Doing jus-tice to a French dip sandwich

I’ve always been partial to a French dip sandwich. The toasty bread piled high with perfectly cooked meat, sometimes topped with a slice of melted Swiss cheese. Trouble is, not everyone does it well, or the same way. I recall one place serving theirs on a chunk of a rustic baguette. You had to dip it into the jus to be able to sink your teeth into it. There was the place that cooked their own meat, but it was so overcooked that the shreds they served on the bun were chalky dry; the jus they served was the actual juice from the cooking pan, which was mighty tasty. Some places use deli sliced roast beef. The place that served it on the baguette mentioned above scorched it to death on a flat-top grill. It should have been there just long enough to heat through. Another place dipped the serving of beef into a pot of jus to warm it up before placing it on the bread.

My point with all this is to say there are many ways of making up a French dip sandwich. No one way is necessarily better than another. The roast I cooked up for the picture was sliced up when it was a medium-rare doneness. I figured dipping it into the hot jus would cook it a bit more before you ate it. I also heavily seasoned the roast, figuring that each thinly-sliced piece would have a reasonable amount of crusty-savory seasoning. You might want to go the super-easy route and go to the deli section at your local megamart and ask for some thinly sliced beef round roast. Most of those are perfectly cooked and seasoned throughout, so all you would have to do is gently heat beef before putting it on your bread.

I like the flavor of a toasted bun. It brings out more of the flavor than one just sliced and topped. I’ll place a dab of butter in a frying pan and heat it over medium-high heat. The bread then goes cut side down into the butter and is left there until golden brown. Yeah, you could just drop the bread into the toaster, if it will fit, then lightly butter it when it comes out. You could use a fresh baguette, cut into serving sized portions, or get a package of hoagies.

I’d prefer a bit of real sliced Swiss on my sandwich. It lends a bit of salt to the meat, and a more sophisticated flavor than a slice of American cheese would. Cheddar would be a bit too bold, though a mild version could work in a pinch.

Do you say “au jus,” or just “jus?” Au jus means “with juice,” so saying “with au jus” is redundant. How do you make up the stuff? I suppose you could find the little packets at the local megamart and follow the directions on the package. Your jus will taste very familiar, though it’s hardly authentic. Lots of places use an instant jus mix. Think of the labor and time saved. When I made up the roast for the picture, I allowed the meat to nearly cook to the temperature I needed, before introducing some extra water to the pan. I then had enough seasoned liquid when the roast was done to serve in the dish shown, plus more for the rest of the roast not shown.

Closely related to the French dip is the cheesesteak. This is thinly sliced beef, which is then seasoned and cooked, topped with cheese, and served on a toasted hoagie. Would serving it with jus mean it’s a French dip, or does my adding cheese to a French dip make it a cheesesteak?

ROAST TOP ROUND OF BEEF AU JUS

2 pounds top round of beef, boneless

2 cloves garlic, cut into slivers

Seasoning salt to taste

Worcestershire sauce, as needed

Thyme or rosemary

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup carrot, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup celery, coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

1 cup chopped parsley

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 quart beef stock

1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste

Hoagies

Swiss cheese, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poke slits all over into the beef with a knife and insert slivers of garlic. Season with seasoning salt and Worcestershire. Rub into meat. Sprinkle with herbs. Place onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, pepper, and parsley into a roasting pan and place roast on top. Place in oven and bake until a meat thermometer reads the desired internal temperature. Times will vary. Medium will be around 150 degrees, Medium-well is about 155 degrees, Well done is 160. Remove from pan. Keep warm. Deglaze roasting pan with stock and tomato paste. Strain through a colander, pressing on the vegetables with the back of a spoon to press out all the juice. Degrease. Adjust seasoning, if needed. Slice meat thin across the grain. Toast hoagie to desired brownness. Place a reasonable amount of beef on the lower half of the bread. Top with a slice or two of cheese. Top with the remaining slice of bread. Serve 1/2 cup of jus per portion.