SUPERBOWL RIB SANDWICH

I'm a sandwich guy. I took a sandwich test once, the kind you see every now and then when you're cruising about the internet, and I did not miss a question. Now this isn't a blog to prove my sandwich IQ, I use it as a personal reference and also hope that anyone who may read it can learn a few things too. In that vein, for guest readers of this blog, my great sandwich hint is for everyone to try out Vietnamese sandwiches. These sandwiches sell for about $3 and can stand with the best of sandwiches. Ask for extra vegetables and you will end up with a healthier than normal sandwich that tastes great! Most Vietnamese sandwiches come with julienned carrots. The carrots have a light vinegar dressing that gives the sandwich a slight tanginess. I spied a recipe that does the same thing with an onion topping on some well-cooked beef short ribs and decided to give it a try. The end result of this effort is a restaurant quality sandwich, stout enough to satisfy and perfectly fit for a crazed crowd of Superbowl fans.

This recipe will be discussed in three parts. I'll discuss cooking the short ribs and then follow that with a discussion of the onion topping, lastly, the final assembly will be reviewed.

Short Ribs

3 1/2 - lbs. beef short ribs
1/4 - cup butter (1/2 stick)
3 - celery stalks, chopped
2 - large carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 - medium onion, chopped
3/4 - cup, dry red wine
1 - can, beef broth
1/3 - cup, medium-dry sherry
2 - garlic cloves, peeled
3 - bay leaves
1 - large fresh thyme sprig

Melt butter in a large fry pan then add the short ribs and brown them at medium high heat for about 6 minutes. You will probably need to brown the ribs in two batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove the ribs from the pan then add the celery, carrots and onion sauteing until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, wine, sherry, bay leaves, thyme and garlic. Bring to a boil scraping up browned bits, season with salt and pepper. Return the ribs to the pan, propping up on their sides arranged in a single layer. Cover and cook at a medium low simmer for 1 hour.

After an hour of cooking, turn the ribs over and cook for an additional 1-1/2 hours. If sauce thickens - that's good - be sure to rearrange the ribs occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove and cool for 30 minutes.

Transfer ribs to work surface, discard thyme sprig and bay leaves. Spoon off fat from the remaing sauce or if time allows refrigerate the sauce so as to solidify the fat, remove the fat when solidified. There is alot of fat rendered from short ribs so don't shortcut this step! Now, turning our attention back to the ribs, these need to be deboned and trimmed of fat, dispose of bones and trimmed fat.

Note: Were you to stop here, or perhaps even before deboning, you have the makings of a very good and very tender short rib dinner. You just need some sides and any ribs leftover can be made into Superbowl sandwiches the next day.

Onion Topping

1 - tablespoon butter
2 - large sweet onions, halved, thinly sliced crosswise
4 1/2 - tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 - teaspoons sugar

Melt butter in a pan on medium high heat. Add sliced onions, sprinkle with salt and saute for about 10 minutes stirring often. Add vinegar and sugar sauting until almost all of the vinegar is absorbed, about one minute. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the onions to a microwave safe bowl as we'll most likely need to nuke it later to rewarm.

Final Assembly

2 - tablespoons butter, melted
12 - slices country-style crusty white bread
6 - slices monterey jack cheese
1 - bunch leaf lettuce, loosely torn

Butter one side of each bread slice, then place buttered side down. Top six of the bread slices with a fair portion of beef mixture (about 1/2 cup), top beef mixture with slice of monterey jack. Building further, top the cheese with prepared onions (warmed, about 1/4 cup) and top the onions with a handful of leaf lettuce. Close out the sandwich by topping each with one of the remaining 6 bread slices (buttered side out)

Heat pan or griddle to medium, cook each sandwich until bread is golden brown and cheese melts, about 3 minutes per side. Cut each sandwich in half on the diagonal and serve.

Confessions: Instead of cooking sherry, I used lillet. I'd like to try Kahlua too. Also, I used mozzarella cheese rather than monterey jack. And, I used rice vinegar mixed with cider vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar. The original recipe called for 1-1/4 cup red wine and only 1/2 cup of beef broth, but I wanted to just go ahead and use the whole can of beef broth. Even with the changes, we felt the sandwiches were of restaurant quality.

Comments: Adapted from a recipe seen in the magazine, "bon appetit", courtesy of the Los Angeles restaurant, Joan's on Third. I really liked the quality that came through even though we used short ribs, an oft maligned cut of meat.

Additional Comments: Colts by 4 over the Saints.