French Dip Sandwich

How this sandwich was invented is not quite certain, but it originated in Los Angeles in the early 1900s.

This is a meat-and-bread lover's dream. A crusty roll stuffed with slow-roast beef and Swiss cheese comes with its very own bowl of hot gravy for dunking. Try it for yourself!

The quantities given in the ingredients should be enough for 8 people, however I used half the amounts as you’ll see in the pictures.

1kg (2.2lbs) beef topside/round cut

olive oil

2 onions, I used red onions

500ml (16.9 fl oz) American pale ale

2 bay leaves

4 sub rolls or long soft rolls, halved

Dijon mustard

16 slices Emmental

Heat the oven to 150C (302F)/fan 130C (260F)/gas 2. Heat an ovenproof casserole pot. Rub the topside all over with oil then season well. On a clean board, peel the onions and cut the root and top ends off, then cut in half lengthways. Place cut-side down and finely slice. Be careful!

Put the meat in the pan and brown on all sides, until it has a deep colour. Spend a bit of time doing this, as it will all help the flavour of the gravy. Lift the meat out of the pan onto a plate while you add the onions to the pot with a pinch of salt. Cook on a fairly high heat until the onions have started to break down and turn golden. Add the beer and bring to a simmer.

Add back the beef with the bay leaves and cover with a lid. Transfer to the oven for 3 hours. Take the beef from the gravy, trim away any fat or other straggly bits, cool to room temperature and chill for 2 hours (this will make it easier to slice, see note). Once chilled, slice the beef as thinly as possible. Strain the onions from the gravy in the pot (you may find that you need to add a little extra water to the gravy, if it has disappeared from the cooking process), then place back on a low heat to warm up.

Warm the rolls in a low oven, then split and spread thinly with mustard. Drop the beef slices into the gravy for a few minutes to reheat then stuff it into the rolls along with a few slices of cheese. Serve the rest of the gravy on the side in bowls for dipping and perhaps even some fries! Why not?