Recipe: French Dip Sammies & Onion Spread

Since I was in charge of Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day food, I decided to make my life a little easier… well, I attempted, but as usual (& Hubby will remind me of this every time), I bit off a little more than I could chew. I just like to cook & make yummy stuff for my family! I can’t help it!

For Christmas Day, I made these French Dip Sandwiches with Onion Spread from a recipe I found on Food Network. The onion spread is a little labor/time intensive, so I made that the night before. Thank goodness I had pre-wrapped Santa’s gifts & the boy was in bed. It was a nice relaxing way to spend an hour or two… The onion spread is well worth the labor, though. The sammies would have been good without it, but this spread pushes it over the edge into great. I’ve been eating it as a chip dip because I just can’t get enough. And letting it sit overnight in the fridge just made it better.

French Dip Sandwiches:
Prep Time: 1 hr 45 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 55 min
Total Time: 3 hrs 40 min
Makes: 6 servings

For the Onion Spread:

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt
• 6 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 bunches scallions, chopped (white and greens parts separated)
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt; cover and cook, stirring, until golden, about 35 minutes. Add the shallots and scallion whites; cover and cook, stirring, until browned, about 25 more minutes. Stir in the scallion greens, then remove from the heat and let cool.

Chop the onion mixture and transfer to a bowl. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar,Worcestershire sauce and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

For the Sandwiches:

• 6 cloves garlic
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 3-to-4-pound beef eye round roast
• 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 3 sprigs parsley
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons dry sherry
• 6 6-inch Italian rolls, split and lightly toasted

Directions:
Mince the garlic, then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and mash into a paste with the flat side of a large knife. Transfer to a bowl; add the olive oil, celery salt, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cut small slits all over the beef with a knife, then use your fingers to push the garlic paste into the slits. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring the beef to room temperature. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting pan; add 1 cup broth, 3/4 cup water, the celery, onion and parsley to the pan. Roast 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and roast until a thermometer inserted into the center of the beef registers 115 degrees F, about 45 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; let rest 20 minutes. Strain the pan juices; reserve.

Meanwhile, make the jus: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in the reserved pan juices and the remaining 3 cups broth and bring to a boil, whisking. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sherry.

Brush the rolls with some of the onion spread. Thinly slice the beef against the grain. Dunk the slices in the jus, then layer on the rolls. Serve the remaining jus in small bowls for dipping.

I was sure to get a large roast. The recipe calls for 3 - 4 pound roast for 6 servings. We had 8 people, so we obviously needed more meat, & I wanted to make sure we had leftovers. I bought a 6.5 lb roast and we had pleeeeeenty! Lots for people to eat and lots of leftovers. I got Hubby a panini press/griddler for Christmas, so we experimented with that. Yum! French Dip Paninis! I will definitely be making this again soon.