Camp Pendleton Steak Sandwiches

 Camp Pendleton Steak Sandwiches

Recipe by Robert Burnes

Camp Pendleton Steak Sandwiches

    This sandwich was inspired by a sandwich place in Menlo Park, California by some Hollywood Marine who knew his way around a grill. Their steak was amazing, but it was their produce that sold the sandwich. It taught me that the right ingredients can make or break a great meal. It doesn't mean you have to buy organic everything or locally source farm this or that. It means taking the time to get the right tomato, the right lettuce and the right cheeses. You'll need to make some mistakes before you perfect this dish, but I promise you that it is worth every attempt. 

    Like many of our recipes, we have brought the best of our worlds together to fusion tastes. Things like fish sauce, sugars, and certain spices are frequently introduced to more western cooking and grilling. The result is pretty FANTASTIC. 

WARNING: This recipe calls for grilling, which brings about its own issues and danger. Never leave a grill unattended and this goes double if you have children. 

    INGREDIENTS: 

1. Beef. 

    Just a note about beef. There is no special cut here for this sandwich. You can use whatever you want or what ever is available. Keep in mind that the different cuts DO have a different taste so this is another area worth experimenting in. My wife and I love to use ribeye OR new york for our sandwiches. I have, from time to time, used brisket, but if we're talking about this specific recipe, it's the tasty, fatty ribeye OR our go-to new york cut. 

    For this recipe, we went with ribeye and let me tell you something about this piece of meat. It's wonderful. However, it can go terrible. You want a cut of ribeye that has soft fat as opposed to the hard feeling fat. You want the meat to be tender as well so give it a light push. It should feel soft and not like a muscle knot. We look for a balance of fat and meat, because the fat carries a lot of flavor and it really adds to the overall experience of this sandwich. Yeah, I said "experience." Don't go looking for any yoga mats in this house or crystals-no one is meditating into another dimension, but once you get this recipe down, people will be transported into a state of bliss. 

1a. Two Ribeye steaks, boneless; (You can try this recipe as a vegetarian dish, but I've been told this will summon the ghosts of Gunnery Sergeant Lee Emery and Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller who will destroy you (Semper Fi, Devils). Maybe it isn't true and you'll be safe if you substitute the meat. Whose to say?).  

2. 1/2 yellow onion; 

3. Three cloves of garlic; 

4. 1/4 cup of red wine (Please don't ask what kind of red wine. I'm not that worldly and all I know is there is red wine in a box, there is red wine in a can, and there is red wine in a bottle. Get the red wine in the bottle and maybe get the bottle with the cork in it and not the pop-top); 

5. 2 cups of stock (chicken, beef or veggie-your choice here); 

6. 1/4 teaspoon of cumin; 

7. 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder; 

8. 1 teaspoon of paprika; 

9. 1/2 teaspoon of salt; 

10. 1 tablespoon of sugar; 

11. 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce; 

12. 1 head of butter lettuce; 

13. Two tomatoes, sliced thin; 

14. 1/4 cup Assegai cheese; 

15. 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese; 

16. Slices of 'Merican cheese (Don't you dare use Kraft sliced "American" cheese for this. Go to the Deli and pick up a 1/2 pound of sliced American cheese from them. Heathens); 

17. French rolls with Dutch Crunch topping; 

18. 1/4 cup of mayo; 

19. French's Mustard; 

20. Olive Oil (This is added to taste); 

21. 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce;

22. 1/4 of jarred jalapeños; 

    PREP:

    You know those meals that require you to prepare it the night before and you didn't because you just now discovered that you want this for dinner about ten minutes ago? This meal can do both, but for the sake of the ultimate meal, we decided to do it right and start this process the day before. Because it is about perfection, not speed. 

    24 Hours Prior to Cooking: 

1. Combine the soy sauce, garlic, and finely chopped yellow onion to a large zip lock bag. Add the sugar, fish sauce, paprika, chili powder, cumin and half of the chicken stock as well; 

2. Place both steaks in the zip lock bag and get as much air out of the bag as you can then close it up tight. Place the bag in the fridge;

3. Chop the jalapeños into small bits then add it to the mayo. Store this mixture overnight in the fridge; 

4. Clean the lettuce then place it in a container with some paper towels. Place in fridge; 

5. Cut the tomatoes, add a small amount of olive oil, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Put the dressed tomatoes in a container. Place in the fridge.

    Grilling: 

 1. I use coal to grill. You can use propane, but if you want the authentic tastes, you're going to need the coal; 

2. Fill the stove-pipe fire started about 3/4 with your favorite coal. We use a mesquite stylized brand from Ace, which is a local company. Great flavors and a gentle smoke. Ignite and wait until the coal is nearly white; 

3. Place a small pile of coal on one side of the grill. I make a circle then drop the white hot coals in the center. Using a fire shovel, I move the cold coal over the hot coal then install the grate; 

4. Once the coals are mostly white, the fire is ready. I use an iron griddle that covers half of the fire and provides for a cooler area to the back. I use some red wine to set the glaze on the pan and let is cook off, using a wooden spatula to spread the wine until it's cooked off; 

5. I place a dollop of butter on the center of the griddle and move it around until it's melted, but not evaporated; 

6. As soon as the butter is melted, I add the steaks on the high heat side for the searing along with the 1/4 cup of wine. You're going to like this seared in taste! This takes about two to three minutes each side, but it depends on the heat and the size of the steaks. Don't over cook the meat!

7. Once both side of the steak are seared, move them to the cooler side of the griddle and continue to cook until the desired, uh, cook-ness is reached. Done-ness? Temperature? Cook it until it's medium well then remove the steak from the griddle. Place the steaks on a plate then cover with aluminum foil. Since the steaks just dealt with your weirdness for 24 hours before being abused on the grill by your unloving hands, permit the steak to rest, covered, for about 4 minutes; 

8. While the steaks are cooking, take that sauce that was with the steak and pour that into a pot and add the pot to the cool side of the fire. Bring the sauce to a boil then remove from the heat, continuing to cook the sauce until it's been fairly reduced to a honey like consistency. DO NOT speed this up with flour or sugar or whatever you cut your sauce with to hurry through a process; 

9. Use a bit more wine to deglaze the iron griddle, cleaning it with that wood spatula until the griddle is fairly clean; 

10. Cut the bread in half, equal slices, and place the bread on the griddle. The inside part. Not the outside. Someone out there just had to flip the bread over-I know it. Anyway-no butter or oil. Just the bread, gently placed on the cooler side of the griddle until the bread has toasted. You want it to crunch, not turn soggy; 

11. Leave the fire unattended. DON'T LEAVE THE FIRE UNATTENDED! You're going into the house to finish this dish up so do something about that grill; 

    SERVING 

 1. Time to cut the meat into beautiful slices of heaven. Take a sharp knife and cut meat at an angle, cutting it as thin as you can. You want to cut the meat against the grain. If you don't know what that is, it's the direction of the muscle fibers. Like wood lines. If you don't know where that is, cut the ribeye down the middle and look. If it looks like your peering down the muscle strands, you are cutting against the grain. GOOD WORK! If you can see long, uninterrupted muscle fiber, you are cutting WITH the grain. STOP. And cut against the grain; 

1a. Place the thinly cut steak to the side. It should be medium or medium well. Ideally, you want medium; 

2. Place a pan on the stove and turn the heat on high. Add a small bit of cooking oil and wait for it to smoke; 

3. Add the steak and stir frequently then add that reduced sauce to the mix; 

4. Place the cheese over the top of the steak and mixture. Cook until the cheese starts to melt-do not overcook the meat. You want a nice pink hue in the center; 

5. Remove the steak from the pan and put this on the bread. Add the mayo to the other slice of bread then add the tomatoes and the lettuce to the meat side. Carefully bring the two sides together, and press down slightly. This is to set the ingredients, not meld them into a single being; 

6. Using a sharp bread knife, cut the sandwich in two equal parts and watch that cheese ooooooze; 

7. Serve with your favorite locally proceeded pickle and some potato salad (More on this later). 

Enjoy! 

Robert and Siphannay Burnes

The Bear and Dragon Experience