Kick-Off Steak Sandwich

First, I want to thank all of your for your well-wishes for the folks affected by Hurricane Gustav. Our family members are all safe and it seems they suffered little damage so far. Let's hope the three storms still out there spin out in the Atlantic and don't cause any harm.

Soccer has consumed my free time. I spent the last two weekends at tournaments and taxied people to and from practices and games all week. I need to win a gas card bad. Last night I FINALLY got to cook and we did sandwich night. This wasn't any ordinary sandwich night; I wanted to put it over the top. I missed my knife and cutting board, I missed my pots and pans...not really, well kind of...so while I was supposed to be working yesterday afternoon, I zoned out and came up with this Kick-Off Steak Sandwich...I think it's a wonderful idea for a football game too!

Kick-Off Steak Sandwich -

Start off with a package of Gruyere cheese. A little note here, this cheese is a little pricey, but when you see what we do with it, it goes a long way. Gruyere is a Swiss cheese imported from, you guessed it Switzerland, and it has a stronger taste than domestic Swiss cheese.

Cut off the rind.

Cube the Gruyere and place in a food processor using the cutting blade. Add about 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Be careful because the Gruyere is slightly salty...you can leave the salt out if you're not a salt person.

Pulse the food processor until the cheese is completely broken up. While the machine is running, stream in about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. You will wind up with a thick, but spreadable, palate pleasing mixture. Set this aside and keep at room temperature.

We're going to roast an Anaheim pepper. These peppers have a little fire to them, and are a lot like a bell pepper. Place the pepper on the grill or under the broiler in your oven. You want to char the outside skin of the pepper.

Keep a close eye on the pepper and turn as each side begins to char.

Once all sides are evenly charred. Remove pepper from grill and place in a PAPER bag, close bag and let the pepper steam for about 10 minutes. (Sorry this was the smallest paper bag I could find) I have visited several cooking blogs that instruct you to place roasted peppers in a re-sealable plastic bag. PLEASE use PAPER. There's a good chance the plastic will melt onto your temperature hot pepper...gross!

Remove the pepper from the bag so you can peel the outer layer of the charred skin.

The charred out skin peels off so easy. You can use this method to roast just about any kind of pepper.

You can use any cut of steak you like; I used a sirloin that I caught on sale. Brush steak with extra virgin olive oil on both sides and season with Montreal Steak seasoning. Grill until you've reached your desired doneness. Thinly slice the steak.

Okay, now for the bread. I used Chibatta bread. It has a thin crust and is light and airy on the inside. With steak, I didn't want to use a heavy bread. Melt one stick of butter over very low heat, add 2 cloves of crushed garlic to infuse the butter with garlic flavor. (I started this before I started the cheese mixture.) Cut the bread in half sandwich style and brush the inside of the bread with the garlic butter and place butter side down on the hot grill for about 30 seconds.

Mmmm, I can't wait to put these sandwiches together!

I put the two pieces of bread together and cut into 4 equal portions. Spread the Gruyere cheese mixture on the bread, place your steak slices, top with the grilled peppers and a few pieces of spicy arugula and you have a sandwich that will please all of your homies!

GO SAINTS GO!