French dip sandwich made from leftover beef tri-tip

In my teens and twenties the only food I would order when I ate out in restaurants was French dip sandwiches. Not only was my diet very limited, but so was the distance I had traveled. However, at that time I could have told you where you could get the best French dip sandwiches from Livermore (in the San Francisco Bay Area) to Lake Tahoe and south to San Diego.  I very rarely order French dip sandwiches these days–I find that a lot of restaurants use beef that looks and tastes like lunch meat in their French dips, and I prefer hand carved roast beef.

Recently my friend Kim Bonde provided a French dip sandwich lunch at a fundraiser that we hosted. Her sandwiches were just delicious and reminded me of how much I used to like them, so when I had some tri-tip roast left over last week, I made French dip sandwiches with the leftover meat.

As long as you have the beef on hand, they are quick and easy to make. It’s so easy, you don’t need a recipe, just follow the directions under the photos below.

Split open and spray olive or spread some butter on sourdough or ciabatta rolls, place the rolls cut-side down in a skillet on medium heat until toasty brown

Thinly slice left over roast beef

Following the manufacturer’s directions, mix up some au jus

Heat up the beef with a tablespoon or two of the au jus

Place the beef on the bread and serve with the au jus.

To dress the sandwiches up a bit, you can add cheese or grilled onions.

That was easy.

~merry~