There are few better Louisiana dishes than a classic roast beef po’ boy, and thanks to this delicious recipe from Louisiana Travel, you’ll always be a few steps away from enjoying one of the most legendary sandwiches of the south.

The roast beef po’ boy is a classic Louisiana sandwich that is thought to have gained popularity in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when French Quarter restaurants began serving it as a cheaper meal for workers. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the roast beef po’ boy became a mainstream sandwich, when it was featured in national magazines and cookbooks. Today, the roast beef po’ boy is a popular sandwich at many Louisiana restaurants. This culinary delight consists of thin slices of roast beef, garlic mayonnaise, and pickled vegetables on a French baguette.

Ingredients

• 4 loaves of 6-8 inch French bread, split lengthwise
• 1 beef chuck roast, 2.5-pounds
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of hot sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of diced onion
• ½ cup of diced carrot
• 1 cup of shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 large beefsteak tomato, sliced
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper

Directions

1. You’ll begin this delicious, classic Louisiana recipe by cutting small cuts into your roast, about 3 inches apart. Be sure to take care and not pierce through to the bottom of the roast. You want the incisions to allow for the roast to “breathe” while cooking. Additionally, you should insert your garlic slices into the cuts to infuse the herb into the roast during the cooking process.
2. Season both sides of the roast with both salt and black pepper. Then, take a large Dutch oven and place it over high heat. Heat your vegetable oil over high heat inside the Dutch oven until it’s spread throughout the bottom and close to smoking.
3. Use kitchen tongs and carefully add the roast to the Dutch oven and brown it well on all sides. Once it’s evenly browned, remove the roast and place it on a plate while reducing the heat to medium.
4. Add your diced onion and carrot to the pan, scrape up any roast bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook until the diced onion is tender–which should take approximately five minutes.
5. At this point, add your browned beef chuck roast back to the pan. Pour your beef and chicken stock into the pan along with your hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring the contents of the pan to a boil.
6. After the pan is boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the Dutch oven. Simmer this for about 3 hours, until the meat is properly “fork tender.” Shred the beef with two forks.
7. Lastly, use a spatula to spread mayonnaise on the cut sides of each loaf. Spoon your roast beef with gravy over the bread and top the loaves with lettuce, tomato, and any other preferred po’ bot toppings.
8. Enjoy!

Note:

There are a few key toppings that really make a roast beef po’ boy shine. First, you’ll need some type of mayonnaise or remoulade sauce. This will act as a binder for all of the other ingredients and help to keep the sandwich moist. Other traditional toppings include shredded lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions. You can use any combination of these that you like, but we think the classic combo is always a winner. And last but not least, don’t forget the hot sauce! A few dashes of your favorite Louisiana hot sauce will really take this sandwich to the next level.

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