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Red Wine–Braised Flank Steak with Roasted Peppers, Onions, and Gruyère

This is a sandwich that was so good we had to take it off the menu! Conceptually similar to a cheese steak, it was offered as a pressed sandwich, and when too many people ordered it at once, we had a traffic jam on our premises. So while you can no longer find it at ’wichcraft, you can make it for yourself. Flank steak is wonderfully easy to work with because it’s lean—there’s no waste, and it has an excellent texture for braising. There are many schools of thought about the right wine to cook with. Some advocate cooking with the best wine, or at least a wine that you would want to drink; others believe in using the cheapest wine available. We suggest going with the wine that you can afford to use for cooking or the one you have lying around. At home, whenever he has some leftover red wine at the end of a meal, if he doesn’t drink it the next day, Sisha puts it in a container in the freezer. He keeps adding to that container, and when he needs wine for braising, there it is. The blend is never the same twice—and always good.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound flank steak
1 medium carrot, cut into large dice
1/2 white onion, cut into large dice
2 garlic cloves, quartered
2 to 3 cups red wine
2 large sprigs fresh thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 large red onion, sliced crosswise into 3/4-inch wheels
8 tablespoons Roasted Peppers (page 184)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
4 ciabatta rolls
8 slices Gruyère cheese

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Step 2

    Choose a heavy-bottomed ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven that’s large enough for the flank steak to lie flat but is as snug as possible. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the skillet over high heat. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the meat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until deep brown in color. Remove the meat from the skillet and set the meat aside.

    Step 3

    Add the carrot and onion to the skillet, followed by the garlic. Sauté the vegetables over medium-high heat until they start to brown but are still firm. Return the meat to the pan. Add the red wine—enough to come three-fourths of the way up the side of the meat. Add the thyme and 1 teaspoon of the salt, cover the skillet, and transfer to the oven. Braise the meat for about 2 1/2 hours, until the meat can be pulled apart with a fork. Transfer the meat to a plate to rest and cool.

    Step 4

    Reserve and strain the pan juices and pour into a saucepan. Over medium-low heat, reduce the juices until thickened (it should coat the back of a spoon). With two forks, separate the meat into chunky strings and roughly cut them crosswise into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Place the meat in the pot with the reduced juices and coat well.

    Step 5

    Brush the red onion with the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. In a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat, grill the red onion (without separating into individual rings) until charred on the outside and slightly cooked on the inside. Place in a bowl and separate into rings. Add the peppers, olive oil, sherry vinegar, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and mix well.

    Step 6

    Slice the ciabatta rolls in half. Place 1 slice of cheese on each bottom and top half. Arrange the meat on the bottom halves of the rolls and the onions and peppers on the top halves and place all the roll pieces in the 350°F oven. Remove once the cheese is melted. Close the sandwiches, cut into halves, and serve.

'wichcraft
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