The Bear is consistently the most true to life representation of the service industry on TV. They nail the fast paced nature of it so well, even if things are slightly dramatized. To me, it’s obvious that the team behind the show knew what they were doing. To support this, the food they show off is not only amazing looking, it’s also pretty well thought out and involves a lot of onscreen talent knowing how to cook. How does it taste though? Here's how to make the amazing beef sandwich from the show. The namesake of the restaurant is the classic Italian beef sandwich made of tender roast beef, homemade giardiniera, and tons of flavorful jus.
The Italian beef sandwich
1.5 - 2lb boneless chuck
Beef stock to cover
1/2 yellow onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 bay leaves
Ground fennel
Paprika
Onion powder
Garlic powder
French bread for serving
Step 1: Prep Giardiniera
Giardiniera is a pickled chopped vegetable medley that really helps cut the fatty saltiness of the beef. I’m using Brian Lagerstrom's recipe for giardiniera here, so check out his video for the full explainer. Gonna chop a bunch of veg, things like cauliflower, bell pepper, serrano, jalapeno and red onion then place it into a pot of hot pickling liquid. I added some sugar to mine, not sure if that’s traditional, but I also have more peppers, so it's a little sweet heat situation. Let this cool and then place it in the fridge for 2 days. Once those 2 days are up, remove the veggies from the brine and cover them in oil. Use half olive oil and half vegetable oil. This will keep in the fridge for months. I know it’s a common sandwich topping but MK and I have been putting this on rice bowls and it really slaps.
Step 2: Braise Beef
A couple interesting things are shown about the beef Carmy serves on the show, and the first is related to the delivery. They’re short on the usual beef, so he has to get a second shipment from a different hookup. This one is bone in, and requires a longer cook time. Traditional beef is usually wet roasted for like 20-40 minutes, basically until the meat is medium rare so it can be thinly sliced. The bone-in meat doesn’t allow for that so he’s got to pivot. For me, I couldn’t find a top round, and the largest cut I could get was a chuck, no biggie. The second issue I ran into was that I don’t own a meat slicer, so I opted to fully braise this until I could pull it apart, a decision I think is totally worth it. The flavors are all there, the texture is just a little different, still delicious though. We also see him using tomatoes in the braise, which seems pretty untraditional for someone from Chicago, but
Roughly chop all of the veggies and season the chuck roast with salt and pepper on both sides. In a dutch oven over medium high, brown both sides of the roast. Remove the meat from the pan and add the chopped veggies. Cook these for a few minutes in the beef fat. Season them with salt and then add the beef stock. Season this with ground fennel, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the beef back to the pot along with 2 bay leaves. Cover with a lid and place in a 350f oven for at least 2 hours, but go off of tenderness. If you can pull it apart, it's ready. Remove the meat from the jus so it can cool, and strain that braising liquid. Taste it for seasoning, this is gonna be the jus we dunk our sandwich in, so make sure it tastes amazing. Add salt as needed along with water if you don't have enough liquid. Shred your beef and pour in some of that jus just so it’s nice and moist before it goes onto the bread. For the bread, a nice tasting white loaf with a thin crisp crust is good. Warm the bread in the residual heat from the oven, and then slice it in half while leaving a hinge so it stays together. To build it, place your meat on the roll, top it with some jus, or dip the whole thing for a full wet sandwich, and then top it with the giardiniera. The sandwich is perfectly salty, rich, and tangy from the giardiniera. Everything exists in this wonderful balance. Absolutely one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.
Cheers!
