Blog, Recipes

The Ultimate Steak Sandwich

Ingredients:

  • 1 fresh baguette
  • 2 x 200 gram rib eye steaks, seasoned to your liking (salt & pepper)
  • 1 packet of Boursin (shallot & chive or garlic & herb)
  • half of a red onion
  • a handful of watercress

Prep and cook time: 10 min.

Serves: 2 people, or 1 person for the very hungry, very enthusiastic steak fanatic

It’s a classic American debate: what to put on the perfect steak sandwich? We prefer to keep it simple and avoid overloading the sandwich with messy ingredients that don’t add to the flavor so much as make a mess in your plate—and distract from the goodness that is a well-prepared steak on delicious bread. Put away your peppers and caramelized onions, save your tomatoes for a BLT, and get ready for the ultimate steak sandwich experience.

The key to this killer sandwich? It starts with good ingredients, of course. Find yourself a quality baguette, crisp on the outside and all fluffy softness on the inside. Get your hands on two excellent steaks (about 200 grams each).

Season your steaks highly with salt and pepper. Put the seasoned steaks on the BBQ for 2-3 minutes on each side, while flipping them every half a minute. (If you prefer medium or well-done, feel free to leave them on longer. We won’t call it blasphemy, but we’re warning you now: the best steak sandwiches aren’t overcooked.) Allow the steak to rest. Set aside.

When your steak is resting, turn back to the baguette. Cut it in half lengthwise.

Spread liberal amounts of flavored cream cheese on the bottom half. We recommend either shallot & chive or garlic & herb Boursin, which is so smooth and spreadable, it is practically made for this purpose. Don’t be shy. Stop when the packet’s empty.

Cut half of a red onion into thin slices and sprinkle them on top of your Boursin-buttered bread.

When your steaks have cooked and have rested, slice them in nice, thin strips the size of your baguette’s width to maximize meat placement. Arrange them over the onions and top it off with the delicious steak juices.

Add as much watercress as you feel necessary for vegetable intake or to make a pleasing color palate. You can also try cutting up the leaves to make them less prominent on the sandwich.

Put the baguette’s top half back on and slice the massive, delicious steak sandwich according to how generous you feel. Can easily serve two. We won’t judge you if you don’t want to share.

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What foods are in season now? (May)

Among the many economic and environmental incentives to eat food that is season, you also get the freshest, tastiest, and most nutritious meals!

But it is not always easy to know what foods are in season since our consumerism-centered economy, combined with a growing rift in knowledge between urban populations and agricultural practices, have led to supermarket aisles stocked with all of the products, all of the time, regardless of what is in season.

A good way to know what is in season is to check out the products on sale at your local farmers’ market. You can be sure that what family farmers offer there is fresh and harvested when ripe (as opposed to international imports, which are often harvested early  so as not to spoil during shipping). To find the location of your local farmers’ market, enter your zip code in Local Harvest’s guide.

For those who prefer to shop in a supermarket but still want to purchase seasonal foods, here is our quick guide to what is in season in the month of May in North America:

Radish

Perfect for a pre-dinner snack, these popular root veggies are rich in vitamin C and loaded with anti-cancer nutrients! You can store them in your fridge for several days before serving them with butter and salt for an aperitif to stimulate the appetite. Make sure to pick out radishes with plump bulbs and vivid green leaves.

Artichokeartichoke

Great for dipping into succulent vinaigrettes or mayonnaise, the leaves of this flower bud  can be a dish in and of themselves or added to a salad. The subtle flavor and patience in both preparing and consuming the artichoke make it a food to linger over!

Zucchini

This low-caloric, potassium-rich vegetable with vitamins A and C is incredibly versatile and can be prepared in ratatouilles, fried, baked, grilled – you name it. Look for the small zucchini, as they have the strongest taste.

Rhubarb

Check the crispiness and firmness of these fiber-rich stalks before making your selection for a tarty complement to meat or delicious pudding.

Lamb

We aren’t just talking about fruits and vegetables here! In the months of May and June in North America, one can find seasonal local lamb that is as succulent as it is rich in zinc. Of course, lamb imported from New Zealand is obtainable year-round, but a good spring lamb from your area during this time cannot be matched for flavor and freshness.

Mackerel

Doctors recommend a serving of oily fish such as the mackerel per week, so get yours fresh while it’s in season, April through July. We recommend preparing it with a creamy or buttery sauce to bring out the moistness and flavor of this excellent catch.

Some more wonderful seasonal foods during the month of May include asparagus, corn, fava beans, broccoli, avocado, cucumber, peas, spinach, apricots, grapefruit, strawberries, kiwis, lemons, limes, pineapples, duck, and crab.

You can learn more about seasonal foods and keep up to date with the following guide.