Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich

     Here's a recipe that I've used a few times now for Italian beef sandwiches.

    The inspiration for much of the recipe I ended up with comes from SeriousEats Italian beef and the full write up by Serious Eat Chicago Style Italian Beef.  

    I've done this recipe cooking the top sirloin roast on the rotisserie and also sous vide.  Both were cooked to a medium rare and sliced on a deli style slicer to the very thinnest setting.  Both methods of cooking turned out really good...although the sous vide roast was even more tender and more flavorful.  When you but herbs and additions into the sous vide bag they just seem to permeate all the way through the meat.  It also ends up being cooked precisely to the correct temperature and end up incredibly tender.

    You cook both the roast and the jus separate.  The roast I cook to an easy rare/medium rare, I use 127f.  When cooking with dry heat I'll coat it with spices and herbs of my choice.  I'll then baste or spray with a mop as it cooks and turns.  What herbs, what mop...doesn't really matter.  Blend up an Italian blend and use that...then mop of your choice.  Cook this to 127-130f...set to rest then chill in refrigerator before slicing.  Slice the beef as thinly as possible, preferably on a deli slicer...this is really key to getting a tender eating beef sandwich.  

   When I do the sous vide cook I rub the mix of spices and herbs onto the roast.  Then add three peeled/crushed garlic cloves and two pads of butter on each side of the roast before vacuum sealing the bag.  Cook it in a water bath at 127f-130f for 10 hours.  Cool, then slice on deli slicer.  

   For the jus roast the bones, vegetables together, add to pot with water and reduce.  Remember that you want the jus to be extra tasty.  If it's not reduced and seasoned enough it will get lost with the bread.  After you've reduced it, remove the bones and add the meat back...then add your spices and herbs...I add just a touch more salt than I normally would by taste.  Also, adding just a bit of Tabasco hot sauce can really open things up...you aren't looking to add heat, just depth.   On the day that you'll serve your beef sandwiches roast several bell peppers, slice and add to jus...cook for a bit.

   Toast the sliced french bread in the oven for a touch.  Add the sliced beef to the jus, at 140f, to heat for just a bit, then pile in sliced bread and load with jus and meat from the jus...continue to dip the sandwich in jus.