Yesterday we showed you how to make the salami-spiked rolls for our reinvented Steak Bomb sandwich. Today, the focus is on the filling. Sandwiches are all about balance—it's easy to put a lot of stuff in one, but the trick to is to be thoughtful about how to taste each element. The fillings have to be great on their own and even better together, otherwise what's the point?
Flap steak is easily is one of the more flavorful cuts of beef and well suited to searing or grilling.
Flap steak is one of our favorite beef cuts. While similar to the flank steak, it has a looser texture that firms up as the meat cooks. It is sometimes referred to as a "faux hangar steak" because, when cooked properly, it has both a tender, slightly chewy texture and a rich beefy flavor. Flap steak is easily is one of the more flavorful cuts of beef and well suited to searing or grilling. Because of this, it absorbs marinades beautifully without losing any of its inherent flavor and is often seen cut into chunks and grilled on skewers. It comes from the short loin—the belly of the beast—from underneath the flank steak. It has long, loose grains and is best served sliced across them for the tenderest bite.
We like to get a whole flap steak and butcher it ourselves. This mostly consists of cleaning off any excess fat and silver skin on the top and bottom of the meat. We set aside the scraps and score the meat.
The marinade ingredients, pre-blending.
Then we put it in a bag with half of the sandwichs' flavor base, made by pureeing raw bell peppers, onions, and garlic with wine and seasonings, and refrigerate it so it can soak into the meat for a few hours. We use the scraps of beef fat by rendering them, and then use the liquid fat to make the sauce (we also brush it on the rolls before we bake them, but if you bake the rolls separately, you can also brush them with olive oil or melted butter).
We take the remaining half of the flavor base and half of the rendered beef fat and cook it down with ketchup, mustard, and rice vinegar to make the sauce. We pour the warm sauce over freshly sliced peppers and onions and then slowly cook them down together on the stove.
We cook the steak on a charcoal grill until it's pink and juicy. Then we lay it on a bed of charred scallions to rest.
The juices exude into the vegetables and the meat absorbs flavor from the onions. While this happens we griddle provolone and salami together so that it melts and caramelizes into crisps.
Finally we slice the beef and the rolls and build our sandwiches. These Steak Bombs, inspired by the ones Alex used to eat in college, are even better than he remembers.
Grilled flap steak, charred scallions, salami-cheese crisps, a rich pepper-and-onion sauce, all packed into a soft roll with salami baked into it. These sandwiches are the bomb. The reinvented Steak Bomb, to be exact.
Why this recipe works:
- Rendering the trimming of fat from the steak creates liquid beef fat that then can be used to infuse even more beefy flavor into the sandwich.
- Baking salami and provolone cheese together creates delicious crisps for each sandwich.
Note: An equivalent weight of skirt, hanger, or flank steak can be used in place of flap steak.
YIELD: Makes 20 small (slider-sized) sandwiches
ACTIVE TIME: 5 hours
TOTAL TIME: 5 hours
Ingredients
For the Flavor Base:
- 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 medium onions, peeled and roughly diced
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 50 grams soy sauce
- 75 grams fish sauce, such as Red Boat
- 150 grams dry white wine
- 10 grams smoked paprika
For the Steak:
- 1 whole Beef Flap steak (about 3 pounds 8 ounces; see note)
For the Beef-Fat Oil:
- Reserved Beef Fat and Trim (from above)
- 110 grams extra-virgin olive oil
- For the Peppers and Onions:
- Reserved Flavor Base
- 1/2 batch Rendered Beef Fat Oil
- 100 grams ketchup
- 100 grams brown mustard
- 100 grams rice vinegar
- 6 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced
- 4 large sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 grams kosher salt
For the Charred Scallions:
- 3 bunches scallions, washed and root ends trimmed
- Coarse salt, for seasoning
- For the Cheese-and-Salami Crisps:
- 7 thick slices provolone chees
- 21 small slices salami
- Soft Bread Salami Rolls, split
Directions
1.For the Flavor Base: Combine all Flavor Base ingredients in a blender and turn it to low speed. Slowly increase speed to high. Puree mixture until smooth. Divide Flavor Base into two equal portions and reserve.
2.For the Steak: Set steak on cutting board and remove any fat, silver skin, or unsightly pieces of meat. Reserve beef and fat trimmings.
3.Score both sides of steak about 1/4-inch deep in a cross-hatch pattern. Divide steak into 4 equal pieces. Put steak in a zipper-lock bag and cover with 1/2 of Flavor Base. Squeeze out as much excess air as possible and seal bag. Put bag into a baking dish and refrigerate meat until you are ready to grill it, at least 2 hours.
4.For the Beef-Fat Oil: Combine reserved beef fat and trimmings and olive oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Let mixture come to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fat renders and beef browns, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and strain through a strainer set over a heat-proof bowl. Discard fat and trimming solids and reserve rendered fat.
5.For the Peppers and Onions: Put remaining Flavor Base and beef fat oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Bring it to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook until the sauce darkens, about 45 minutes. Add ketchup, mustard, and rice vinegar and cook sauce for 30 minutes longer.
6.Add peppers, onions, and salt to a large pot. Stir in sauce and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until peppers and onions are soft and tender, about 45 minutes. Set aside.
7.For the Charred Scallions: Arrange scallions in a single layer on a stainless steel rack set over a baking sheet. Set the baking sheet onto a heat-proof surface, such as a stovetop. Using a butane torch, char scallions.
8.Let scallions cool, then roughly chop. Transfer scallions to a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the steak. Season scallions with coarse salt.
9.Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over half of coal grate. Alternatively, set all the burners of a gas grill to high heat. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Remove steak from bags, pat dry, and brush with remaining rendered beef fat. Grill steak over coals, turning every 30 seconds and basting with remaining beef fat, until steak registers 130°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes. Set steak on top of scallions in baking dish, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Slice beef 1/4 inch thick across the grain.
10.For the Cheese-and-Salami Crisps: Meanwhile, preheat an electric griddle to 300°F or set a cast iron skillet on a stovetop over medium-high heat. Arrange 3 slices of salami together on griddle or in skillet and top with a slice of provolone. Cook until top is melted and the bottom is caramelized. Transfer to a stainless steel rack set over a baking sheet to cool and repeat with remaining salami and cheese. Cut each crisp into thirds.
11.Place a generous spoonful of peppers and onions on bottom half of each roll. Add a small spoonful of charred scallions. Arrange steak on top. Top each mound of steak with a Cheese-and-Salami Crisp and cover with the top half of the roll. Serve immediately.