Wandering Around the Butcher Shop

I was at the grocery store this afternoon and, instead of just dashing down the aisles to pick up my usual standards, I actually poked around a little to see what was new (I barely pay attention to commercials on TV, don't read the grocery circulars in the paper.) I was pleasantly surprised to find Bagel Bread, made, I think, by Pepperidge Farm. This got me to thinking about substantial sandwiches. I don't eat them very often, but they make a great quick meal and can be part of a healthy diet if the ingredients are chosen carefully. I call these:

Pay Day Steak Sandwiches

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup prepared white horseradish

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
3 1-inch-thick beef tenderloin steaks

3 red onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces button mushrooms, stemmed, caps thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine

4 large crusty rolls or 8 large baguette slices
2 cups shredded radicchio

Mix mayonnaise and horseradish in small bowl to blend.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle tenderloin steaks with salt and pepper. Add steaks to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Using tongs, transfer steaks to work surface.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until just caramelized, 5-7 minutes. Add mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth and red wine; simmer until juices are reduced to glaze, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Season onion mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Place 1 roll bottom, cut side up, on each of 4 plates. Spread each with horseradish mayonnaise and top with 1/2 cup radicchio. Thinly slice steaks and divide among rolls. Top with onion mixture. Spread remaining mayonnaise on cut side of croissant tops. Place tops on sandwiches.

What separates these from your ordinary steak sandwich or even a french dip is the caramelized onions and mushrooms and the way they are sauced. This is also a great way to use up leftover, thinly sliced steak.

Serve this with Paul Deen's warm potato salad and a glass of Merlot, and you are dining.

I picked up the Italian habit when I was first in Italy in 1980: there is always a bottle of water "con gas" on my dining table. I like the fizzy stuff and drink it all day and always with meals.

We have freeze warnings out for here tonight, so I'm not quite ready to pull out the grill yet, but these would be great on the grill, a pay day sub for a burger.

If the grill is out, you can round out this meal with grilled corn on the cob when the first local ears come in. Around here, that means Silver Queen 606 from the Delmarva peninsula, maybe the best sweet corn in America. The early stuff comes in around the 4th of July. If you are in Florida or California, you'll have yours earlier and I'm jealous.

The Farmers' Market opens on May 13 here, and I'm chomping at the bit. I'll buy my herb sets there even tho' there won't be much produce yet. The organic meat and artisanal bread and cheese producers will be there, however, so there will be good things to eat. I've been hearing lots about this domestic Wagyu beef which is grown around here and is supposed to be the North American answer to Kobe beef. The boutique producers usually show up at the Market and I'm dying to try some of this. From what I've seen on the Internet, I'll have to take out a home equity loan to afford it. Maybe I can pick up some tenderloin tips without having to sell one of the cats and make some beef stroganoff this weekend.

My stroganoff recipe is adapted from the Time Life "Good Cook" series of cook books, now long out of print. If you can find them at used book sales or on eBay, they are treasures of classic cooking. Back in the days when I assembled this recipe, I was too poor to buy cookbooks and I borrowed them from the library, so I'm trying to assemble the collection now.