This isn’t your average sandwich - slow-braised beef smothered in rich Cajun-spiced gravy, packed into a crunchy French stick with all the classic fixings. Crunchy lettuce, juicy tomato, tangy pickles, and a slather of mayo pull it all together. It's messy, meaty, and gloriously over the top.
Category
Lunch
Servings
4
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
3.20
This isn’t your average sandwich - slow-braised beef smothered in rich Cajun-spiced gravy, packed into a crunchy French stick with all the classic fixings. Crunchy lettuce, juicy tomato, tangy pickles, and a slather of mayo pull it all together. It's messy, meaty, and gloriously over the top.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5kg Oyster blade, trimmed
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to season
- 1 brown onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 sticks celery, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 sprigs thyme
- ½ bunch parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 1L (1 qrt) chicken stock
- 40g butter
- ¼ cup plain flour
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 French stick
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- ½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
- dill pickles, to serve
Directions
Preheat oven to 140°C fan force (285°F).
- Heat oil in a heavy-based oven proof saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Season beef with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook, turning until browned all over, then transfer to a plate.
- Add onion and carrot to the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes, until starting to brown.
- Add celery, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns, stir through and cook for a further minute. Add the beef back to the pan.
- Stir in stock, bring to a simmer then cover and transfer to the oven for 3 hours, turning beef over in cooking liquid halfway through.
- Remove from the oven and allow beef to cool in the liquid.
- Transfer beef to a tray and strain liquid through a sieve into a large bowl.
- Melt butter in the same saucepan used for the beef over medium heat.
- Add flour and whisk to combine, cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in reserved beef liquid, worcestershire and cajun seasoning, cooking until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 200°C fan force (390°F).
- Slice beef into 1cm thick slices then gently toss through gravy to coat.
- Slice the French stick into 4 portions, then halve horizontally, without cutting all the way through.
- Toast bread, closed, in the oven for 5 mins, until the tops are crispy.
- Spread base of bread with mayonnaise, then top with lettuce, tomato, pickles and top with beef and some gravy. Close over the bread top and enjoy!
