By John Lindsay, 1907 Meat Co.
Ingredients
One whole unsliced loaf of bread (usually found as “farmer’s bread”)
One top butt sirloin steak cut 1 ½ inch-2inch
3-5 portabella mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste
This is one of my all time favorites. It’s the perfect thing for hiking, biking, or canoeing. This simple recipe comes from the highland hunt masters, or “ghillies”; they would cook a piece of steak, stuff it into a hollowed out loaf of bread, add some mushrooms, and wrap it all up tight. The ingredients would combine all morning while it rode around in the bottom of their bags. Come lunch time, they would have a delicious meal.
The first thing you need with this recipe is a good 1 ½ -2 inch piece of sirloin (top butt) steak. Getting this dry-aged is a superior idea as the flavor profile is a bit more complex . For bread, a farmer’s loaf unsliced or a round loaf (boule). This is a moisture-intense process, so wrapping this in plastic wrap is likely the best option as most people don’t have butcher paper on hand. Also choose a clean, heavy weight to press the ingredients if you are not sticking it in your backpack. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
- Cook the Sirloin steak using your favorite method and add whatever spices you like. I prefer mine rare, but be sure not to cook the steak beyond medium rare. Remember that the steak will have carry-over heat and it will continue to cook as it is pressed. Make sure not to cut, poke, or prod your meat as this causes fluid loss; use tongs instead.
- Cook portabellas in the same pan as the steak. Add a little oil if needed until the mushrooms wilt (they will turn watery and won’t hold there shape). Take out and rest on a plate with the steak.
- Cut the heel off of the loaf of bread and remove the insides in big chunks. Be careful not to break the crust.
- Use the bread to sop up the drippings from the mushrooms and steak.
- Stuff the hollow bread loaf with the steak and mushrooms, then add all the sopped bread. Fill any other gaps with the reserved loaf filling.
- Replace the heels and loosely wrap in butcher paper (if you have it) or plastic wrap. Then place a heavy weight (cast iron pan, brick wrapped in tinfoil, etc…) on top.
- Let sit for 4-5 hours. Slice and eat.
