If you have eaten your fair share of roast beef sandwich in your favorite deli – foodies highly recommend the Beachmont Roast Beef, John’s Roast Beef and Seafood, and Liberty Bell Roast Beef and Seafood when you are in Boston – then you know how addictive it can be.
But you also know how expensive it can be, too, with many delis charging $10, at least, for every pound.
Fortunately, you can enjoy a deli-style roast beef sandwich in the comfort of your home. You just need to know the following tricks of the trade to enjoy a scrumptious tower of meaty goodness filled with paper-thin slivers of lean red meat, generous three-way dressing, and sliced seeded rye.
Know the Three Parts
Before buying the meat, bread and dressing, you must first know what makes for an outstanding homemade roast beef sandwich that will give your Jewish deli owner a run for his money.
- The meat should be pink (i.e., rare is usually the order of the day), moist and juicy, and sliced in thin slivers. This is the star of the sandwich so choosing the right cut, cooking it the right way, and cutting it right are a must.
- The bun should be soft on the inside with a slight crunch from being quickly griddled, and studded with sesame seeds.
- The toppings include the three-way dressing of mayonnaise, cheese and barbecue sauce.
Choose the Right Cut
The best cut – many will argue it to be the only cut – for roast beef sandwiches is the eye round roast. This is a very lean roast that gives the best lean meat – juicy, meaty and moist – when cooked right but can be very tough when the cooking goes awry.
The longer eye round roast is cooked, the tougher and drier it becomes in your mouth. You should cook it at either rare or medium rare to enjoy the best lean meat for your roast beef sandwich.
You have to use a meat thermometer, too, for this purpose. For rare meat, aim for a 120°F reading while for medium rare, a 126°F reading will be fine.
Use the Right Spices
You can experiment with the spices used as seasoning for your roast beef. The spices can be as simple as freshly-cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and a combo of garlic and onion powders or as exotic as:
- Five spice powder, ground ginger, and ground garlic
- Celery salt, cayenne, and powdered rosemary
Be sure to do these steps, too. First, give the eye roast a quick rinse under cold water and then pat it completely dry. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Line a roasting pan with foil, place a roasting rack above it, and put the eye roast on top.
Second, drizzle olive oil on the meat. Rub the spices on the eye roast and pat them down. Place it on the roasting pan, bake for 20 minutes, and let it rest for 20 minutes after cooking before cutting.
Now, all you have to do is to cut it with a sharp knife into thin slices cut against the grain for best results – and the heart of your roast beef sandwich is ready!
If all else fails, try try Pubilx Deli Roast beef sandwich, they are delicious!
