Recipes
Shooter's Sandwich Recipe (or the best steak sandwich you'll ever eat!)
Friday 25th of May 2012
This is a recipe that we've been meaning to make ever since we first saw it on The Guardian's website a couple of years ago. The basic premise is that you hollow out a loaf of bread, fill it with tasty ingredients and then place it under a heavy weight overnight so that by the morning it has compressed into one solid lump of deliciousness. Apparently the sandwich was created so that a cook could put it together the night before their employer was going on an early hunt/ride and it would be ready for the morning. We're not planning on going hunting but it's perfect picnic food and it's really easy to do (just remember to make it the day before your picnic!).
The important thing to remember is that this is our version of the recipe, but you could make it anyway you like. The combination of ingredients in a bread container under pressure over night is full of possibilities - try doing it with mozzarella and roast veg for an incredible veggie option.
Ingredients:
Round, crusty white loaf ('Pain de Campagne' or similar is ideal)
2 x Ribeye Steaks
6 x Portabello Mushrooms
2 x Onions
1 x Clove of Garlic
Thyme
Horseradish (grated from a jar)
Method:
1. Start by chopping your onions and cooking them on a low heat in a covered pan with a little butter.
2. Put your mushrooms, stalk side up, in a frying pan over a medium heat. Dab a little butter onto each one.
3. Finely chop/grate the clove of garlic and add it to your onions mix.
4. Slice off the top inch of your loaf of bread and scoop out the insides to create a bowl. Don't forget to scoop any remaining bread from the lid as well. You don't want to waste all this bread so chuck it in a sandwich bag and put it in the freezer.
5. Spread a generous layer of bacon jam on the bottom of your bread bowl
6. At this point your onions are hopefully caramelised and your mushrooms are looking soft and juicy. We sliced the stalks off so that we could flip them over in the pan and make sure both sides were cooked.
7. Once the mushrooms are cooked give the frying a pan wipe out with some kitchen paper and turn the heat up in preparation for frying your steaks. We find it's best to oil the steak rather than the pan, and this also helps the salt and pepper to stick to the surface.
8. Cook your steaks until they're medium-rare. They're going to keep cooking inside your sandwich for a little while so if you cook them until medium you'll end up with very tough meat inside your sandwich.
9. This is the fun bit - starting to assemble your sandwich. Place a steak into the bottom of the loaf directly from the pan and pack a couple of mushrooms in around it (you may need to cut them in half.
10. Spoon over a generous helping of your onion and garlic mix and sprinkle with some thyme leaves.
11. Place another steak on top of this mix. Put more mushrooms on top of this steak and then spread the horseradish on top of the mushrooms (how much depends on how hot you want it!).
12. We managed to cram another spoonful of onion mix on top of these mushrooms and one more mushroom on top of all of that.
13. Spread the inside of the bread lid thickly with mustard and then place on top of your bulging sandwich!
14. Wrap the sandwich with greaseproof paper and then tie with string.
15. Place a heavy weight on top of your sandwich - we had a box of bottles to hand, but you'll need more than a cookbook. Perhaps a cast-iron saucepan filled with tins from your cupboard - something that will place serious pressure on your sandwich and it's filling.
16. Leave overnight, somewhere cool, and resist the temptation to have a peek.
17. The next day - remove the weight and cut off the string (but leave the greaseproof paper in place). Cut wedges of the sandwich with the greaseproof paper in place and hand around to some of the most delighted picnic goers you'll ever have met!
Gratuitous close up of the amazing compressed meaty goodness;
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