generously with cheese slices. Heat in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese begins to bubble.
7. Meanwhile, place the thickly sliced onion rings in the steak pan and drizzle with olive oil, turn down the heat and cook until tender but still crunchy.
8. Time to assemble 🙂 Layer the tomato over the melted cheese, top with griddled onions, chunky sliced steak and generous lashings of Pesto Princess Chimichurri Sauce. Season and serve with sweet potato fries.
Feeds 2.
Recipe and food styling by Michelle Parkin.
Michael Olivier’s Choice
Jack Black Brewer’s Lager
Jack Black was one of the early craft beers made in the Cape. The Jack Black Brewer’s Lager is the flagship beer of the Jack Black stable. This is a lager, inspired by the malt beers of the early 1900s and is brewed in the traditional way.
Looks like Packed in a clean, elegant shaped bottle with a label that clearly tells all. In the glass, a pale amber with a firm white head.
Tastes like Southern Promise, Saaz, and Pale Malt hops are used which create perfect balance between a pleasant hoppy bitterness and a malty sweetness. With its creamy head, its soft mouth-feel and great fruity refreshment, it is a great lager as a refresher and thirst quencher and so suited to a dish like this steak sandwich.
