197. Steak sandwich inspired by Gordon Ramsay
This post was inspired initially by one of my sons. He sent me a YouTube video of Gordon Ramsay making a steak sandwich. My son’s text message was simply titled, ‘Can you make this later’. My son had to wait couple days but ‘make it’ I did.
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While I didn’t make Gordon Ramsay’s exact steak sandwich, he used filet (the tenderloin), and a gorgeous tomato relish. I just focused on his sauce. All about the sauce, get the sauce right and you get the essence of a Michelin star sandwich, or at least a multi Michelin star chef’s steak sandwich!
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All the recipes on this Substack ‘Just really good recipes’ are titled with ‘inspired by’, this is deliberate. I am not a classically trained chef, I am a prolific home cook that is somewhat feral in the comforts of her own kitchen (feral home cook is a suitable moniker). I have no fear and no inhibitions when I am cooking. I have more cooking fails under my belt than most. Yet, home cooking has no fails, reframe the ‘fail’ as just one way of not doing it, turn the page and redo - perhaps more than once. Don’t get me wrong, I do receive the occasional grunt and groan from my resident food critics when a meal does not live up to snuff, but being a mother of multiple boys for many years now, my skin has grown as thick as an elephants hide. I will add a small caveat here that I do relish the compliments when they come (and offered without being prompted). It is a choice not to dwell on mistakes.
For this post in particular it is no small feat getting a decent photo (I am also a feral food photographer) of a steak sandwich with a brown lumpy sauce! I have over 40 photos at various stages of this steak sandwich - shades of beige and brown in food are just not very appetizing. I made this sandwich 4 times in a week - much to the delight of my children - and finally settled on the photo I have featured. I am leaning heavily on Gordon Ramsay’s name for post views! The photo DOES NOT do the taste justice. This sandwich is gorgeous!
I encourage you to throw caution to the wind when you are cooking. Why not try something new? Not only will you improve by doing, you will undoubtably experience more and more success which leads to more enjoyment during the cooking process. Trust me on this.
This post features 2 recipes, 1. a marinade for a flank steak (bavette, London broil, jiffy, arachera… It would be nice if there was some international consensus on labelling cuts of meat). The flank steak marinade recipe is one I have used successfully for years. Then 2. a steak sauce inspired by Gordon Ramsay.
Alot of my culinary skill/knowledge comes from watching hours and hours of ‘how to’ videos and reading Gordon Ramsay cookbooks (and other chefs but initially it was all about Gordon). ‘Netflix and chill’ for me is cooking videos and reading cookbooks.
It seems like I am stating the obvious but, Gordon Ramsay’s steak sauce is spectacular. I am including his original recipe in this post - as well as my ‘feral home cook version’, which was pretty amazing too. The only thing I changed was not a change, it was an omission. I didn’t include the red wine in his recipe (clearly this ingredient would move the needle even closer to divine). He also uses shallots. I did use shallots one time. Many other times, I didn’t have any, so I used red onion or even a plain cooking onion if need be, and the sauce was still off the charts - I believe the appropriate expression is chef’s kiss. BUT - If you have shallots, use them.
Without further ado, and endless ramblings of Gordon Ramsay’s genius and accolades, let’s get to the recipes.
The steak marinade
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp fresh thyme - 3 or 5 sprigs
4 Tbsp soy sauce OR balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1 1/2 lbs flank steaks
Method
Place all the ingredients into a glass bowl or Ziploc style bag. Allow to marinate for at least one hour, ideally overnight (up to 48 hours).
If you can, remove the marinating steak from the fridge 1 hour prior to cooking. Ideally the beef should be room temperature prior to cooking. This ensures a more uniform cook.
BBQ/grill or if pan frying, preheat the skillet to high. Add a teaspoon of olive oil then the flank steak. Cook for roughly 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. If the flank steak is thicker, adjust the cook time. Aim for 130-135 F (54-57 C).
Let the steak rest for 10 minutes prior to slicing. Be sure to slice against the grain.
Gordon Ramsay’s steak sauce recipe
The few changes I did are listed in italics.
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped — mine: 1 1/2 Tbsp of an onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot) — mine: I skipped this ingredient
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup beef stock
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp black pepper
Method
In a saucepan pre-heated to med-high, soften the shallots and garlic. Stir constantly. Then add the rest of the ingredients in order, allowing the sauce to boil/simmer in between the addition of each ingredient. The butter is added last.
Allow the sauce to simmer for several minutes and reduce to a sauce like consistency. The sauce is done when you can dip a spoon into the sauce then, run your finger down the back of the spoon drawing a clean line. The line should stay visible. (This is a good time to check the seasoning - if you followed Gordon’s recipe, then it should be perfect as is!)
Sandwich assembly
If you want to make your own bread, I have linked three easy recipes here.
For this post I used a store bought baguettes - One time I chose Parisian the other time Italian, my family didn’t even notice!
Decide it you want to toast the bread - grill, use a toaster or stove top using a pan lightly coated in olive oil.
Dress your sandwich as you like. The photos below show how I did it. Gordon Ramsay added his tomato relish over the top. I put the (veg component) lettuce and tomato on the bottom - he is the one with the Michelin Stars !
Did you know that if you hit the ❤️ at the top or bottom of this post, it makes it easier for people to find us all at Just really good recipes!
Serve and enjoy!
This was great! Thanks 😊
I enjoyed reading your culinary backstory; here’s to keeping it real!