Chicago Style Italian Beef

I made this delicious Italian beef a few weeks ago, and although it may not be exactly the same as Al's #1 Italian beef from Chicago, this meal is so delish and full of flavor and you can feed an army with it! This, again, is one of those dishes you need a couple of days to prepare, but it's worth it because the meat gets juicy and da gravy is so good. One suggestion I do have is for you to purchase (or borrow) a meat slicer because you want to slice the beef as thin as you possibly can. Don't forget to dip the sandwiches in da gravy (au jus) to make it an authentic Italian beef.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8 people)

Da Beef

• 5 lb beef rump roast
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper

Da Gravy

• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 8 cloves garlic, minced (yes, 8!)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• salt, if needed
• Giardiniera, for relish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Sprinkle the roast with garlic powder, oregano and pepper. Rub it all over and place roast in a dutch oven or shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. (The roast will be rare -- don't overcook it!)

Remove roast from pan and let it cool slightly, then thinly slice with meat slicer.

For da gravy: To the roasts pan drippings add the boiling water, beef broth, oregano, thyme, pepper, Tabasco sauce, garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes, scraping up the browned bits at bottom of pan. Taste for seasoning and add salt, if needed (I didn't add any). Remove da gravy from heat and then add the add the sliced beef into da gravy.

Cover and marinate the beef in da gravy overnight. Reheat the next day and serve in crusty Italian sandwich rolls; put some giardiniera as relish on sandwiches and enjoy. Da Bears!!!