The Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich

No picture can do justice to how unbelievably tasty this sandwich with the long name was.

My love of Susan Feniger has been well documented (see Kaya Toast, Amaretto Flan and my constant desire to fly back to Los Angeles for dinner at Street), so when I heard she was coming out with a street food cookbook I immediately began to salivate at the many delicious possibilities it was going to add to my life (and cursed the fact that it was a pre-order forcing me to wait several more months). Finally, one glorious day in July, a box from Amazon appeared on my doorstep, and Nancy and I set about making a Sunday dinner of the world's messiest yet most delicious sandwich: The elusive Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich. Now, we must sadly live in a world where all other (clearly inferior sandwiches) have been forever ruined.

The Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich
Adapted from Susan Feniger's Street Food
Servings: 8 sandwiches (It's that good. You're going to want at least 8.)
Time: 60 minutes

Sammich
3 lbs skirt steak, cut into 1/2-1/4 inch strips
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
6 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp whole-grain mustard
3 tsp sea salt
Olive Oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
8 large eggs
8 French rolls
16 slices provolone cheese
8 slices prosciutto

Golf Salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime

And now the moment when I finally prove to myself I can cook steak without the aid of grillmaster Kevin. Not being grossed out when handling all the raw meat is still a work in progress...

Finally a pink weapon for my culinary arsenal!

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Marinade the steak strips in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard with the cilantro and salt. Let sit for half an hour.
3. Sauté the onions and bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat. Cook until the onions caramelize and the bell pepper becomes tender.
4. In a separate pan, sear the steak with olive oil for 3-4 minutes until browned. Try to get as much of the marinade out as possible before putting the steak into the pan.
5. Fry the eggs in olive oil or butter so that the yolks are still runny. I recommend cooking them over medium heat and covering the frying pan.
6. Slice the French rolls in half and place them cut side up on baking sheets. Place a slice of cheese on each half and bake for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and the rolls crisp up.
7. Whisk the ketchup, mayonnaise and lime juice together for a fun pink condiment.
8. Prep the sandwich by spreading salsa on each half of the roll, piling on steak, onions, and bell pepper. Top with a fried egg and slice of prosciutto.
9. Load up on napkins and bite into the gloriousness.

Sous chef Nancy earned herself a commemorative plaque for her part in making the world's most delicious and messy sandwich.

The sandwich in its stable, pre-bite state. Soon that plate would be mostly yellow.

I find it hard to properly describe the levels of awesomitude reached by this sandwich (mostly because every time I start thinking back to it, my brain shuts down, and I just start drooling). The results were some ingenious cross between a cheese steak and a Vietnamese banh mi. The steak was incredibly tender and had a nice kick from the Worcestershire and mustard (which led to everyone picking at the bowl of meat once they were done with their sandwiches). The caramelized onions and bell peppers added a light sweetness to the sandwich, while the Golf salsa provided a creaminess and hint of lime to liven things up. The true highlight of the sandwich, though, has to be that fried egg. Nothing beats biting into a fresh baked crispy roll and smothering a sandwich (and your hand because, hey, that's how gravity works) with a popped egg yolk. This sandwich was a huge hit with everyone as evidenced by the total silence aside from the sound of "mmm" while we were eating. Sadly, all the bread was consumed during the initial sandwich fest, so we had to be creative and make worthy taco substitutes instead to make sure the leftovers didn't go to waste (which would be considered a crime against humanity).

When you run out of bread, the leftovers make for an awesome taco (don't be put off by the seemingly out of place pink sauce). 

Sandwich connoisseur Jaime attempts to fit the entire sandwich in his mouth. His jaw is still recovering.

I really can't recommend buying Street Food enough. It's a culinary trip around the world with everything from spice mixes to desserts and drinks that will force you to expand your food horizons with plenty of specialty ingredients you never would have thought to use before.

We lost a lot of good napkins that day.

We finished off the meal with a salted lhassi with cumin and mint, but you're going to have to buy the cookbook to find out that recipe.

Cinco de Mayo: Tacos Bistek

It's a post so epic that it was three weeks in the making (which definitely had nothing to do with the onslaught of weddings monopolizing my time recently). At last, I present the thrilling conclusion to our Cinco de Mayo festivities: The heart and soul of any fiesta: THE TACOS! (I'm pretty sure I get blogger bonus points for using multiple colons in one sentence.). For our main course, we went with a Kevin and Faron classic- Tacos Bistek, where perfectly seasoned rib-eye steak serves as the centerpiece of a mouthwatering tortilla encased classic.

Tacos Bistek
From the minds of Faron and Kevin

One day I won't live with Kevin, and I'll be woefully unprepared to make meat.

Time: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour for marinading)

Rib-eye steak
Olive oil
Fajita seasoning
Cumin
Onions, diced
Cilantro, chopped
Lime, wedged
Cotija cheese
Salsas (recipes here)
Corn tortillas

1. Prep the steaks. Marinade them in olive oil then rub on the fajita seasoning and cumin and let sit for an hour.
2. Cook the steaks to medium rare on a grill. For extra flavor, you can baste them with the adobo sauce from canned chipotles (conveniently found in the salsa recipe) right before they're finished.
3. Sauté the onions in olive oil until soft and translucent.
4. Grill the tortillas. 
5. Tear the chips away from the delicious salsa long enough to use on your tacos then fill the tortillas with steak, cotija cheese, cilantro, onions and salsa. Sprinkle them with your lime wedge and enjoy.

By showing a second picture at a different, much weirder angle it's like an entirely different dish (Nope, I'm definitely not being lazy).

These tacos served a key function for the evening; they provided the delicious bridge to get us from the heavenly salsas to the perfectly drunken margarita cupcakes (plus they probably added some much needed nutrients and protein to round out a complete feast). Faron and Kevin's Tacos Bistek are a superb addition to any taco night that is easy to prepare yet provides a truly authentic tasting Mexican experience that rivals anything you'll find in a Taco Truck. With the smashing success of each course of our Cinco de Mayo celebration, there's only one logical place to go from here: form an awesome Mexican band. Stay tuned for the exciting new adventures of My Mariachi Their Kitchen!