Go west, young woman!

Our little Angie stayed with us for a night on her big move out to California. We had to have an appropriate sandwich in her honor, of course. I found a good candidate in 'wichcraft: red wine-braised flank steak with roasted peppers, onions, and gruyere. The only thing it was missing to make it a true Angie sandwich was mushrooms.

The recipe called for 2 1/2 hours to braise the meat so I cooked it up the night before Angie was due. The sandwich was almost lost when the braising liquid cooked off and the steak started to burn. I was so caught up watching Sherlock on PBS that I barely noticed the buring smell coming from the kitchen. I saved it just in time, but the pan juices were ruined. I improvised some new pan juices with beef broth and was able to shred the meat in it. It was a little overcooked tasting, but not terribly so. The whole incident reminded me of the scene in Julie and Julia when Julie burns the boeuf bourguignon she's making for the food critic because she fell asleep. My intended audience was more forgiving so I didn't have to start over. Phew!

I also made some changes to the recipe. First off, I forgot my list when I went shopping and I bought gouda instead of gruyere. That was no big loss--the gouda was delicious. I sauteed up a mess of crimini mushrooms to add to the sandwich which were a lovely addition.

We assembled the sandwiches and baked them in the oven until they were good and melty. Angie built a huge sandwich, as expected.

Hopefully the meaty deliciousness of this sandwich will convince Angie to come back and visit often!