A delicious roast beef sandwich, with toasted grainy bread, Dijon mustard, roast beef, fried egg, cheddar beer sauce and topped with lettuce and tomato. It would be a great addition to your weekend menu!
With the weather getting warmer, I thought I’d change up my “Weekend Baking” with some “Weekend Menu” – recipe ideas for the BBQ, my Farmer’s market haul or recipes that require a bit more time that the usual weeknight meal. First up, this hearty roast beef sandwich, perfect for a warm weekend afternoon with a cold beer. (Or so I’m told :)
My husband spied this sandwich in the most recent edition of Food & Drink magazine and made a point of telling me it looked really good. He seldom does that, so I took it as his way of telling me he’s in need of some beef – or beef and beer – or both :) In any event, I made note and put it on the menu for the weekend.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not a beer drinker. I’m always happy to put it in my cooking, though. And my husband was happy to offer up a can of British ale for the cause. I altered the cheddar sauce a bit, fearing it might be a bit too beer-y for me, by reducing the amount of beer and substituting some beef broth. I think it’s a good substitution for many people, but if you are a real ale lover (ie: you think you’d like a sauce of just beer and cheese), feel free to eliminate the beef broth and use all beer.
I also “put an egg on it”, because I am a sucker for runny egg on sandwiches. It’s totally optional though, so do or don’t, as you like.
Cook’s Notes
For the roast, I used a small sirloin roast and roasted it off in the oven. You could also easily do it on the BBQ. I love to use my cast-iron skillet for roasts and it also allows this recipe to go from oven to stove-top easily. Simply remove the roast to a cutting board to rest while using the same skillet to quickly make the cheddar ale sauce. It also means you get the browned bits as part of the sauce!
Be sure to cook your roast only to about medium rare. That means taking it out of the oven when it hits 125° F. You can also roast the beef ahead, cool slightly then refrigerate whole. Then slice for the sandwiches later.
Finally, if you are in to the idea of this sandwich, but not necessarily the roasting the beef yourself part, you can always use a nice deli roast beef instead. Just ask to have it thickly sliced.
Make this on the BBQ! Simply roast the beef in a cast-iron skillet on your BBQ, then you can make the sauce in the same skillet on the BBQ, too!
Get the Recipe: Roast Beef Sandwich with Cheddar Ale Sauce
Ingredients
Roast Beef:
- 2 lb. Sirloin roast
- Freshly ground pepper
Cheddar Ale Sauce:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup British Ale
- 1/2 cup beef broth, or omit and use 1 cup ale, if you like it beer-y
- 1 1/2 cup aged cheddar
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the sandwich:
- Thick sliced grainy bread, toasted and buttered
- Dijon mustard
- Thinly sliced roast beef
- Fried Egg, Optional
- Cheddar Ale Sauce
- Leaf lettuce
- Thin tomato slices
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- For the roast: Preheat oven to 450° F. Place a layer of freshly ground pepper on to a flat surface or plate. Dry roast, then roll the top in the pepper. Place in to cast-iron skillet or shallow roasting pan. Place in preheated oven and immediately reduce heat to 325° F. Roast to medium-rare (125° F. when tested with a thermometer), about 35-40 minutes.
- Remove roast to a cutting board and loosely tent with aluminum foil. Meanwhile, place skillet or pan used to roast beef on the stove-top over medium heat.
- For the Cheddar Ale Sauce: Melt butter, then add flour. Cook flour, stirring constantly and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan for about 1 minute. Add beer, stir and allow to simmer for 1 minute. Add beef broth, cheddar, Worcestershire and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens.
- (If including a fried egg, heat a small skillet to medium and fry egg until cooked but still runny.)
- To assemble sandwich: Toast bread, butter and spread a layer of Dijon mustard on it. Thinly slice beef and place on top. Top the beef with a fried egg, if using. Spoon warm cheddar ale sauce over-top, then top with lettuce and tomato. You can serve this open-faced, with a knife and fork or with a top piece of bread, as a sandwich.
Ah, I love Boddington’s! We used to buy those cans often, before our local breweries took off and began offering so many lovely local craft beers. (I used to chant on my drive home from work…. “Bod-ding-tons! Bod-ding-tons!” hahaha) This sandwich looks pretty amazing, Jennifer! Love the egg in there, of course :) Girl after my own heart.
Thanks Sophie. We have a lot of local brew, too and it seems more variety in the beer stores, as well. My husband has been coming home with a “variety pack” lately, just to try all of them :)
This beef sandwich definitely elipses any sandwich I have ever made before & the way you describe it too is just mouthwatering. This is ALL I am craving right now.
Thanks Thalia. It was delicious. Lots of flavours going on here :)
That cheddar ale sauce sounds mouthwatering, what a great weekend sandwich idea!
Thanks so much, Laura!
I’m sorry but this is just making my peanut butter and cracker lunch look PITIFUL! Love that cheddar ale sauce, I can think of lots of uses for it :)
Sorry about that ;) And yes, that sauce was delicious!