Grandpa Joe's
Italian Beef Chicago Style

Great for Chicago-style Italian Beef sandwiches.

About this recipe

We lived in the Chicago area for nearly twenty years.  Eating anywhere in Chicago is a superb culinary experience, but eating in the ethnic neighborhoods is indescribable.  There are probably as many variations of Chicago-Style Italian Beef sandwiches as there are sandwich shops in greater Chicago.  I actually patterned this recipe after a "Chicago-Style" sandwich I had at Martino's Italian Villa in Kokomo, Indiana!

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds beef brisket
  • 2 red onions, roughly chopped
  • 2 green bell peppers, roughly chopped
  • 6 cups beef stock
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ teaspoon hot crushed red pepper
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 6 garlic cloves, sliced
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Place the brisket fat side up in a roasting pan or Dutch oven. 
  2. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and pour over the brisket.   Cover the pan with a lid or with aluminum foil and bake for three hours at 300° F.
  3. After cooking, remove the meat from the liquid and let cool before slicing.  Slice the beef thinly (across the grain), and arrange the slices in a dish. 
  4. Strain the juice mixture, and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.  Pour over the sliced beef, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.
  5. To serve, remove and discard any congealed fat, and then heat the beef and sauce thoroughly.  Serve the sliced beef on Italian bread or hard rolls and spoon some of the sauce liberally on top, or serve it alongside for dipping.
Juicy Italian Beef Chicago Style served on a freshly baked hard roll with roasted red peppers and caperberries.

Notes

  • Alternatively, the meat may be sliced with the grain into roughly quarter-inch strips.  Then cut the strips again across the grain into roughly inch long pieces.
Posted: February 2014; picture added: February 2015.