Grilled steak, sweet caramelised onion and peppery horseradish cream on a crunchy sesame seed bagel.
Sandwiches don't get enough airtime. Universally loved but often overlooked would you say? So to help fix that, I'm dedicating the next five posts to sandwiches of all kinds, to give you a little lunch time inspiration when you don't feel like eating leftovers. A couple of weeks ago, I asked: "what constitutes a sandwich?" First to myself, then into the search bar in Google. I came across the Sandwich Alignment Chart and posted this to Instagram stories requesting feedback.
An interesting observation - it seems I have a lot of structural neutrals and structural purists viewers. In regards to ingredients though, we had variation between purists and rebels. No radical sandwich anarchy in sight! Although I am led to believe that perhaps those viewers were too busy calling dumplings a sandwich to take the time out of their day to respond to my ludicrous stories.
This sando series is made up of five sandwich recipes of varying difficulty but guaranteed deliciousness. Inspiration for the selection of recipes came from a conversation I've had with several people. These are the kinds of chats I have on a regular basis. Essentially, it is thought that bought sandwiches are always better than homemade (also appears to apply to salads). I think the reason for this is the effort that your local cafe or deli applies to making this lunchtime item most likely trumps the effort you've put in to whip up your ham and cheese on wholewheat at 6:30am before work. If you're on the same page re salads - should go back and view my 5 Salads of Summer series I did earlier this year 🙂
First up is this structural neutral bad boy - grilled steak, caramelised onion and horseradish on a toasted bagel. This type of sandwich is most commonly seen on a cafe or market stall menu. It's likely that you'd immediately brush this recipe aside as too much effort for a sandwich, which I can confirm for you, it is not. I urge you to wake up 30 mins earlier (or go to bed 30 mins later the night before) so you can whip up the components of this sandwich. You'll thank your past self the next day when you're hoeing into this one at midday.
Steak, Caramelised Onion and Horseradish Bagel
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 200 g rump or porterhouse steak
- 2 sesame seed bagels toasted
- 2 tablespoon horseradish cream
- 1 cup rocket arugula leaves
Caramelised onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 brown onions thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare the caramelised onion by heating olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Add onions and salt and turn the heat to low - you don't want your onions to burn.
- Gently saute onions for 25-30 minutes until they are soft and browned. If the pan becomes too dry throughout this process, add one teaspoon of water to loosen any stuck bits.
- Once desired colour is reached, sprinkle over sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook for a further three minutes to melt sugar and vinegar into onions. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- Rub olive oil over each side of your steak, and sprinkle with salt. Heat a grill or fry pan over high heat. Once hot, add steak and grill for three minutes each side for medium rare, longer if you'd prefer your steak more cooked. Set aside on a plate for five minutes to rest before slicing thinly.
- To assemble your sandwich, divide one tablespoon of horseradish cream on the top and bottom halves of your toasted sesame bagel. On the bottom half, layer sliced of steak, caramelised onion and rocket, followed by the top of the bagel. Slice bagel in half for easy eating.
Notes
- If you are incredibly short on time, you can buy jarred caramelised onions. I highly recommend you make them though!
- All of these ingredients would also work well on some grilled sourdough bread too.
- If horseradish cream is not your thing, try dijon mustard for a more delicate flavour.
Looking for more sandwich ideas? Try my creamy pesto chicken bagel or my turkey, brie and cranberry toastie.
