Since moving to the St. Clair West neighbourhood of Toronto, I pass Roast daily during my streetcar commute. I decided to visit this butcher shop and fine food vendor this weekend to see what they have to offer. Roast’s interior is clean and modern, and features a large selection of local and organic meat, packaged rubs and marinades, and a variety of made in-house dishes such as rabbit stew and chicken pot pie. After chatting with the friendly staff, I mentioned how I was hoping to prepare French dip sandwiches and was recommended a blade roast. This cut of meat comes from the chuck section of a steer or heifer. Since the muscles on this roast are used frequently by the animal, it is a tough cut of meat that is most suitable for long and slow cooking submerged in liquid. Perfect for making French dip sandwiches! I got a 1.47kg roast (just over 3 pounds) for $19.00/lb.
For this recipe I used my mom’s technique that she uses to make pot roast. First, I thinly sliced an onion and some mushrooms, smashed a couple cloves of garlic, and placed them in the bottom of my slow cooker.
I prepared a beef bouillon cube in three cups of hot water and added in a quarter cup of low sodium soy sauce and a dash of Worcheshire sauce. Next, I seasoned my blade roast with salt, pepper, and dijon mustard before placing it in the slow cooker.
I poured in the beef stock, added sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf, and set the crock pot to high.
Seven hours later the meat was super tender and falling apart beautifully.
To make the sandwiches, I cut up a baguette that I got from Pain Perdu before lightly toasting it in the oven. I strained the mushrooms and onions from the jus and shredded the roast.
When the bread was nice and toasty, I piled on the meat and vegetables, topped with provolone cheese, and placed into the oven to broil until the cheese was melted.
Overall, I found preparing this meal was very simple and if I were to sell this sandwich in a restaurant I would charge $14.00 (for two, as pictured). This dish could be served in a fast paced restaurant if the meat was prepared in advance by slow roasting overnight.
the good karma cook 