PORTILLO’S ITALIAN BEEF (Copycat)

photo by Denver cooks


- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1⁄4 lb beef fat, trimmings
- 4 cups water
- 2 knorr beef bouillon cubes (double-size cubes, or use 4 standard size)
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet, browning & seasoning sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1⁄8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch msg
- 4 hard french bread sandwich buns
- 1 lb roast beef, London broil or 1 lb italian style roast beef, sliced very thin
- marconi hot giardiniera or cooked sweet pepper
directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Render the beef fat by chopping it into small bits (about the size of peas) with a food processor. Be sure the fat is very cold--it will chop better. If you don't have a food processor, you can chop the fat by hand. Use a sharp knife and cut it as small as you can. Heat up the fat in a sauté pan over medium heat until the bits are browned. Strain the solids from the fat and measure 1/4 cup of fat for the gravy.
- Make the beef gravy by combining all of the ingredients, including the beef fat, in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the mixture begins to boil reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then turn the heat to low.
- Make the sandwiches by heating up the rolls in the hot oven for 3 minutes.
- For each sandwich, drop 1/4 pound of sliced beef (separate the slices) into the gravy for 2 minutes. Make sure the gravy isn't boiling. It should be around 180 degrees F. After the beef has soaked in the gravy, use tongs to arrange the beef on a warmed sandwich roll and top with your choice of hot giardiniera or sweet peppers. Or both. Spoon on some extra gravy just before serving.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Denver cooks
Jackson, Wyoming
Love to experiment with new recipes